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Education Minister Makes Impassioned Plea for Climate Financing at COP27

A smiling Minister Shawn Edward
Minister Shawn Edward

Saint Lucia’s Minister for Education, Sustainable Developmentdéveloppement durable , Innovation, Science, Technology and Vocational Trainingformation professionnelle Shawn Edwards made an impassioned pleaplaidoyer on the global stagescène mondiale of COP27 in Sharm El Sheik Egypt, for Small Island Developing States to receive climate financing for lossperte and damage due to the effects of climate change.

Minister Edwards made his addressallocution during a high-level COP27 panelcommission discussion Thursday November 10, which includedinclus H.E Nino Tandilashivili, Deputy Minister in the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture of Georgia, and H.E Aminath Shauna, Minister of Environment, Climate Change, and Technology in the Republic of Maldives.

The panel discussed the issuesdifficultés developing countries face because of climate change, and the financing needed to address them. Developed countries have faced mounting pressure during this United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC) to make financing availabledisponible to countries facing the most severe impacts of climate change yetcependant, quoique are the lowestle plus bas emitters of greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide being the primary onele plus important emitted through human activity.

Minister Edwards told the gatheringl'assistance that a few days ago, Saint Lucia faced an unprecedented stormcyclone on a scale which persons had not experienced in a lifetimede mémoire d'homme . “Homes were damaged, vehicles were floating in the streets like paper, schools were impacted and the initial assessmentévaluation we were estimating was somewherequelque part in the region of 6-8 million dollars, and all of this happened inest arrivé dans approximately the space of three hours. These are wheather systemssystèmes climatiques that visit us in Saint Lucia and the Caribbean with a degree of frequency that we have not seen before and every time they come, they leave us in tatters ils nous laissent en lambeaux . We have to find resources to build back, to reconstruct.”

Twelve years ago in Copenhagen, developed countries pledgedont promis $100 billionmilliards annually to less wealthy nationspays moins riches to mitigateréduire, atténuer and adapt to risingaugmentation global temperatures. However, this promise has not been keptn'a pas été tenue, thuspar conséquent, ainsi every year, the frustration of world leaders increasesaugmente as their countries deal withdoivent composer avec the adverse effects of violent hurricanescyclones , extreme floodinginondations , and extreme droughtsécheresse . These new phenomena have given rise to food security issues, increased national debt – as countries borrowempruntent money to recover from these cataclysmic eventsévénements – and loss in GDPPIB .

Edwards lamented that “every year, at every forum, at COP, at UNEP, you will hear the global pronouncementsdéclarations internationales being made time and against that there are monies being pledged for Small Island Developing States, but it never reachescela n'atteint jamais our treasury. And when proposals are written and submitted to the International financial agencies for support, there is always an inadequacydéfaut in the proposal you submit.”

Climate change poses steep challengesdes défits ardus to Small Island Developing States in the OECS OECO Organisation des États de la Caraïbe Orientale
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, and regional leaders are constantly seekingcherchent constament meansmoyens to overcome thempour les surmonter, build resilience in their economy and advocatemilitent for international, regional, and local policypolitique that will ensuregarantira their survival for future generations.

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