PM Roosevelt Skerrit attends two-day UNFCCC Caribbean Heads of Government meeting in Bahamas

Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica- Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, departed for The Bahamas to attend the two-day United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Caribbean Heads of Government meeting.

PM Roosevelt Skerrit attends two-day UNFCC Caribbean Heads of Government meeting in Bahamas
PM Roosevelt Skerrit attends two-day UNFCC Caribbean Heads of Government meeting in Bahamas

Roseau, Dominica: Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Dominica- Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, departed for The Bahamas to attend the two-day United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Caribbean Heads of Government meeting. The opening ceremony of the meeting was held on Tuesday, August 16, 2022. 

PM Skerrit stated that the meeting would be highly based on climate change as it should allow for a Caribbean Community (CARICOM) position ahead of the UNFCCC COP 27. The meeting is scheduled to happen in Egypt from November 7 to 18. 

As he departed for Nassau, PM Skerrit said, “My message at this conference will be very clear that the kicking of the can down the road where action on climate change must stop.”

“Our countries in the Caribbean are facing an existential threat because of climate change, and there have been promises of monies to help us build resilience, to help us build adaptation in our countries, but we have not been receiving that money,” he added.

He also highlighted that at every COP meeting, there are some promises, and some new promises are taken from the Paris agreement, but nothing has happened. 

Prime Minister Philip Brave Davis stated that the country is hosting the first Regional Meeting of the Heads of Government of the Caribbean within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.

He added that in 2019, almost three years ago exactly, our country was hit by a Category 5 storm. Hurricane Dorian devastated Abaco and Grand Bahama, ripping up homes and businesses and schools and shattering families and communities. 

“We live in a region used to fierce storms. But the scale and scope of this tragedy, and the certainty that more Category 5 storms are in our future, underscored not just for Bahamians but for many throughout the Caribbean the urgency of addressing climate change,” said the prime minister.