St. Vincent and the Grenadines, president pro tempore of the Latin American and Caribbean States, has called for solutions-based approach to reducing the vulnerability of coastal and marine ecological systems in large ocean States.
The country’s tourism and sustainable development minister, Honourable Carlos James, made the call while addressing a EU-LAC regional conference on Sargassum in the Dominican Republic on Thursday 15th June, 2023.
According to Minister James, the CELAC grouping must seek to develop a regional model framework for the sustainable management and conservation of our marine ecosystem.
The sustainable development minister urged regional leaders and the international community to consider the growing threat to our fragile eco-systems where livelihoods are integrally linked to the Blue Economy.
In this context, he noted, development partners and international financial institutions must incorporate disaster clauses within debt instruments to allow countries, most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, to either mitigate or build back better in post-disaster recovery.
Minister James further noted that the massive influx of sargassum and its impact on livelihoods, particularly fisheries and tourism sectors, continue pose adverse challenges to our economies and threaten the health of critical ecosystems. This, he said, warrants its categorization as a natural hazard.
The conference, also heard addresses from Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States, Rodolfo Sabonge, Dominican Republic’s Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Miguel Ceara Hatton, Ambassador of the EU to the Dominican Republic, Katja Afheldt and included regional experts and scientist focusing on coastal and marine ecosystems.
