BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – GUYANA’ President and current CARICOM Chairman, His Excellency David Granger has expressed disappointment at the recent position taken by the United States to withdraw from the Paris Climate Change Accord.
Late last week on the lawns of the White House, President Donald Trump announced that the United States would be withdrawing from the Agreement.
The Paris Agreement, as it is often called, is an agreement among 196 countries geared towards scaling back on greenhouse gas emissions to mitigate the rise of global temperatures.
According to reports, the Agreement would see developing countries such as the United States, China and other heavy industrial polluting nations cutting their greenhouse gas emissions.
It would also see small island nations benefiting from a climate change fund that was established to aid developing countries.
President Granger, according to a CARICOM statement, noted that the Paris Agreement on Climate Change was more than just another international agreement on another complex international issue. It reflects the acknowledgment and acceptance that climate change is a global issue requiring global solutions.
“The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is therefore deeply dismayed and disappointed by the decision of the United States to withdraw from the Agreement,” the statement said.
It continued: “For us Climate Change is an existential threat. As members of a Community of Small-Island and Low-Lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS), the reality of climate change is making itself manifest to us, especially given that our Region is the most prone to natural disasters globally.
“The need for global action to combat this phenomenon is past urgent. As one of the prime contributors to the emissions which continue to push global temperature rise to an untenable level, the leadership of the United States in efforts to curb the warming of the planet is an important factor.
“Abdication of that responsibility sends a negative signal particularly to those of us most vulnerable to the effects of climate change despite the fact that we do little or nothing to contribute to its causes.
“However, CARICOM is encouraged by the fact that the overwhelming majority of nations remain firmly committed to the Paris Agreement. Our own commitment will never waiver. Our existence is at stake.”
It was just recently, at the launch of a new NGO in St. Kitts that Senior UWI Lecturer at Mona Campus, Tannisha Stephenson explained that Climate Change could have a real impact on the twin-island Federation over the next 10 to 15 years.
She told SKNVibes that the spread of the dengue virus and other mosquito-borne illnesses are among some of the problems the Federation and other Small Island Developing States would have to grapple with when dealing with that issue.
“The change in the climate can speak to a number of things, like the changes in temperature would have a serious impact on us; for example, dengue transmission or vector-borne diseases.
“We could speak to stronger hurricanes in the future which would impact coastal flooding, towns and cities, as well as have an impact on a number of economic activities within the Caribbean. So, with that context where we see our climate changing, these are some of the areas where the impacts would be felt, as well as tourism.”
