PM Terrance Drew participates in CIWiL high-level event at SIDS4

St Kitts and Nevis: Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew participated in a high-level event hosted by Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) on the margins of the 4^th International Conference on SIDS on Tuesday. The event was held under the theme- “Re-aligning Climate Finance: Accelerating Equal Access and Inclusion.”

During the event, he shared the vision of his government on fulfilling their agenda of becoming a Sustainable Island State. He also emphasized that there is a need for more efforts from the developed and global world against the impact of climate change which is highly witnessed by the small island states.

PM Terrance Drew noted that climate change has a far-reaching impact on lives, livelihoods, and the environment which are necessary at all levels of society to increase action. He said,” Climate change has a far-reaching impact on lives, livelihoods, and the environment, and education and awareness activities are necessary at all levels of society to increase action. We must ensure that at every stage there is a connection – from the grassroots level upwards, otherwise, we are not going to get anywhere.”

In addition to that, he also shared his intervention at the United National High-level meeting on the mobilization of resources for Small Island Developing States. He said that climate financing is the most important aspect as the small island states should be made strong enough against the impact of climate change.

Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew also engaged with several high-level dignitaries at a Leader’s Breakfast Meeting focused on addressing the existential threats posed by sea-level rise.

Notably, the breakfast meeting was hosted by the President of the United National General Assembly Dennis Francis, and cohosted by Prime Minister of Tuvalu Feleti Teo. He said that the issue of the sea-level rise is of critical importance to SIDS, as the countries can plainly see the detrimental effects.

Meanwhile, the delegation of St Kitts and Nevis has engaged in a number of productive engagements in Antigua at the 4^th International Conference. He also expressed pleasure to meet with Omar Shehadesh, Special Envoy of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Foreign Affairs to the Caribbean and the Pacific States.

The meeting featured discussion on several critical issues such as water, sargassum, energy, and financing opportunities. He also met with the President of the 78^th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Dennis Francis.

The delegation also participated in a meeting to strengthen Caribbean-EU partnership, where he highlighted the critical need for innovative financing mechanisms to address the issue of the climate change in the Caribbean.