In a global climate meeting held in Abu Dhabi last week, demands were made for immediate science-based climate action.
In response to this, Antigua and Barbuda will be exploring several options to scale up the national actions of the twin island in response to climate change.
According to a recent press release, “The meeting was a preparation for the Climate Summit to be held in September, with each country being asked for signed commitments to raise the level of action by all countries to fight climate change. To this end, Antigua and Barbuda will be revising its climate actions and make a submission in 2020.”
In light of this charge, Minister of Health, Wellness and the Environment Molwyn Joseph “called for a fund to be established to allow for rapid recovery from extreme weather events.”
Joseph also noted that Caribbean countries have been paying a steep price for a crisis of which they are not the primary contributor.
“The meeting went on to discuss that at the current rate of greenhouse gas emissions, the world will become 3-5 degrees hotter. With the recent unprecedented heat waves in Europe, the entire meeting had a sense of urgency and call for action by all governments,” the press release also stated.
In addition to the Environment Minister, Chief Environment Officer and Ambassador for Climate Change Diann Black-Layne was also present.
Black-Layne told OBSERVER media that “the meeting in Abu Dhabi was to discuss what the government is willing to put forward as new targets for climate action” and “to try and test the temperature of governments to see if they had any idea or to give indications of what they will be pledging as additional climate action in their country.”
The meeting on June 30th and July 1st was cohosted by United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as one of the global milestones for the UN Climate Action Summit which will be held in New York on 23rd September 2019.
The summit will have a conference specifically for youth under the age of 18 that are involved in climate action in their country. The Department of the Environment in Antigua and Barbuda will be seeking nominations from schools and other institutions for one male and one female to join the government’s delegation to New York.