The threat climate change poses to small island states is the focus of a new song commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Caricom Secretariat.
Titled “1.5 To Stay Alive,” the song is written and performed by Barbadian performance poet Adisa “AJA” Andwele. AJA is also the UNDP Spokesperson for Peace and Poverty Eradication for Barbados and the OECS, according to a news release out of Bridgetown. “1.5 To Stay Alive” is written in the rapso tradition, which combines poetry performed to calypso and other rhythms from the Caribbean, and it also features the talents of Barbadian singer iNDRANi. The theme of the song refers to the centigrade degree limit to which global surface temperatures can rise before Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are severely compromised in their ability to adapt to the impacts of climate change. The song is available for free download at www.myspace.cpm/mousikeproductions.
The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), of which Caribbean islands are members, and the Group of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) joined to form a coalition of about 80 countries demanding that global efforts be concentrated on keeping temperature increases under 1.5°C to lessen the devastating impacts on highly vulnerable countries, the release said. These impacts include sea level rise, with accompanying coastal erosion and destruction of coastal infrastructure, damage or death to coral reefs and fisheries, saline intrusion into aquifers, bringing about diminishing freshwater supplies, and more intense hurricanes and storm surges.
Moreover, the continued social and economic survival and environmental integrity of the countries, particularly low-lying islands such as the Bahamas, which face the possibility of complete inundation, is questioned as their risk and exposure increase.
The AOSIS Declaration on Climate Change, agreed at their High-level Summit on Climate Change in September this year, also calls for peaking of global greenhouse gas emissions by 2015 with subsequent decline and long term stabilisation of atmospheric concentrations below 350ppm (parts per million) of carbon dioxide. It is a position that was earlier enunciated by the Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) in the Liliendaal Declaration on Climate Change and Development, issued after their Summit in July.
As leaders of developed and larger developing nations are currently proposing to commence climate change negotiations around 2°C, others are adamant that this cannot be the level of minimum acceptable risk since it ignores the human rights of millions at the outset. President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives asserted at the AOSIS Summit that the resulting massive losses for some SIDS would be tantamount to “mass murder” as it gives little hope for their survival.
Forming the culmination of the Bali Road Map, charted in December 2007, these negotiations will occur at the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of Parties (COP XV) in Copenhagen, Denmark from December 7-18, 2009. This meeting will be attended by world leaders with the intention of agreeing to various mechanisms to succeed the Kyoto Protocol formed in 1998. With support from the UK Department for International Development (DFID) and in conjunction with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), UNDP is assisting CARICOM leaders in their preparations for Copenhagen as they solidify their unified position to be presented at COP XV, the release noted.
