Citing the 2017 hurricane devastation in the Caribbean, United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres lobbied CARICOM Heads on Wednesday to intensify the fight against climate change.
The guest speaker at the CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government in Gros Islet, Saint Lucia, Guterres also highlighted violence against women and girls.
According to a transcript of his speech from the UN, the Secretary-General focused on challenges facing the region, especially climate change and other obstacles to sustainable development, including the imperatives of citizen security and building resilience and the importance of access to development finance.
Reminding of the devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, the Secretary-General observed that as climate-related natural disasters grow in frequency and severity, the risks to families and to overall development will only intensify and emphasised that the Caribbean experience “makes it abundantly clear that we must urgently reduce global emissions and work collectively to ensure that global temperature rise does not go beyond 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels.”
He added, “That is why I am asking all leaders, from governments and the private sector, to present plans – at my Climate Action Summit or at the latest by December 2020 – to cut greenhouse emissions by 45 per cent by 2030 and get to carbon neutrality by 2050.”
Guyana will find itself in a peculiar position as by early next year it is set to become an oil producer and will be ramping up production significantly in the ensuing years. The carbon emission capacity of these fuels will be attributable to Guyana and jar with its ambitions to become a low carbon economy.
According to Guterres, there needs to be an increase in the desire to advance low-emission and resilient development, including addressing loss and damage from climate impacts and all hands are needed on deck to make this transformation possible.
He acknowledged the efforts made by CARICOM and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre in “taking the lead from the frontlines” and recognised them as “our important allies in the fight against climate disruption.” This in addition to being stalwart advocates for a 1.5-degree threshold for over a decade, pushing leaders to devise new models of economic development and affordable, reliable energy access.
Caribbean states, he noted, are rapidly becoming influential test beds for innovative climate action, such as investing in decentralised renewable energy and this will not only yield more economically sustainable sources of electricity, but will provide clean energy solutions.
He reminded those present that investment in sustainable development also means investing in more concrete conservation and resilience measures.
The Secretary-General touched on ocean pollution and its visible impact on the region and stressed that there has to be action on a daily basis to counter the “grave” threats to marine ecosystems and the tourism sector that are so central to regional economies.
Resilient Zone
The leadership of CARICOM Heads were praised for presenting a bold vision to make the Caribbean the world’s first Climate Resilient Zone and it was acknowledged that the creation of a Caribbean Resilience to Recovery Facility is an important development that should be fully supported. He explained that when fully functional, this Facility will provide a regional indigenous mechanism for sourcing talent, experience and financial solutions to support CARICOM members to build resilient communities and nations.
The Secretary-General spoke of the need to address the issue of citizen insecurity with emphasis on violence against women and girls as a significant dimension of the issue.
He said that murder rates in parts of the Caribbean “are still very significant”. He added that violence against women and girls is a significant dimension of citizen insecurity which rises in the wake of natural disasters and is “an obstacle to resilient societies generally”.
“I am therefore also pleased that the Spotlight Initiative will be partnering with CARICOM and six countries in the region to make substantial, focused investments – some 50 million euros – in prevention and redress for violence against women and girls. It is important that gender considerations underpin all our efforts to promote citizen security and sustainable development.”
He also stated his awareness of the range of financial constraints faced by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in addition to managing the recurrent and increasing costs of climate-related events. These challenges, he added, are further complicated by the difficulties SIDS face in mobilising development finance on affordable and appropriate terms.
“These are challenges you know only too well, and we join your call, and will take the steps we can, to improve access to development financing as a priority. I agree with you that eligibility for Official Development Assistance and other forms of concessional financing should include vulnerability criteria, in addition to Gross National Income per capita.”
Guterres said that all SIDS, both in the Caribbean and the Pacific are vulnerable and that this fact should be recognised by all. He agreed that the speed and predictability of climate financing, especially for Least Developed Countries and SIDS, should be improved and that the prevalent use of debt instruments in climate finance needs review. He added that for middle-income countries that are particularly vulnerable, the multilateral development banks and development finance institutions have key roles to play in providing more long-term, low-cost debt financing.
“But the time has also come for the international community to consider seriously how best to address the rising problems of over-indebtedness of middle-income countries. This slows their progress toward sustainable development and makes them even more vulnerable to external shocks.”
The Secretary-General reiterated his strong support for the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean proposal to convert debt to investment in resilience through the debt for climate adaptation swap and resilience building initiative. He expressed his personal support and the support of the UN of any initiative aiming at creating the conditions to allow for adequate financing for building resilience and for recovering from the devastation of climate accidents.
“There is one thing for me that is absolutely clear. There is no way the countries of the Caribbean can recover from a devastating hurricane or systematically build resilience in relation to climate problems doing that based on the unsustainable growth of their debt. This is a common responsibility that the international community needs to recognise”, Guterres declared
He also disclosed that he has embarked on a set of reforms to ensure that the UN development system is fit and ready to help countries to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in the next decade.
With regard to regional security, Guterres welcomed the adoption of the CARICOM Counter-Terrorism Strategy, developed with the support of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism, and reiterated the UN system’s readiness to continue to cooperate with CARICOM on security challenges, even in relation to the issue of foreign terrorist fighters. He also commended CARICOM’s commitment to foster regional cooperation on the fight against illegal drug trafficking activities.
He acknowledged the refugee and migration crisis that is affecting the wider region as a result of the situation in Venezuela and saluted CARICOM’s efforts to provide an adequate response.
