Please read the full the remarks delivered by the CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr Carla Barnett at the Caribbean-Brazil Summit, Brasilia, Brazil, 13 June 2025.
It is my distinct pleasure to address this Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Caribbean and Brazil.
Mr. President, in April 2010, you hosted the Leaders of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) here in Brasilia for the Inaugural CARICOM-Brazil Summit. That meeting was a historic milestone that laid the foundation for our strong relationship.
As we gather again in Brasilia, 15 years later, we thank you and your Government for hosting us once more, as we discuss matters of strategic importance to Brazil and the Caribbean.
Mr. President, your visionary leadership and firm commitment to South-South cooperation, in a world facing threats to multilateralism, sovereignty, international law, human rights, peace and security, is not just welcome, it is essential.
Under your guidance, Brazil has further cemented its hemispheric and international influence and has been actively involved in regional and global platforms as a leading voice in support of the interests of the Global South. We particularly commend Brazil’s G20 presidency last year, which championed a multi-stakeholder approach to tackling the critical issues of poverty, hunger, and inequality.
As we gather to discuss matters of hemispheric concerns, our sister nation, Haiti, continues to face severe humanitarian, security, political and governance crises. CARICOM reiterates its solidarity with Haiti and its willingness to continue, along with Brazil and other international partners, to work with Haiti to foster stability, and support the Haitian people in building a more secure and prosperous future.
Excellency, the Caribbean Community greatly appreciates Brazil’s insightful perspective on the challenges facing Small Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS). The Region was heartened by the commitment given by Brazil last year to stand by our countries, in the face of the Caribbean’s vulnerability to extreme events. We look forward to Brazil’s continued advocacy for a rapid and flexible implementation of the 2030 and beyond Development Agenda, which considers the specific needs of small states.
Mr. President, Caribbean countries are amongst the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases but are amongst the most adversely affected by climate change, which has manifested itself in ways that include unusual rainfall patterns in our Region, and the increased intensity and frequency of hurricanes. The unfortunate experiences of several countries around this table have provided sufficient evidence of its damaging effects.
The truth is that if all the nations around this table did everything that we can, as we are doing, to eliminate our emissions of greenhouse gasses and methane, sea levels will still rise because we do not contribute in any meaningful way to the emissions that fuel global warming and climate change. But we bear the major burden.
The issue of climate change is not a matter that we can continue to simply debate. It is here, it is real, and we are living with its impact daily. As such, we look forward to Brazil’s continued support in advocating for the concerns of SIDS in international fora, particularly as host and President of COP30 later this year.
Before I conclude, I must express appreciation for Brazil’s continued efforts to engage and strengthen the existing partnership with CARICOM. The Inaugural Meeting of the CARICOM-Brazil Joint Commission, held virtually in April this year, represents another step in revitalising our relationship and reaffirming our mutual commitment to a stronger future.
I end by expressing warm appreciation to the Government and People of Brazil for the excellent hospitality and logistical arrangements that facilitated our journey from across the Caribbean to Brasilia. Let this spirit of friendship inspire us to deepen our cooperation and ensure our partnership remains a shining model of South-South collaboration for the mutual benefit of the Caribbean and Brazil.
I thank you.
]]> Other Ministers and Heads of Delegations joining us in Georgetown and Online;
Heads and Other Representatives of Community Institutions.
Ambassador Wayne McCook, Assistant Secretary General, CARICOM Single Market and Trade, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat;
Other Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat;
Distinguished Delegates;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is a pleasure to welcome you to Guyana for this Sixtieth Meeting of the Council of Trade and Economic Development (COTED). Welcome as well to those who are not here in person but have joined us online.
You are meeting against the background of many trade-related challenges facing the Region, and in a geo-political environment which is changing very rapidly. The recent tariff shocks are a stark reminder of the need to diversify our trade and economic relations. We must redouble our efforts to deepen existing, and explore new markets and develop new partnerships, if the Region is to advance its goals of economic growth and sustainable development.
As such, the work to address the way forward in trade relations with the United States; the bilateral negotiations with Colombia; and the outstanding Certification of the Belize-El Salvador Partial Scope Agreement, must be given focused attention.
