By: Kimberly Ramkhalawan
September 27, 2022
Grenadian Prime Minister, Dickon Mitchell, made a clarion call for world leaders to ramp up its action against the effects of climate change, as stood before world leaders at the General Assembly of the United Nations ongoing in NY.
In opening his address, the young Prime Minister who only recently got elected into office some mere three months ago, began by saying while his country might be a small island, “it does not exist in isolation, sharing that its development is tethered on the forward moving global community”.
While renewing his country’s commitment to the UN charter and community law, he said if anything the “pandemic taught us all the importance of international cooperation, the timely exchange of information and the sharing of resources critical in mitigating against similar global occurrences”.
Mitchell said it was “imperative that the matter of climate change be escalated to this level of urgency amongst our community of nations. The devastating effects of global warming can already be felt all over the world, including storms, heatwaves and droughts”. Quoting an ancient Chinese proverb saying, Mitchell says ‘Crisis is an opportunity riding a dangerous wind’, as the “window of opportunity was quickly closing however, and we no longer have the opportunity to kick these issues down the road”. He continued that the reality faced now was that tomorrow was now today and we had “tinkered long enough and must now accept that solutions to the problems we face may not be found in this grand hall, or in the highest echelons of global discussions, but rather with the people, especially our young people who stand to lose the most from the inaction of the world’s current leaders”. With 60 percent of the global population and 50 percent of his own country under the age of 35, Mitchell instead put the call to young people of the world to be the agents of change, taking action, rather than victims of climate change. He said it was not too late to safeguard the planet for future generations, as the leaders of today would not be around to feel the consequences of their decisions, and it was therefore up to the youth to lead the charge for the future they want to see. Mitchell shared this demographic as being critical to the success of development policies and must play a central role in the implementation of the targets set by the 2030 agenda.
He shared “it can be small acts that can cause ripple effects throughout families and friend circles, communities and eventually the wider world”. Reflecting upon his own involvement, the youngest Grenadian PM shared the moment he knew he couldn’t wait for the leaders of the day to solve challenges that plagued Grenadian society for well over a decade, instead he said he knew he had to become the change. Mitchell shared his presence amongst global leaders was “testament that change will only materialize if we step forward and accept the call to be the leaders of today”.
He told his fellow leaders, that “the onus was on leaders to create spaces where young people felt empowered to propose innovative solutions to the challenges collectively faced”.
Mitchell shared how the appointment of 23-year-old, Kerryne James as Grenada’s Minister for Climate Resilience, the Environment and Renewable Energy was a first not only for his nation, but the Caribbean.
He shared that “confronting the climate crisis would require the transformation the mindset of its people and its behaviours, as well as its energy sources, economic models and land stewardship”.
The Grenadian PM shared how small island developing states of the Caribbean were already dealing with the adverse effects resulting from global warming and climate change, with each hurricane season, as it was currently in, bringing increased and more powerful storms, and each island “watched and waited, with bated breath and a silent prayer, in the hope that this year it will not be ‘our turn’.”
He recalled the effects the 2004 Hurricane Ivan had on his home state, which resulted in the loss of 34 of its residents, destroying 80 percent of its housing, destroying its economic and fiscal incomes, and damage surpassing 200 percent of its Gross Domestic Product. Mitchell shared he has watched his fellow Caribbean neighbours endure ‘their turn’, and while there were many examples he could point to over the years, he said Caribbean states were truly ‘on the frontlines’, and the ease in which ‘one hurricane could wipe out decades of progress’.
With this, he shared that “it was evident that climate change was inimical to Grenada’s transformational agenda”, and was reason as to why it continued to insist on a “clear roadmap at the global level for ambitious climate action to ensure global average temperatures remained under the 1.5 degrees Celsius threshold”.
He reiterated the call for ‘scale up in climate financing for adaptation and removal of challenges that developing nations face to access climate financing’. The Grenadian PM said his government also continued to call ‘for increased technology development and capacity building for young people’. He shared his pride in fellow Grenadian, Simon Stiell as Executive Secretary of UN Climate Change, which he described as “sending a clear message of the importance of island voices, in the fight against climate change”.
Meanwhile, while adding the call for peaceful resolutions to be had between Russia and Ukraine, the Prime Minister shared that while he was mindful of peace being a supreme asset and a legitimate aspiration of all peoples’, he renewed Grenada’s call for the Caribbean to be a zone of peace, and the social and economic advancement of all Caribbean states, including that Cuba be removed from the United States’ List of State Sponsors of Terrorism. In the same breath, he lamented that not much had been done to assist his brothers and sisters in Haiti, despite efforts by the Caribbean Community, CARICOM, to assist the nation described as the poorest among them.
On a national level, he noted that the pandemic exposed structural weaknesses and resource deficiencies in his country’s health-care system. In addition, the ensuing closure of borders and stagnation of tourism exacerbated already high levels of unemployment and poverty. To that end, the Government intends to mitigate such circumstances in the future by diversifying its economy and developing information and communications technologies.
Noting that the war in Ukraine has resulted in hardships upon nations unconnected with the conflict, he joined the call for the Russian Federation to end its war efforts in Ukraine and for the parties to negotiate a peaceful settlement. He also renewing his call for the Caribbean to remain a zone of peace and for Cuba to Further, he said it was regrettable that more has not been done for Haiti to help it achieve political stability, peace and economic progress.
He reiterated Grenada’s support “for the ongoing judicial process and the International Court of Justice’ aimed at bringing a definitive end to the longstanding border dispute between Guyana and Venezuela”, while he reaffirmed his country’s support for the territorial integrity of Cooperative Republic of Guyana. Mitchell also took the change to add his country’s call for the end of the imposition of the unilateral coercive measures against Venezuela, which he said was contrary to the rules and principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations.
He closed by saying it had become difficult for the Sustainable Development Goals to be achieved among SIDS, “due to the net effect of the ongoing crises, which continues to dislodge the world economies”. Citing the adverse effects on production, and poverty he shared were growing, while at the same time jeopardizing fiscal management in many countries. He also stressed that, for small island States to eliminate poverty and attain sustainable levels of development, the vulnerability criteria now applicable to all nations, to be comprehensively reviewed as a matter of urgency. He says there was need for development of a new multidimensional vulnerability index for small island developing States, which would “eliminate the threat to our economic development and security”, as the current one prevented economies from moving forward on equal footing. While congratulating the UN on its 77 years of meeting, he said it was strategic transformation that was needed, if we are to achieve the 2030 agenda and safeguard our planet for future generations.