CARIBBEAN SPECIAL REPORT Caribbean Consulates Anguilla 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200 Antigua & Barbuda 305 East 47th Street, Suite 6A New York, N.Y. 10020 Tel: 212-541-4117 The Bahamas 231 East 46th Street New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-421-6420 Barbados 820 Second Avenue, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-551-4325 Belize 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1911 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-593-0999 Dominica 800 Second Avenue, Suite 400H New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-949-0853 Dominican Republic 1500 Broadway, Suite 410 New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-599-8478 Grenada 685 Third Avenue, Suite 1101 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-599-0301 Guyana 308 West 38th Street New York, N.Y. 10018 Tel: 212-947-5119 Haiti 815 Second Avenue,6th Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-697-9767 Jamaica 767 Third Avenue, 2nd Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-935-9000 Martinique 444 Madison Avenue, 16th Floor New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-838-6887 Montserrat 845 Third Avenue New York, N.Y. 10022 Tel: 212-745-0200
2
AOSIS Statement at US Leaders Summit on Climate Change Organized by President Joe Biden
P
resident Biden, I thank you for convening this very important gathering to address the most significant threat facing our one planet and our one humanity. We are grateful that the United States and China have pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and we look forward to swift action in their transitioning into carbon neutral economies. We urge other major emitting nations to follow this vital example set by the United States and China. We remind that the 44 members of the Alliance of Small Island States(AOSIS), through no fault of their own, confront the greatest threats of Climate Change. The 44 AOSIS members, are the least contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Collectively, they emit just 1.5 percent of the emissions of industrialized nations, and many of them have already begun to roll out ambitious programs to reduce their small carbon footprint, particularly in renewable energy. They made ambitious national commitments at COP 21 in Paris and they remain passionately committed to implementing them within their means. However, the harmful effects of Climate Change are growing, and the cost of mitigation and recovery is being counted in human lives and livelihoods. The economic situation of our countries was already grave before the COVID-19 pandemic. It is now dire, particularly for tourism dependent nations. We are literally teetering on the edge of despair.
PM Hon. Gaston Browne Photo: OECS
Over the years, the debt of small states has risen to unsustainable levels, because of repeated borrowings to rebuild and recover from continuous debilitation by natural disasters, arising from climate change. Mechanisms, introduced by International Financial Institutions (IFIs), for addressing the looming debt crisis are insufficient. For some small states, even these inadequate instruments are denied, because of the false criterion of middle and high per capita income which ignores the huge vulnerabilities that small states face. It is urgent that policy makers of the IFIs, instruct that more determining criteria of small size, resource constraints and vulnerabilities, be taken fully into account for concessional financing. Colleagues, repayment of official debt by small states, including to the Paris Club, is near impossible in the prevailing parlous circumstances. A permanent solution to the looming debt crisis is compelling and necessary. This requires action to design new and
enhanced financial instruments and to provide debt relief, including debt cancellation, debt suspension, debt rescheduling, debt restructuring and debt-for-climate swaps. Worsening Climate conditions are uprooting workers from previously productive sectors and causing a crisis of emigration and refugees. This, too, must be reversed in the global interest. We should acknowledge the interconnectedness of human civilization; that small states are also markets, providing revenues and employment for larger and richer nations. Every major country benefits perennially from trade surpluses with small states. To continue to be viable markets, to remain viable democracies, to uphold human rights and the rule of law; and to provide economic conditions that discourage refugees, we need the following: •Urgent access to COVID-19 vaccines, which should be prioritized based on vulnerability. •Immediate action to cut greenhouse gas emissions. •A program of debt forgiveness and debt rescheduling •Concessional financing that takes account of vulnerabilities and, •Funding to compensate for damage, to help reconstruct our economies and to assist in building resilience. It is our hope that a spirit of cooperation will emerge from this gathering of 40 that can be taken to Glasgow, to inspire a program of action for small states at COP26. Thank you.l
Panama 1212 Avenue of the Americas, 20th Floor New York, N.Y. 10036 Tel: 212-840-2450 St. Kitts & Nevis 414 East 75th Street, 5th Floor New York, N.Y. 10021 Tel: 212-535-5521 St. Lucia 800 Second Avenue, 9th Floor New York, N.Y. 10007 Tel: 212-697-9360 St. Maarten 675 Third Avenue, Suite 1807 New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 800-786-2278 St. Vincent & The Grenadines 801 Second Avenue, 21st Floor New York, N.Y. 10017 Tel: 212-687-4981 Trinidad & Tobago 125 Maiden Lane, 4th Floor New York, N.Y. 10038 Tel: 212-682-7272 For more Consulate information go to www.cawnyc.com/directory
VISIT WWW.CAWNYC.COM FOR THE LATEST CARIBBEAN NEWS, IMMIGRATION UPDATES, VIEWPOINTS, ENTERTAINMENT & MORE! LIKE US ON FACEBOOK @CAWNYC!
