New York, New York (29th October 2024) In front of a virtual audience of approximately 250 leaders, policy makers, and stakeholders H.E Dr Mutryce Williams, last week, keynoted the Global Center Climate Mobility Stakeholder Forum by highlighting how recent “hurricanes Ernesto, Beryl, Helene and Milton were vivid reminders of the harsh reality island states confront.” Ambassador Williams underscored that “their combined brutality ought to wake the world up from the deep slumber of complacency and inertia.”
This serious warning to stakeholders from across the region and the world was issued as the forum examined the World Bank’s 2018 Groundswell report which indicated “some 17 million persons are likely to displaced across Central America and the Caribbean as a result of adverse climate impacts.” Recent devastation across the Caribbean illustrates the Federation and region’s vulnerability. This reality also hammers home the need to act intently to build resilience and sustainability to better protect Kittitians and Nevisians from the ravages of natural disasters.
The Greater Caribbean Climate Mobility Initiative (GCCMI) is a joint undertaking coordinated by the Global Centre for Climate Mobility and the Association of Caribbean States, bringing together 25 countries, amongst them numerous Small Island Developing States, whose people are most at risk from the impacts of sea level rise and other climate related stressors.
The initiative’s partners include the World Bank, the UN Development Programme, the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
The keynote address took place as the international community begin critical negotiations at UN Biodiversity COP16 in Cali, Colombia as well as the UN Climate COP29 slated to begin in Baku, Azerbaijan.
The Ambassador and team at the Permanent Mission of St. Kitts and Nevis are working purposefully to position the Federation as a go-to-leader as the Federation carves out mutually beneficial multilateral partnerships for sustainable growth.
