Climate School co-hosts COP27 Dialogue on Accelerating Climate Breakthroughs in Small Island States
Photo: Rajiv Joshi
November 9, as COP27the Columbia Climate School helps bring together representatives from small island developing States to discuss how climate breakthroughs can be accelerated in these countries most affected by climate change.
For journalists: Experts from the Columbia Climate Institute will be at COP27 and commenting. see who goes.
This inclusive dialogue – known as the Talanoa Dialogue – was held in partnership with Small Island Developing States (SIDS), high-level UN supporters, the Local2030 Island Network, Kite Insights and dozens of other organisations from around the world. Associate Dean for Climate Action at Columbia Climate Institute, Rajiv Joshiwith the support of the Director of Program Design, helped promote the event Johanna Lovecchio.
The event brings together more than 100 people of all backgrounds, ages and expertise to share stories of climate action and develop plans to strengthen resilience, accelerate action and increase financial flows. Participants included senators and ministers from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Cook Islands, Saint Lucia, Jamaica, Palau, the Dominican Republic and many other parts of the world, as well as leaders from business, academia and civil society.
In the words of Brianna Fruean, a young leader from Samoa, one of the event’s opening speakers, Talanoa means “to open the knot, but it also means to pull out the thread, which together we can weave into new tapestry, and create a vision for a better future.”
The conversation begins with a powerful musical performance by Mia Kami from Tonga:
The main points of discussion include:
- The will and ambition of small island developing States is unquestionable.It’s the will and ambition of others – or rather lack – This fails to meet the needs of small island developing States.
- Non-state actors shared details of new initiatives to implement climate action in SIDS, such as Lightsmith Group’s expansion of Papua New Guinea’s water harvesting technology and climate finance access network to the Caribbean.
- SIDS stressed that breakthroughs must be built from the bottom up in SIDS. It needs to be an inclusive process.
- More time is needed to dig deeper into the possibilities we can achieve together to build a climate-resilient, net-zero future for small island developing States. Attendees concluded that we should convene more Talanoa to solidify the journey we started together.
These discussions inspired future thematic dialogues to be held through COP27, as well as the evolution of the Talanoa Breakthrough Agenda for SIDS, which Colombia hopes to continue to support as part of its focus on coastal resilience.
In her opening remarks, Samoa Youth Ambassador Brianna Fruen said, “‘Tala’ means ‘untie’ and ‘noa’ means ‘knot’. We come together today to untangle this knot, together Build a new tapestry of each other’s voices. We at COP are all about that.”
The Climate Action Group — working at Columbia University and the Climate Institute through the Policy Impact Lab — looks forward to building on these conversations to support training, project preparation and partnership development. The group aims to help climate-prone communities, with a particular focus on Small Island Developing States, where major challenges remain in adaptation, resilience and energy access, and where achieving the promise of a 1.5C future is really a matter of human survival.
Rajiv Joshi, associate dean for climate action at the Columbia Climate Institute, said the Talanoa dialogue “reminds us that we cannot address threats to our shared future without leveraging ancestral traditions of knowledge and wisdom.” . “We are delighted to support this agenda with unlikely allies and a new circle of determined leaders to drive bold climate action together with mutual trust. In this defining decade, if we are to drive policy impact and achieve equity , a rapid transition to a regenerative future for all requires radical collaboration, a mindset shift and a clear vision.”
