Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of the Environment Hon Sir Molwyn Joseph was today in attendance at the 2nd Climate and Development Ministerial (CDM) meeting on the margins of the 77th United Nations General Assembly.
Co-hosts of the meeting are the United Kingdom and Rwanda.
The main priorities of the CDM has been Responding to Climate Impacts, Climate Finance, Access to Finance, Fiscal Space and Debt Sustainability.Sir Molwyn, addressing the meeting, stressed the importance of Loss and Damage Financing as a priority goal for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), which Antigua and Barbuda currently chairs, ahead of COP27 taking place in Egypt from November 7th – 18th.
A portion of Sir Molwyn’s address to the meeting this morning is reproduced below.
“It’s very important for small island states that there be a commitment and an understanding of the peculiarities of our islands. The fact of the matter is, it has been over 30 years that we have been waiting to see some tangible evidence that our vulnerabilities are taken seriously.”“Loss and Damage is already on the provisional agenda but it must be on the agenda for COP. It’s important to establish trust in this process and it is also important to establish solidarity and I believe the action of getting Loss and Damage on the agenda of COP goes a long way in establishing that.”
