Caribbean Leaders Urged To Push For Climate Financing At COP27

Make developed countries honor past pledges for climate assistance.

This was the call of the Bahamas Prime Minister to his fellow Caribbean leaders as they convened in the recent meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Nassau to discuss about climate change resiliency.

In a speech, Bahamian PM Philip Davis said that small nations that have already begun to experience severe effects of climate change must pressure developed countries to contribute more financial aid in mitigating its effects.

“If we advance our interests merely as individual Small Island Developing States, our voices will be dispersed, unable to be heard above louder, wealthier, carbon-producing interests,” he said as reported by Reuters.

Davis also suggested that the create new criteria for determining which countries can receive such assistance at the at the upcoming climate talks in Egypt in November.

The recent climate change mitigation efforts by the United States and Australia encouraged Davis, but he acknowledged that “we are commitment-fatigued and we are pledge-fatigued.” He said that rich nations had failed to meet the $100 billion pledge in climate aid to poor countries by 2020.

In recent years, the Caribbean countries have been experiencing stronger hurricanes and the accompanying floods. TeleSUR English reported that in the Bahamas, “the consequences of natural disasters have increased sovereign debt by some US$5 billion.”

Even with less support, some Caribbean countries have begun their mitigation efforts to address climate change.