Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell believes that building resilience and a new format through the Paris Agreement are two significant undertakings that Commonwealth members must undertake as part of collective efforts to mitigate the impact of climate change.
“Firstly, we need to ensure that we build the resilience of our countries to withstand the impact of Climate Change. Secondly, we need to ensure that the negotiations under the Paris Agreement are successfully completed this year so that the Paris Agreement can become fully operational as scheduled,” Mitchell said while addressing a roundtable discussion during the Heads of Commonwealth one week meeting which schedule to conclude on Friday.
“This is necessary to ensure that the international community is focused on achieving the emission reductions that are necessary for the survival of many of our small island developing states and for implementing the mechanisms that were agreed upon to strengthen our resilience building capacities,” he said as he reminded participants that the 2017 Hurricane season devastated several Caribbean countries and the 2018 season is only two months away.
“With regards to building resilience in our countries, this requires that we develop the ability to withstand the impact of climate change as well as recover quickly when the impact happens. It also requires significant investment in strengthening our infrastructure, developing new policy frameworks and developing the capacity of our people,” said Mitchell who focused on Climate Resilience.
Urging for collective partnership to adapt and mitigate challenges of climate change because the impacts are becoming more and more evident and with significant consequences, the Prime Minister told the roundtable that Small Islands Developing States do not always have the resources to do what’s necessary to protect its people and national assets.
“We therefore continue to solicit and welcome additional assistance from the Commonwealth family to enable us to access the required resources. We cannot overemphasize the need to advocate for changes in the global financial architecture including the incorporation of vulnerability considerations in accessing finance and in determining whether or not countries graduate from one level to another,” he said.
