St. Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG), Pro Tempore President of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), has asked for greater cooperation in achieving practical and concrete outcomes in mitigating the global climate disaster.
Honourable Carlos James, the country’s Minister of Sustainable Development, made the request at a recent European Union (EU) – Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) ministerial meeting on environment and climate change held in San Jose, Costa Rica on May 4, 2023.
EU and CELAC ministers vowed to increase up collaboration to address the triple global challenge of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. They decided to develop a low-carbon, circular, and clean economy in which nature is conserved and restored.
“What is simply required is action beyond pledges, and the EU-CELAC partnership must take the conversation beyond dialogue towards actionable outcomes that are solutions-based, realistic, and meaningful in the fight against climate change,” Minister James said during the plenary meeting.
Minister James stated during the plenary conference that action beyond promises is necessary to scale up climate change efforts. He stated that the EU-CELAC collaboration must move the debate from dialogue to practical outcomes in the battle against climate change that are solutions-based, realistic, and relevant.
According to Minister James, the upcoming EU-CELAC summit on the 17th and 18th of July in Brussels represents a fantastic chance to redefine the region’s position on the way forward with developmental partners such as the European Union. He goes on to say that SVG’s pro-tempore presidency of CELAC is about deepening cooperation on issues of common interest, like as climate change.
The ministerial summit on environment and climate change included 14 ministers and 65 representatives from LAC and the EU. They discussed opportunities for closer cooperation on biodiversity conservation, restoration, and sustainable use in accordance with the new Kunming – Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, such as combating deforestation and forest degradation and promoting deforestation-free supply chains.
They also talked about policies and best practices for making their economies more circular and less carbon-intensive and polluting, such as expediting the transition to a circular economy and partnering on an ambitious global agreement to combat plastic pollution.
The ministerial meeting emphasized significant themes of convergence regarding regional priorities and interregional cooperation, which would be utilized as input for the EU-CELAC Summit.
