Caribbean islands cautious on Cop 27 deal

Small island states welcomed the deal but are still facing major climate action challenges

The Caribbean's small island states welcomed the final deal reached at the Cop 27 UN climate summit earlier this month, but whether it will offer them enough protection from the impact of climate change remains to be seen.

The outcome of Cop 27 was dominated by a historic agreement "to establish a fund for responding to loss and damage", as well as "new funding arrangements" for vulnerable countries hard hit by climate disasters.

A transitional committee, which will include representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean, will work on establishing the fund over the next year.

The 39 members of the Alliance of Small Island States welcomed the creation of a loss and damage fund at the summit, but these countries are still challenged by the need to "advance ambition on critical mitigation and adaptation plans", the group's chairman and Antigua and Barbuda finance minister Molwyn Joseph tells Argus. "This is only one part of the need to bring home the climate action commitments our vulnerable people desperately need," Joseph adds.

The creation of the fund is a "major win for the developing world but it is not a panacea," Jamaica's environment minister Matthew Samuda says. "The agreement is not in its totality sufficient to deal with the problem."

Caribbean Climate Change Centre director Colin Young laments the "many disappointments for these countries, particularly related to keeping 1.5°C alive" — a reference to the target to limit the increase in global temperatures to 1.5°C compared with pre-industrial levels agreed under the UN's Paris accord.

The region was hoping for firmer commitments on phasing out fossil fuels, "but instead we got a text that refers to ‘low emission and renewable energy', which potentially can create a loophole for further development of gas", Young says.