Equally, we need to promote regional production and expand intra-regional trade by updating policies and practices to support entrepreneurship and make trade and business development easier. We also have an imperative to address the impediments to trade and remove longstanding issues of “non-compliance” from the agenda.
I am pleased that a report on the Regional Industrial Policy will be presented to you at this session. This Policy can become an important aspect of deepening of the regional integration strategy going forward, and I urge you to give focused attention as to how it will be finalised and implemented.
Excellencies, the Region also needs to more efficiently harness the competencies of our Regional Institutions and work more effectively together to advance the work of the Community. Time is too short, and resources are too scarce for us to continue to work in silos when collaboration and joint effort can save resources, both human and financial, and deliver better results. The Secretariat continues to seek to work collaboratively with our stakeholders, and we will see this when the Secretariat team reports on work alongside partners like the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the CARICOM Private Sector Organization (CPSO), on critical research and analysis on trade challenges. I wish, in this regard, to publicly recognise the work done with the CPSO on issues of trade advocacy, particularly with respect to the America First Trade Policy and related actions against certain shipping and maritime interests.
Excellencies, this COTED has made progress on a number of issues. For others, finalisation of work is possible. Among these is the urgency of advancing the completion, and implementation of the revised Common External Tariff and the Community’s Rules of Origin Regime.
I commend our regional Senior Officials for their preparatory work and the Report which the COTED will consider at this Meeting provides a solid basis to address significant policy questions and deliver concrete and actionable decisions that are time bound.
Finally, Mr. Chairman, I urge this COTED to make full use of the Treaty’s rules and flexibilities as it addresses the matters before it, especially the most sensitive.
I am confident that under the leadership of the Chair, and with the valuable contribution of Ministers and other Heads of Delegations present, and through robust discussion and engagement, there will be meaningful outcomes from this Sixtieth Meeting of the Council. My team and I remain ready to give you and the Meeting our full support.
Thank you.
]]>I am pleased that we are all able to be here today to mark CARICOM-Japan Friendship Year 2024. In March, I had the distinct pleasure of participating in the Official Launch of the CARICOM-Japan Friendship Year in Tokyo, in the presence of members of parliament, government ministers and officials, and a group of young Caribbean Community (CARICOM) diplomats on an official exchange programme in Japan. It was our pleasure to enjoy the warm hospitality of the Government and People of Japan.
My visit highlighted the strong partnership between Japan and CARICOM, since we established formal diplomatic relations in 1993. Our relationship has been rooted in mutual respect and shared values, and has flourished over the years, including through mechanisms such as the CARICOM-Japan Friendship and Cooperation Fund, and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
This Friendship Year also marks the Thirtieth Anniversary of the First CARICOM-Japan Consultation. It is therefore an opportune time for us to reflect on our collaborative successes and future cooperation, especially, on this occasion, focusing on the development of the Caribbean Water Sector.
Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, water is a critical resource for life. Some, not all, of our CARICOM Member States have been blessed with an abundance of freshwater resources such as rivers, waterfalls and lakes. Climate change, however, is profoundly impacting all aspects of life in our Region, including our water supply. Sources of freshwater are under threat from climate variability contributing to an increase in both floods and droughts, while sea level rise is accelerating saltwater intrusion into underground aquifers.
Increasingly, natural disasters, primarily hurricanes, also lead to floods, biodiversity and ecosystem loss and damage to infrastructure. These impacts are compounded when debt burdens worsen with global external shocks as we experience from time to time.
Water management challenges in the Caribbean are therefore significant. Firstly, across the Region we are faced with ageing physical infrastructure with many parts of our distribution systems that were built back to deep in the colonial era resulting today in high levels of what we euphemistically call “non-revenue” water, whether through leakage or informal connections. This weakens our ability to meaningfully strengthen water governance and regulation of the water sector. This, at the same time that population growth, rapid urbanisation, and economic development challenges are leading to increased demand for water.
