NEW YORK, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) adopted a declaration on Monday calling for a new climate pact that ensures global warming be kept below 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The "AOSIS Declaration on Climate Change" comes one day before world leaders are to meet at the United Nations Headquarters in New York on Tuesday at a summit aimed at mobilizing the political will to achieve a post-Kyoto climate deal in Copenhagen in December.
"Now is the time for action," said Prime Minister of Grenada and Chair of AOSIS Tilman Thomas. "There is no more time left for inaction as our survival depends on 1.5 (degrees Celsius) to stay alive."
Members of the 42-member negotiating group met at New York's American Museum of Natural History -- a subtle reminder of a future for many islands if emission targets are not met.
In their formal negotiating position, the alliance called for a Copenhagen climate agreement that demands a global warming limit of 1.5 Celsius and stabilizing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations at 350 parts per million.
Recent science research indicates that 3 Celsius of warming will result in substantial loss of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, resulting in one or even two meters of sea-level rise by the end of the century.
Leaders of industrialized nations have said a two-degree-Celsius limit is considered "economically acceptable," but AOSIS maintains that target does not go far enough. The western Pacific island of Tuvalu, for example, is already expected to become uninhabitable by 2050.
Yves de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), told participants at the AOSIS conference that Copenhagen will only be considered a success if it delivers on key requirements, including ambitious emissions targets by 2020.
Current targets are about one-third of the 45 percent cuts by 2020 required to keep global warming and associated losses and damage -- already estimated at 125 billion U.S. dollars annually --under control, according to AOSIS.
Last week, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu told reporters in Vienna that 40 or 30 percent cuts "might be too aggressive for 2020 for the United States," according to reports. The U.S. is the world's largest polluter and consumes over 20 percent of the world's energy.
Meanwhile, members of the European Union have pledged to make 20 percent cuts in CO2 emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels.
But none of those targets are enough to save low-lying islands from bearing the brunt of sea-level rise, coastal erosion, floods, and dying coral reefs, said AOSIS.
Climate change negotiations have stalled on several fronts including a division between rich and developing nations on what is expected and how much funding industrialized nations should provide.
There are only 15 negotiating days left.
Responding to reports that top U.S. energy climate officials have said that climate talks will trickle into 2010, Prime Minister Marcus Stephens of Nauru released a statement saying it has already taken too long for leaders to agree on an emissions limit.
"We cannot allow domestic politics and self-interest to delay what we already know to be essential," he said. "Further delayed action will escalate the cost of adaptation well beyond our economic capacity."
The AOSIS final negotiating position calls on world leaders of industrialized nations to provide developing islands with adequate financial resources, technology, and human capacity to help mitigate and adapt to extreme weather events.
The declaration also urges for an agreement that protects small islands and developing countries from agreeing to climate change commitments that would hinder their economic development.
At the conference, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed his optimism that a climate deal would offer new opportunities for developing economies.
"I count on you to continue dynamic leadership," he said. "Success at the climate change summit can usher a new era of green growth and prosperity."
