The Case for Climate Justice: Commonwealth Small Island States at COP27

Time is running out. 

The homelands of Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean islanders are disappearing under rising seawater. Extreme weather events are destroying small island infrastructure, upending local livelihoods, and overwhelming public finances.   

For the Commonwealth’s small island states, claims that climate change poses an existential threat are not alarmist. Rather, they reflect the real possibility that these states could be submerged under the world’s oceans in a matter of decades.  

Small island states have made repeated appeals to the wider international community for assistance. Such appeals are grounded in sound legal and ethical principles: small island states have contributed little to the overall problem of climate change, yet they are facing the gravest and most immediate threats. Despite the urgency of the situation, commitments to help small island states stand largely unfulfilled.

The upcoming United Nations climate change conference in Egypt (COP27) presents an important opportunity to refocus the global conversation on the needs of small island states; as an intergovernmental organisation dominated by small island members, harnessing the Commonwealth’s collective voice is vital to this purpose.

Join a unique community of activists and civil society organisations

This three-part event series will explore three facets of climate justice for the Commonwealth’s small island states: financial compensation for climate-induced loss and damage, what a clean energy transition means for small and developing economies, and the role artists can play in shining a light on climate injustice.

Register now on each event page or by using the form below.