Ministers from across the world have asked all Small Island Developing States to support COSIS; an initiative founded by Antigua and Barbuda in seeking an advisory opinion from the International Tribunal Law of the Sea on international law concerning climate change and sea level rise and obligations of States in protecting and preserving the marine environment

That call comes on the heels of a meeting between the Ministers from the Kingdom of Tonga, the Republic of Fiji, Niue, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, and the Republic of Vanuatu, and regional and international experts and civil society.

They met for the 2nd Ministerial Dialogue on Pathways for the Global Just Transition Away from Fossil Fuels, hosted in Port Vila

The government said it trusts that other Caricom SIDs will join the COSIS climate fight, as “we pursue a complementary legal pathway in support of our decades of global advocacy on climate”

The group also called for a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty and “leading the creation of a global alliance to negotiate a new Treaty to govern the end to fossil fuel expansion, equitable phase-out of fossil fuels, and a global just transition.
d. Committing to transparently disclose our fossil fuel investment and projects, and demand that all other governments do the same, including through the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative and Global Registry of Fossil Fuels”

They also want a new pacific-tailored development pathway based on 100% renewable energy, including through, “recognizing the Pacific’s strong identity, cultural heritage, and Indigenous commitment to environmental and social sustainability, and basing our transition on these traditional values”

Referencing fossil fuel phase-out explicitly in our Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Long-Term Low-Emission Development Strategies (LT LEDS), and developing national just transition plans, including through existing multilateral platforms.

Dramatically scaling up the deployment of renewable energy and energy-efficient technologies across all sectors is another area that calls for collaboration, including the urgent decarbonizing of land transport, including through scaling up the Pacific E Mobility Policy and Programme in our effort to support the decarbonization of land transport.