Failure to address the challenges to the water sector would further jeopardise the Region’s hard-fought progress on food and nutrition security, poverty reduction targets, and sustainable development. Since effective water management relies on solid policy frameworks and water governance structures, a holistic and participatory approach to water resource management is best likely to maximize positive results.
I, therefore, commend the Government of Japan and the Inter-American Development Bank for their longstanding support of the water sector, and for developing the Joint JICA-IDB financed initiative being launched here in Guyana.
Through the institutional support and development financing provided by these respective agencies, it is anticipated that the Region will benefit from innovative solutions, strategic financing, expert guidance and capacity building.
Several CARICOM Member States have already been implementing comprehensive water management plans, and have prioritised sustainability, equity, and resilience. They are seeking to secure a sustainable water future by leveraging technology solutions, fostering collaborative partnerships, engaging communities, and implementing effective governance practices.
We acknowledge JICA’s Training Programmes for 2024, which include valuable opportunities for Member States in:
These demonstrate that the Region’s water sector development needs align with JICA’s stated priority areas for the Caribbean. We look forward to seeing the impact and benefits of these knowledge sharing and capacity building efforts on the Region’s water sector.
Ladies and gentlemen, the commemoration of the 2024 CARICOM-Japan Friendship Year offered us a welcome opportunity to strengthen our relationship. As we look towards the next CARICOM-Japan Friendship Year in 2034, we reaffirm our commitment to work together to deliver tangible results that will shape a more resilient, sustainable, and prosperous future for our peoples.
Thank you.
]]>CARICOM Energy Month, which has now replaced CARICOM Energy Week, is recognised in November each year and aims to raise public awareness about the energy issues confronting the Community. The CARICOM Secretariat, in partnership with Member States, Regional Institutions and development agencies, organises activities that support sustainable energy efforts in the Caribbean.
This year’s theme, “Invest in Sustainable Energy: Accelerate the Transition”, is especially important. Investing in sustainable energy is key to reducing our dependence on fossil fuels, stabilising costs and improving energy security, while lowering carbon emissions and combating climate change. This theme reflects CARICOM’s energy agenda, as it works to tackle the four dimensions of energy security – ensuring that energy services are accessible, reliable, affordable, and sustainable for all citizens.
CARICOM Member States still rely heavily on imported petroleum, making them vulnerable to global energy price fluctuations. The wide range of electricity prices across the Region highlights the different energy challenges we face, and the pressing need for sustainable energy solutions.
CARICOM Energy Month 2024 serves as a call to action for governments, businesses, communities and individuals to invest in clean, renewable energy solutions that will power our economies and help to protect our planet. By embracing innovation and inclusiveness, we can propel the Caribbean Community toward energy independence, economic security, environmental sustainability, and a cleaner, greener future.
]]>The full message is highlighted hereunder:
Begins:
“Prime Minister,
It is my pleasure to extend, on behalf of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), warmest congratulations to the Government and People of Antigua and Barbuda, on your Forty-Third Anniversary of Independence.
The theme selected for this year’s celebrations “From Community Collaboration to Global Gains”, underscores the importance of collective action in achieving our shared goals.
Prime Minister, Antigua and Barbuda’s support to the Region, particularly in the services sector, for which you have lead responsibility in the Quasi-Cabinet of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM, is much appreciated. The Community looks forward to Antigua and Barbuda’s continued active role in furthering regional integration.
I also commend Antigua and Barbuda for its successful hosting of the critical Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), in May. Your leadership of the Conference served to strengthen global solidarity in advancing the sustainable development agenda for SIDS.
As we join you in commemorating this auspicious occasion, I extend wishes for continued resilience, prosperity and unity, as Antigua and Barbuda seeks to shape an even brighter future for its people.”
Ends.
]]>Agriculture is fundamental to the economies and societies of CARICOM Member States, ensuring the availability of healthy food, creating jobs, earning foreign exchange, driving socioeconomic development, and supporting the development of rural and indigenous communities.
This year’s theme “Climate Smart Agriculture for a Sustainable Future” supports the critical importance of agriculture, and underscores the imperative of adopting agricultural practices and technologies which simultaneously boost productivity and enhance resilience. This theme is particularly apt as countries in our Region, such as our host country St. Vincent and the Grenadines, work to recover and rebuild their agriculture, fisheries and other sectors following the destruction caused by the record-breaking weather system, Hurricane Beryl.
