BY BEN BILUA
BILATERAL agreements are a vital avenue that countries like the Solomon Islands can channel negotiations to hold countries with the highest rate of global emission accountable.
Speaking to international journalists who have engaged in climate change advocacies, Jillian Green, a decorated and award-winning Journalist from Africa said countries at the receiving end of climate change but are unable to directly deal directly with global emitters can do so through bilateral negotiations with developed countries.
She told journalists that approaches to make sure industrial companies in respective countries in the world are accountable for their action differs from regions around the global setting.
“When a country is on the receiving end of the impacts of climate change, your approach is different.
“It’s hard for you to hold a country outside your geographic location accountable but what you can do is to hold your government countable to push incentives that would hold other countries countable.
“It is important to figure out where your power lays and know that your influence is within your country in other words your government is to be held accountable for driving green-washing and accountability agendas.
“Bilateral agreements with polluting countries is one way of domesticating global agendas,” Green said.
She said the role of local journalists is to make sure the agreements can be environment-friendly.
Senior Reporter for Climate based in London, Akshat Rathi adds that another approach that small states can drive their agenda is through COP meetings.
He said Small Island States can be heard if they go into COP as a group to present their agendas and to vote for greater consideration on the 1.5 degree Celsius agenda.
These statements were made during Oxford Climate Journalism Network’s (OCJN) first session for 2023.
The topic discussed during the session was Green-washing and Accountability.
