PRIME Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips on Thursday called for international commitments on climate financing to be fulfilled to address disaster risk reduction and resilience-building.
The senior government official made the call during a high-level meeting of the United Nations General Assembly on the mid-term review of the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 (HLM) in New York.
Prime Minister Phillips emphasised that the meeting is taking place at a critical time for Latin America and the Caribbean, in that it is the second most disaster-prone region in the world.
He noted that climate change is exacerbating the impacts of natural hazards, with rising sea levels and more frequent and intense weather events. In the circumstances, he called for international financing commitments to be fulfilled, including the US$100B that was promised to developing countries to address the impacts of climate change.
The Prime Minister reiterated the importance of increased international cooperation and support to reduce vulnerability to disasters, inter alia going beyond GDP in determining access to concessional financing, which is critical for overall development, including resilience building.
He underscored Guyana’s call for the early completion of the United Nations Multidimensional Vulnerability Index, and the speedy establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund, which will be critical for objectively determining vulnerability and resilience, and the provision of resources to those most vulnerable and impacted by the effects of climate change.
In highlighting efforts being made to implement the Sendai Framework, the Prime Minister spoke about Guyana’s policies to build resilience against disaster risk that form part of Guyana’s Low-Carbon Development Strategy 2030.
He also highlighted the importance of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to further enhance advanced disaster risk management and resilience across the region.
In attendance at the high-level meeting are several CARICOM Ministers, who met in a CARICOM breakfast strategic meeting to discuss, among other things, the region’s main positions and messages.
The meeting was coordinated by the Permanent Mission of Barbados, in collaboration with CDEMA.
