On Saturday, the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Philip Davis, stressed the urgency of greater multilateral cooperation to address climate change at the VIII Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
“We have reached a stage where, as a community of states and as a regional bloc, we must think differently about the structure of our multilateral cooperation, as we have a unique opportunity to participate collectively in setting a multilateral agenda,” he urged the leaders of the 33 nations.
He focused his address on addressing climate change and global fiscal governance, two key issues that affect The Bahamas and where there is room for greater support and collaboration.
“We experience the challenges of a climate change convention and I wish to point out that unless we can find a cause for collective agenda setting and solidarity, there will also be challenges in the global fiscal governance negotiations,” he stressed.
Looking ahead to COP29, Davis urged significant regional advocacy efforts to avoid erasing or further eroding the special circumstances of the Caribbean and Latin America in the UN climate change negotiations, and in turn, mobilize climate finance for adaptation and mitigation.
He recommended to his counterparts in the region to support new priority areas of action to achieve sustainable development of small islands and low-lying coastal states, based on the operationalization of the Loss and Damage Fund.
The last COP 28 marked an important milestone in the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund, securing 726 million dollars, however, developing countries have estimated that the real need is 400 billion dollars per year, so now we must focus on making the Fund operational, which will require adding developed countries.
He also thanked the government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines for convening and hosting this high-level conclave and considered that it has been exemplary in its role demonstrating the unity and solidarity we share throughout our region and said we look forward to working with Honduras as it assumes the role of pro tempore presidency.