Caribbean continuing to put pressure on big polluters

Caribbean countries will continue to put moral pressure on big polluters as they were causing the problems and should commit to solving them, Dr. Douglas Slater, CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development said.

In an interview with Inter Press Service (IPS), Dr. Slater said that ambition was driving the Caribbean’s expectations from the 25th Conference of the Parties (COP25) which concludes in Madrid, Spain, on 13 December.

He told the IPS that for the Caribbean, ambition was about trying to have member states committing to keeping the global temperature rise to below 1.5 ° C.

“We know that is a big challenge, and the ambition we want is that there will be a recommitment of all, especially the big polluters, with their Nationally Determined Contributions,” Slater told IPS.

He pointed to the “horrible storms” that the region was experiencing, as well as the “slow onset events” such as temperature rises, loss of land, loss of mangroves and coral reefs.

“We want that reality coming out of this COP, that we send a message strong enough so that the bigger players understand and to put some moral pressure on them to say ‘hey, we are part of the universe. We have a right to be here, and that right we have to be here depends on all of us working together,’” Dr. Slater said.

Please see the full Inter Press Service article here

Source: CARICOM TODAY