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Bashellet pledges grant‑based climate finance, lost‑and‑damage support and vulnerability‑sensitive access for SIDS and LLDCs
Summary
Answering Pacific and small‑island delegates, Michelle Bashellet promised to use the Secretary‑General's moral authority to push for ambitious climate action, transparent tracking of climate finance and grant‑based support for the most vulnerable.
Delegations representing Pacific Islands, small island developing states (SIDS), the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and LLDCs used the interactive dialogue to press the candidate on climate finance, loss & damage and financing access for vulnerable states.
Bashellet said climate change is an existential threat to small islands and pledged to use the Secretary‑General’s voice to sustain urgency for the 1.5°C goal across multilateral and bilateral settings. She proposed a publicly accessible tracking system for climate finance commitments — naming donors, amounts, delivery format and recipient countries — to improve transparency and accountability.
On financing instruments she said she would champion grant‑based climate finance for the most vulnerable rather than loan‑based approaches that increase indebtedness. Bashellet also supported establishing or adequately capitalizing a loss‑and‑damage facility as part of climate justice measures and urged rethinking access criteria to include multi‑dimensional vulnerability rather than GDP alone.
Delegations from LLDCs and SIDS stressed the need for stronger resident‑coordinator authority and for translating the Antigua and Barbuda agenda for SIDS into concrete financing reform; Bashellet said she would press for those changes and work to ensure geographic representation in senior recruitment so affected countries are visible in decision‑making.
