AOSIS International Climate Negotiations

Climate change, a common issue confronting the mankind, involves political,economic, scientific and technological, and ethical factors, and bears on the world’ssustainable development in the future. For small island developing countries, whichare most vulnerable to rising sea level caused by climate change, to fully participate inglobal negotiation of climate change is an indispensable political task that serves thehighest national interests. Since its founding, the Alliance of Small Island States(AOSIS), as a lobby and special representative for medium and small developingisland countries in global climate talks, has been actively fulfilling its responsibilityand making efforts to win development opportunities and room for survival for itsmembers and observers.To some degree, global climate talks means ensuring the rights of developmentfor developing countries and quantifying emission reduction responsibility fordeveloped countries. However, for the special AOSIS, it means a battle of life anddeath. This makes it easy to understand its relatively radical demands, for instance,maintaining the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at350ppm of carbondioxide equivalent for a long period of time, and keeping the increase of globalsurface temperature no more than1.5degree Celsius compared with the pre-industriallevel.Given its limited impact on global political and economic affairs, the AOSISmay find it hard to attract attention from the international community. However, insome high-level international conferences such as the important negations ofUNFCCC and UN Conference on Sustainable Development, the AOSIS, through itsown efforts, clear positioning and proper negotiation skills, has increasingly gainedattention from the international community, and has won more rights and interests inthe outcome documents of the international conferences. Standing on a moral andethical high ground, the AOSIS has won the understanding, attention and support from the international community by taking the initiative, cooperating closely withpartners of similar positions, making good use of the legal and technical supportsfrom the NGOs and forming clear positions and standardized proposals in a timelymanner. This represents not only its sense of urgency to win survival anddevelopment rights and interests, but also its proper use of negotiation skills.The cooperation and dialogue between China and the AOSIS are not yet mature.However, both sides stay committed to the alignment of developing countries andwork to explore reasonable and feasible cooperation mechanisms. Whether China canbring together the AOSIS to form a unified and strong voice of the developingcountries, urge the developed countries to honor its commitment in quantifying theemission reduction time-table as soon as possible and fight for its own rights andinterests of development, will be deemed as a new area for China to play a activeleading role in the international arena.