We, therefore, extend heartfelt gratitude to the Government and People of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, for so graciously opening their doors to us at this time to stage this pivotal event. Their remarkable resilience is clear as they respond to the formidable challenges posed by the hurricane’s devastation. This commitment to this event underscores the importance of the discussions on climate change and the sustainable development of our Region.
Climate change is an enduring reality, and its effects are being felt in our nations, our communities and in our lives. It is therefore imperative that we identify and embrace new strategies to navigate the dynamic environment which we inhabit. Our unique vulnerabilities demand that new technologies, techniques, tools and equipment are harnessed to efficiently and sustainably increase agricultural production, productivity and incomes.
Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) is an approach that can help us to tackle the intertwined issues of food security and climate change, and embed resilience and sustainable agricultural production methods at the heart of our agriculture.
This 18th Caribbean Week of Agriculture takes on added significance, as it is the penultimate year of our regional strategy to reduce our food import bill by 25% by the year 2025. The needle is moving on this programme, and Member States have been implementing successful initiatives. Member States have also suffered losses to their production due to the hurricane we experienced three months ago. There is more to be done. We must celebrate the positive outcomes that have been achieved, and we must prepare to do things differently and better as we move ahead.
I take this opportunity to urge you to ensure that our efforts to expand production and reduce our food import bill by 25% by 2025 do not stop.
Beyond 2025, as President Ali, who is Lead head on Agriculture, has said, we will take stock, renew our efforts to increase even further, and set new targets as we move ahead. We need increased investment, and increased knowledge-sharing, and partnership across the Region and beyond, as we take full advantage of the opportunities inherent in new technologies and methodologies of Climate-Smart Agriculture.
Our goal must remain as it has always been – to create a resilient agricultural sector that withstands the vagaries of climate change, contributes to the economic vitality of the Region, and takes into account the food and nutrition security of future generations. The collaborative approach, such as that demonstrated by this event, is essential in addressing the multifaceted challenges posed by climate change.
CARICOM is committed to fostering regional cooperation and knowledge-sharing that will propel us towards a greener, more resilient agricultural sector. The representation from the farming community, women, indigenous and youth groups, regional and international development partners, academia, government and the private sector, and the Week’s focus on the unique considerations for some sectors, indicate our collective commitment to transform agriculture into a more productive, resilient, inclusive and sustainable sector.
Let us use this opportunity to sow the seeds of change and cultivate a future where the Caribbean leads by example in climate-smart agriculture. I look forward to participating in the activities planned and wish all stakeholders a very successful Week.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
]]>The Caribbean Community last year celebrated 50 years of our integration grouping. Our founding Heads of Government were acutely aware of the immense challenges that newly independent post-colonial small states would have in their development journey and even at that time provided for collaboration to protect the natural resources and the environment. 50 years later, Climate change is one of the biggest threats to our development.
In the Caribbean, we, like other SIDS, are on the frontlines of the fight against climate change, bearing the brunt of impacts that are not of our making.
CARICOM has worked collectively with SIDS around the world since the late 1980s to signal the alarm of sea-level rise as a slow, silent and deadly consequence of climate change and we are already facing losses and damage due to sea-level rise.
Coastal ecosystems, like coral reefs and beaches, are a physical buffer and an critical ally in the climate fight. Sea-level rise is causing erosion of our natural coastal systems, and with it, an erosion of our livelihoods, the natural beauty of Caribbean beaches and our cultural heritage and ways of life. Sea level rise is increasing financial costs as we replace, rebuild and recover, even while repaying loans for infrastructure that is constantly damaged thereby causing increased debt. Resilience therefore becomes a moving goal post with every centimeter increase of our seas while global action appears more and more lethargic.
SIDS have consistently signaled that Sea-Level Rise must not erode our territorial boundaries and our statehood. Indeed we continue to affirm the principles of continuity of statehood, equity and fairness, and sovereign equality of states as we address the climate crisis.
