BRUSSELS – St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister, Dr. Terrance Drew, says his Twin Island Federation supports the innovative approaches which the Bridgetown Initiative advocates.
St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew addressing EU-CELAC summit in Brussels (CMC Photo)The Bridgetown Initiative, being promoted by Barbados, is being compared to the Marshall Plan of 1948, when the United States provided more than US$13 billion of foreign aid to help Western Europe recover after World War II.
It is a proposal to reform the world of development finance, particularly how rich countries help poor countries cope with and adapt to climate change.
It sets out three key steps including the establishment of a new mechanism, with private-sector backing, to fund climate mitigation and reconstruction after a climate disaster
Addressing the two-day European Union-Community of Latin American and the Caribbean States (EU-CELAC) summit that ends here on Tuesday, Prime Minister Drew said he is supportive of the Bridgetown Initiative “given the urgent need for adequate capital to address development goals, climate impacts, adaptation, mitigation and resilience building, genuine reform of the global financial architecture is critical”
Drew said that the twin island Federation welcomes the summit, the first in the last eight years, that is aimed at deepening the partnership, friendship and opportunities for collaboration between the governments and peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean and the European Union.
“It is a recognition that we indeed have common interests and shared goals and is a reaffirmation of our commitment to seek common approaches to the global development challenges which confront us all.
“In doing so, we must respect national circumstances and the ideal of multilateralism, which remains the best platform for constructive and strategic solutions and future-proofing our nations.”
But Drew said that the summit is taking place at a time when the world is grappling with the existential threat of climate change.
“None of us is left untouched by its devastating effects. Each country must therefore chart its unique course in responding to this crisis and prioritize multilateral cooperation to effectively navigate the global web of climate finance, policy, ambition, and action in addressing the climate crisis.”the existential threats and ensure a just transition, St. Kitts-Nevis, the smallest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is committed to climate resilience, geothermal based energy security, food security, expanded social protection and finding innovative ways of uprooting systemic poverty as well as the increasing national security threats which are indirectly linked to failing livelihoods caused by the climate crisis.
He said as a result the island has developed an agenda called the Sustainable Island State Agenda and that it is imperative to maintain a rules-based international order which is central to the principles of multilateralism.
“In this regard, as a member of the family of nations from my region, I reiterate the call that has been made here today for the end of the embargo against Cuba, under which its people have suffered for far too long. “
Prime Minister Drew said that the decades old trade and economic embargo by the United States against Cuba “is wholly unjust and hurts not only Cuba and its people, but our region. “It is past time to take the embargo off the backs of the Cuban people. In Europe, we call for dialogue and a diplomatic solution to the Russia-Ukraine war. In addition, it would be remiss of me not to mention, that we must not forget our brothers and sisters in Haiti and work together to resolve the Haitian security and humanitarian crisis.”
