Kreetika Kumar 
New data from the World Meteorological Organization shows that 2024 is on track to become the warmest year on record, raising the stakes for leaders arriving at COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Under pressure to deliver on multiple fronts, UN Secretary-General António Guterres has called on leaders to bring ambitions that match the urgency and scale of the climate crisis.
Fiji’s Permanent Secretary for Climate Change, Dr Sivendra Michael, remains optimistic that Fiji as a country is ready to make its voice heard on the global stage.
Michael adds that Fiji contributes to 0.06% of the total greenhouse gas emissions therefore, it’s important to hold the emitters accountable.
“I think, apart from the science side, the main conversation is the MOI, which is the means of implementation for the Paris Agreement. And what we are trying to push across is that in the Paris Agreement, there are three particular clauses that reference SIDS and LDCs, which are smaller in developing states and least developed countries.”
Dr. Michael adds that Fiji is trying to push for three particular clauses that reference Small Islands Developing States and Least Developed Countries.
The Permanent Secretary says this includes Article 13 around capacity building, Article 9, which is on finance and Article 9.4 of the Paris Agreement which says that special circumstances for SIDS and LDCs must be recognized because we don’t have the necessary capacities and technologies to be able to adapt and mitigate at the rate we would like to.