Urgent action is needed by major polluters to keep 1.5 degrees alive, make good on the promises of the Paris Agreement, and take further steps to build adaptation and reduce losses and damages.
Development trajectories in SIDS, including our CARICOM states, hinge on global action on sea-level rise. Tourism, food and nutrition security, sustainable maritime transport, sustained availability of fresh water, disaster resilience, and overall citizen security and citizen well-being are all threatened by sea-level rise and will require ambitious global solidarity and action to course-correct and adapt.
Global concerted action is necessary and I confirm the continued support of CARICOM in urgently addressing this existential threat. International cooperation and multilateralism is critical to success in adaptation to sea-level rise, innovative financing solutions, necessary legal frameworks in international law, and harnessing of the natural advantages and benefits of a well-functioning eco-system.
We call on those countries that have caused and are causing global warming to do more to meet the commitments they have made in the interest of the survival of all. They can and they must, because if all SIDS do all we can do to reduce global warming, the sea will still rise. Our future hinges on collectively changing our relationship with the earth and its resources – a shift from short-sighted selfish development to long-sighted, collective prosperity, that accounts for future generations in the development equation. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,
]]>The observation of this day has its roots in the Port of Spain Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) of 2007, which expressed the commitment of CARICOM Member States to ensure the good health and well-being of the people of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). It promotes awareness of the impact of NCDs on the people of the Caribbean, along with measures to reduce the incidence of NCDs.
Influencing and empowering individuals to make healthier choices requires collective action and a multisectoral approach. National policies to support education on healthy food options, physical activity, and access to quality health services throughout the life course remain cornerstones to effectively address these diseases.
The Caribbean Community has been working to address NCDs, a leading cause of death in the Region, along with agencies such as the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) and the Healthy Caribbean Coalition (HCC), an alliance of civil society to combat NCDs. The Community’s initiatives to actively support the rights of citizens to good health include the ‘Tobacco-Free Caribbean’ and ‘Caribbean Moves’ initiatives.
CARICOM Heads of Government have prioritised addressing crime and violence as a public health issue. Dr the Honourable Keith Rowley, Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, who leads on Energy and Security (Drugs and Illicit Arms) in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet, hosted a regional symposium in April 2023. A follow-up forum is to be hosted by the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados, in November this year, as the Community continues to focus on this scourge of violence, which impacts our right to health and safety.
The Community’s efforts to increase agricultural production is intended to support good health by making more fresh food available and affordable, thereby reducing the demand for imported foods which are preserved and contain unhealthy levels of salt and fats.
As we mark Caribbean Wellness Day, I urge all Member States to continue their efforts to address the Region’s health challenges through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach. I also encourage everyone to make those changes, such as consuming more fresh food and increasing activity levels, that will help to improve your health.
A healthy and happy Caribbean Wellness Day 2024 to all!
]]>I am pleased to join you as we mark Africa-CARICOM Day 2024 here in Barbados. This special day is testimony to the bonds of ancestry and friendship that unite our Regions and highlights our shared commitment to fostering a future based on mutual interests and solidarity.
The significance of this commemoration is rooted in the landmark First Africa-CARICOM Summit held on 7 September 2021. This historic meeting of leaders from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the African Union focused on charting a new course to address common challenges, and taking advantage of opportunities for reciprocal benefit and growth. Our leaders articulated a vision of a shared prosperous future built on broadened economic relations and enhanced people to people contact, through increased trade, investment, and air and maritime links.
The establishment last year of a CARICOM Office of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) in Barbados, to provide access to financing for trade across a diverse range of sectors, was a welcomed development in consolidating progress towards the vision articulated by our leaders.
In collaboration with Afreximbank, the Governments of Barbados in 2022 and Guyana in 2023, hosted AfriCaribbean Trade and Investment Forums. This year, it was hosted by the Government of The Bahamas along with the Afreximbank Annual Meetings, held for the first time in a CARICOM country. These important engagements serve to catalyze business and investment links between our Regions, while providing a platform for dialogue and negotiation. The facilitation of new trade and investment initiatives, and the encouragement of joint ventures have generated meaningful partnerships and economic benefits for both CARICOM and Africa.
