Caribbean Leaders Head to Martinique for Climate Summit

ROSEAU, Dominica, May 08, 2015 – Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit leaves here Friday to attend the Caribbean – France Regional Summit in Martinique that is being chaired by French President Francois Hollande.

An official statement issued here said that the Caribbean – France Regional Summit on Preparation for and Mobilisation for the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is being held in Fort-de-France on Saturday.

President Hollande will assume the presidency of UNFCCC COP 21 in December 2015, and he has undertaken state visits to various regions in an effort to mobilise the political will to ensure a successful outcome for COP 21.

Skerrit, who is also Chairman of the nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) will address the opening ceremony of the summit along with President Hollande; Barbados Prime Minister Perry Christie, who is also the chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)  grouping.

Other addresses will come from the President of the Regional Council of Martinique Serge Letchimy and the Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) Alfonso Múnera.

The government statement said that Skerrit will lead discussions at the summit on the subject “Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy and will also hold bilateral discussions with the French President, noting that Dominica and France have enjoyed excellent bilateral relation over the years.

The statement said that Prime Minister Skerrit will also attend the inauguration ceremony of the Caribbean Centre for the Testimony and Remembrance of Slavery and the Slave Trade (ACTe Memorial) on Sunday, before returning home.

Meantime, a Barbados government statement said that Prime Minister Freundel Stuart will also attend the summit.

“Barbados will seek a meeting with President Hollande to discuss pertinent bilateral and regional matters,” Stuart said.

Stuart, who chairs the Prime Ministerial Sub-Committee on Reparations, said he intends to raise the issue with Hollande, since an objective of the Sub-Committee is to have a meeting between the CARICOM countries and those in Europe, which engaged in slavery, to discuss the issue of reparations.