By: Staff Writer
May 28, 2024
The Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda opens the 4th annual Small Island Developing States Conference highlighting the “inherent vulnerabilities,” of small island states mad worse by their small size, limited financial capability and lack of human capital.
Gaston Browne, said at the official opening of the small island developing states (sids) conference that: “This is a crucial gathering at a time of unprecedented global challenges, in which cities find themselves on the frontline of a battle against a confluence of crises, none of which they have caused, or created. Our inherent vulnerabilities characterized by small size, limited financial resources and constrained human capital, places at a mark disadvantage and the global stage with the scales of equity and justice on evenly balanced against us.
“The large-scale polluters whose CO2 emissions fuel these catastrophic climate changes bear a responsibility and obligation of compensation to aid in our quest to build resilience. Our journey towards development has been repeatedly disrupted by monumental global crises. Among them, the financial meltdown meltdown of 2008 and the unprecedented COVID 19 pandemic. These events exacerbated by the relentless climate crisis have severely undermined our efforts to achieve the sustainable development goals, the SDGs.”
The pandemic threw all countries off of the SDGs and SIDS suffered even greater because they had less to rebound with than the larger, more developed countries.
Browne added: “The global north in particular must honor its commitments including the pivotal pledge of $100 billion in climate financing, to assist with adaptation and mitigation, as well as the effective capitalization and operationalization of the loss and damage fund. These are imperative investments in humanity and justice and the equitable future of humanity.
“This year has been the hottest thing History in practically every corner of the globe, foretelling severe impacts in our ecosystems, and starkly underscoring the urgency of our predicament. Techno This is to gamble with our collective future.
“Continuing with business, as usual, is not just negligence, it is an active choice that invites disaster. such indifference will reverberate disastrously affecting every nation, every community, and every individual across the planet.”
Large polluters must be held accountable to reduce their CO2 emissions, Browne noted, particularly large oil companies should have a global carbon tax placed on them.
Browne also said: “Our collective efforts over this critical decade must forge a path and address immediate challenges, thereby setting a foundation for long term resilience and prosperity. Our path to resilient prosperity must be paved with stones of international cooperation to build capacity in disaster risk reduction, climate adaptation, digitalization in maritime transport, transportation in health care in education, and overall sustainable development, debt relief, capacity building and technological transfer, climate adaptation and mitigation funding are essential deliverables deliverables that would enable us to protect the environment and advance our economies.”