Climate Change Negotiations and AOSIS

Abstract

Atoll Island States form part of the Alliance of Small Island States, a coalition of States within the United Nations that share a growing concern about the environment and the effects that climate change can have on the fragile ecosystems of islands. Their first political manifestation was at a 1989 conference held in Male, and since then they have become increasingly vocal in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations. A key demand by AOSIS in recent climate change negotiations has been the adoption of a “loss and damage proposal”, drawing on numerous principles of international law, including polluter pays, intergenerational equity, trans-boundary harm and responsibility of a State. The proposal seems to slowly be finding its way into the negotiations, with the COP18 in Doha establishing a “pathway” for such a notion, which could lead to the creation of an international solidarity fund that would compensate countries for economic and non-economic losses stemming from slow-onset climate impacts (such as coral bleaching, ocean acidification and sea level rise).