Engagement at the political level has also continued, as demonstrated by the Inaugural CARICOM-South Africa Ministerial Meeting in March 2024.
Looking ahead, there are several key sectors for future and continued cooperation, including health, education, culture and tourism, as well as regional institution-building. This includes the signature of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the secretariats of the African Union and CARICOM which will provide a formal mechanism for coordination of joint activities and programmes, including especially, the next summit meeting between the leaders of our two regions. The MOU is already agreed and is awaiting formal signature to bring it into force.
There is much to do together. Referencing CARICOM’s call to European colonizers for reparatory justice for centuries of crimes against humanity committed in our Region, both CARICOM and Africa have an indisputable and significant claim to reparations for the egregious trans-Atlantic trade in enslaved Africans, centuries of chattel slavery and genocide of indigenous peoples of the Region. Both Regions are advocating for tangible actions to address the injustices of colonialism and chattel slavery. On this, it is important that we speak with one voice. The shared commitment to reparatory justice is more than a moral imperative.
As we commemorate Africa-CARICOM Day, we celebrate the sterling achievements of our brothers and sisters at home and in the diaspora and affirm our dedication to strengthening our partnership based on the foundation principles of Pan-Africanism. Our shared future holds immense promise, and by working together, we can ensure that the bond between Africa and the Caribbean remains vibrant, resilient and transformative for generations to come.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
]]> Honourable John Briceño, Prime Minister of Belize;
Honourable Ministers and members of the National Assembly;
Dr. Claire Grant, President, and Other Executives and Members of the Caribbean Broadcasting Union;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
I am pleased to address you all for the convening of this Annual General Assembly and related activities. As a proud Belizean, I welcome you to my beautiful country, where our diverse landscape of mountains, beaches, mangroves, rainforests and our Belize Barrier Reef designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site, all together present a fitting backdrop for your focus on Media and the Environment.
I begin by extending heartfelt congratulations to your President, Dr. Grant, who has just been awarded the Order of Distinction by the Government of Jamaica for services to journalism, media and communications. Congratulations too, to the family of the late Honourable Oliver Clarke, who will be inducted this evening into the Caribbean Broadcasting Union’s (CBU’s) Hall of Fame, in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the media.
Ladies and gentlemen,
As we gather this evening, the memory of the record-breaking early season weather system, named Beryl, and its devastating and extensive impact on several Member States of the Caribbean Community, forcing the postponement of the Forty-Seventh Regular Meeting of the Conference, is fresh in our minds and will no doubt feature in discussions throughout the week. Deliberations on the aftermath of the hurricane were also high on the Agenda during the rescheduled Forty-Seventh Meeting of the Conference which was held at the end of July in St. George’s, Grenada. While there, I visited the island of Carriacou, where along with President Ali of Guyana and the Prime Minister of Grenada, we were able to view firsthand the devastation caused by the hurricane. It was a sobering visit and a painful reminder of the urgency of the climate crisis facing the Caribbean region and other Small Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS) which do not cause climate change, but which continue to bear the disproportionate and increasingly onerous burden of its consequences.
Data from UNESCO show that 30.7 million people were displaced globally by natural disasters in 2020. In the Caribbean, the extensive destruction of our nations caused by the passage of hurricanes is a familiar refrain. In the last ten years only, hurricanes such as Irma, Maria, Dorian, Ivan, and now Beryl, have severely impacted the Region. Coupled with this increase in adverse weather events are the other effects of climate change – warmer oceans, droughts, floods, salination of our aquifers from sea level rise – all of which undermine the sustainability of sectors such as agriculture and fisheries.
The increasing cost of repeated replacement of critical infrastructure such as roads and bridges, and restoration of essential economic services such as electricity, water and telecommunications, and social services such as health and education, erodes the socio-economic gains which we have been making.
Given rising global emissions, scientists expect the effects of natural disasters and sea-level rise to worsen by 2050, putting the lives and livelihoods of Caribbean people even more at risk.
