Prime Minister the Hon. Philip E. Davis addressed a multi-national high-level Climate Change summit on Thursday urging Caribbean countries and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to join together to “hold the developed world to account” on climate change.
“The industrialized north will need to make the most sizeable adjustments,” PM Davis said to the world leaders attending the Second Caribbean SIDS High-Level Dialogue on Climate Change, taking place in Grenada September 28-29, 2023.
“It is, after all, their development which has brought us to this point,” he added.
“We must call on our partners in the north to deliver on the commitment they made at COP15 in Copenhage, to mobilize US$100 billion per year by 2021 in Paris, extended to 2025. To date, they have yet to reach this target.”
Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources the Hon. Vaughn P. Miller heads a delegation participating in the high-level sessions. United Nations Climate Change leaders, CARICOM officials, Goverment leaders and other high-level officials will be engaged in a series of roundtable and open dialogue events that cover themes including strengthening resilience; financing the transition to renewable energy; enabling more access to blue and green finance; and regional collaboration on carbon pricing mechanisms.
“As COP 28 approaches, it is crucial that we, the developing countries on the frontlines of the climate crisis, hold the developed world to account,” PM Davis said.
“Whether they honour their commitments could mean the difference between a mere disturbance and another Dorian – that devastating Category 5 super storm, the likes of which my country had never seen and is still recovering from. To further the interests of the Caribbean, which are much the same as SIDS in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, we must speak as one region, united by clear ideas and a common purpose. We may operate in different geopolitical contexts, but we all lie in the same hurricane alley. We all rely, to a certyain extent, on the tourist economy, and we all share common strands of beautiful island culture under threat.”
Listed in the top ten most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change, The Bahamas has taken a leading role in the global discourse on climate change, rallying for technical and financial support for SIDS.
Designed to unite Small Island Developing States (SIDS) with strategies and policies that will help to mitigate climate change, the high-level dialogue takes place at the Radisson Grenada Beach Resort, St. George’s, Grenada.
Source: Samantha Black/Min. of The Environment & Natural Resources
More photo highlights below:
