Barbados Prime Minister Stresses Urgency of Addressing Climate Change Impact on Vulnerable Countries

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has stressed the urgency of addressing the effects of climate change on vulnerable countries saying that it affects every aspect of a government’s operations.

She emphasised this point on Monday during a courtesy call with President of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) Judge Nancy Hernández López, and her fellow judges, at Government Headquarters.

Mottley told Judge López that hosting the 166th Regular Session, which began on Monday and will end on Friday, was “an important moment” for all Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

She added: “Barbados has taken a clear position that there can be no separation between people and planet…. And having spent 30 years in public life, I can say without fear of contradiction that there is virtually no aspect in government that is not impacted by the climate crisis…. This is fundamentally a crisis that affects every aspect of our lives.”

The prime minister also discussed Barbados’ groundwater scarcity and challenges with accessing concessionary rates and longer borrowing tenors from international financial institutions and multilateral development banks to help the country finance its adaptation measures.

Special mention was made of the difficulty being posed by increasing insurance premiums for SIDS to secure loans to rebuild after a natural disaster.

Judge López thanked Prime Minister Mottley for her leadership on the climate crisis as she pointed to the challenge with insufficient budgets to deal with the Court’s responsibilities.

In this regard, the IACHR president urged Mottley and, by extension, the Caribbean to lend their support to the Court’s efforts at securing adequate climate financing for SIDS during the Organisation of American States’ public hearing sessions on July 6.

Also attending the courtesy call were Attorney General Dale Marshall; Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Kerrie Symmonds; Vice President of the Inter American Court of Human Rights, Judge Rodrigo Mudrovitsch; Judge Verónica Gómez; Judge Eduardo Ferrer Mac-Gregor; Judge Ricardo. C. Pérez Manrique, and other government officials. (BGIS)