Javascript Menu by Deluxe-Menu.com

SKNBuzz Radio - Strictly Local Music Toon Center
My Account | Contact Us  

Our Partner For Official online store of the Phoenix Suns Jerseys

 Home  >  Headlines  >  NEWS
Posted: Sunday 24 April, 2016 at 3:51 PM

PM Harris reaffirms Federation’s commitment to Climate Change Initiatives

Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris (Photo courtesy UN)
By: Jermine Abel, SKNVibes.com
    Signs Paris Agreement at United Nations

    BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – AS the Federation joined the rest of the world in marking April 22nd Earth Day, Prime Minister Dr. the Hon. Timothy Harris gave the United Nations the country’s unwavering support to the Climate Change Initiatives agreed upon at last year’s Paris Summit (COP21).

    Addressing a meeting last Friday (Apr. 22) at the United Nations Headquarter in New York where he signed the agreement and presented St. Kitts and Nevis Instrument of Ratification, Dr. Harris said the Federation reaffirms its commitment to accomplishing the reduction of greenhouse gases from its current level, taking into consideration the business as usual projections for years 2025 and 2030.

    St. Kitts and Nevis is currently absorbing more greenhouse gas emission than it currently emits, Dr. Harris noted, adding that this is a cost that Small Island Developing States in region and around world are expected to bear. 

    He opined that it is those nations that would bear the brunt of the impacts, pointing to several areas of the Federation’s economy that were hard hit by climate change as a result of a severe drought that swept the country last year.

    “Nonetheless, we are here because we are committed to a sustainable world. On this note, the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis is currently in the throes of a drought that accounted for a dramatic 55 percent deficit in average annual rainfall in 2015. This has negatively impacted our productive sectors, particularly Tourism, Agriculture and Manufacturing. The forecast is for the drought to continue late into 2016. Climate change then for us is very real and can be disruptive to our life.”  

    The Federation’s Political Leader was one of many regional leaders who attended the COP21 meeting in 2015, which saw a number of agreements being proposed.

    Among the proposals preferred out at the meeting were: a long-term goal of keeping the increase in global average temperature to well below 2°C; limiting the increase to 1.5°C, since this would significantly reduce risks and the impacts of climate change; the need for global emissions to peak as soon as possible, recognising that this will take longer for developing countries; and to undertake rapid reductions thereafter in accordance with the best available science according to European Commission on Climate Change.

    Ambitiously, Prime Minister Harris disclosed that his government is working with its road map to implement a National Climate Change Policy that fits into the Sustainable Development Goals and Agenda.

    He stated that this would see the administration pushing as part of its overall goal to have 100 percent of the electricity supplied in the country be of renewable energy.

    This brings into focus two of the government's electricity schemes - their solar panel initiative and geothermal.

    “We aim to become the first green country in the world. We are cognizant that this is an ambitious goal, but St. Kitts and Nevis is just the kind of country to achieve it,” Dr. Harris said.  

    The Prime Minister told the meeting that last year his government had passed the necessary legislation for the renewable energy initiatives to be operational.

    A total of 175 countries signed onto the Agreement on Friday (Apr. 22), while St. Kitts and Nevis was one of 15 countries in the world and one of five in the region that gave their Instruments of Ratification. 

     

     

Copyright © 2024 SKNVibes, Inc. All rights reserved.
Privacy Policy   Terms of Service