CARICOM Heads of Government have been deliberate and unrelenting in their advocacy for urgent action by the large emitters to do what is necessary to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees, and for timely activation of the Loss and Damage Fund. This unified advocacy will continue, including at the 29th Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 29), in Azerbaijan in November, where we will present a coordinated position on the climate crisis.
I commend CBU for adding its voice to our advocacy by selecting this relevant and timely theme around which to center discussions at this Assembly. Commendations are also due to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) for its partnership with CBU over the past two years, which has resulted in a notable increase in the volume and the depth of content on climate change. This is important work which deserves recognition and commendation, and I congratulate all who will receive awards in this regard at tomorrow’s ceremony.
The regional media have traditionally played a very active role in disseminating information on disaster preparedness and around major weather events. As we seek to amplify our call for climate justice, the CARICOM Secretariat is seeking to broaden its partnership with the regional media. You are ideally placed to present a platform for scientists, activists and policymakers to speak directly to the public; to package the impacts of climate change for public consumption; and to counter misinformation.
We especially have to engage with our young people who stand to lose the most if the global community cannot find a way to do what is right to reduce carbon emissions.
Critically, in the context of our vulnerable Caribbean Region, our media must scrutinise international efforts to reduce carbon emissions, and demand accountability for the negative effects of climate change on our small countries. What is true, is that even if we in SIDS do everything we can do to eliminate our already almost negligible carbon emissions, even as we continue to build our social and economic resilience, the inevitable warming of the oceans and sea level rise will continue to place our continued existence at risk unless the major carbon emitters do what is necessary to reduce their emissions and do so in time. There is, indeed, very little time left. Scientists are telling us that we are at risk of losing the ability to keep global warming within the 1.5 degrees centigrade which is essential to our survival as a civilisation.
Earlier today, I participated in a constructive exchange of views with regional media practitioners on how we can more effectively collaborate on information-sharing. Despite the proliferation of media channels and more cost-effective means of disseminating information, access to news of the services and programmes being implemented as part of the regional integration process remains a challenge. In many cases, this is especially true for the most vulnerable among us. Our hope is that, going forward, we will balance the scales, so that even as we are probed on matters on which we can do better, achievements, opportunities and benefits are also publicised and shared.
In this information age, access to digital technologies is a key driver of information dissemination, and digital media are a crucial tool for driving change and development within societies. While the Caribbean has adopted transformative digital technologies in recent years, significant digital divides remain within and across the Region.
At the recent Meeting of our Heads of Government in Grenada, the Prime Minister of Grenada who is at this time CARICOM Chair, the Honourable Dickon Mitchell, who leads on Science and Technology (including Information and Communications) in the CARICOM Quasi-Cabinet, launched the development of a Strategy for Regional Digital Resilience. This Strategy will focus on digital integration; infrastructure and connectivity; workforce skills development; and the necessary policy and regulatory framework.
Our expectation is that this strategic focus will help to equip the people of the Region to participate robustly in initiatives to improve competitiveness, boost innovation and growth, and build our resilience to cyberattacks, and other risks. This is especially critical for our young people as they prepare to lead the Region. Importantly, today, August 12, is the international observance of Youth Day under the theme, “From Clicks to Progress: Youth Digital Pathways for Sustainable Development”, drawing attention to the pivotal role of young people in harnessing technology to advance sustainable development.
Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,
This year the CBU is marking its 54th Anniversary. Its longevity and impact are due, in large measure, to the organisation’s responsiveness to the dynamics of the sphere within which it operates, exemplified, for example, by its development of a Social Media Policy Framework for the Caribbean. The CBU actively engages on the work of the Secretariat, including on the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), and as a member of CARICOM’s ICT Cluster of Institutions which are advancing the CARICOM Single ICT Space.
We look forward to the continued robust participation of the organisation, and its membership, in the important conversations about the digital future of the Region. This includes raising awareness of the need for our countries to make the leap to cutting edge technologies. This is necessary to:
I wish you a very productive 55th Annual General Assembly, and look forward to increased collaboration with the CBU, and the regional media, to advance the interests of the men, women and young people of the Caribbean Community.
Thank you very much, ladies and gentlemen.
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