King and Queen walking from the harbour to Saba Research Center (maritime lab).
PHILIPSBURG--King Willem-Alexander hopes the small island developing states within the Kingdom of the Netherlands can play an active role during the UN 2023 Water Conference in New York in March. The King said on the last day of his introductory trip to the Caribbean part of the Netherlands that he wants to bring the islands to the conference because they experience severe effects of climate change, such as increasingly powerful storms and the looming threat of rising sea levels.
In response to a question posed by The Daily Herald on behalf of the media of all six islands of the Caribbean part of the Kingdom, King Willem-Alexander reminded the journalists present that, though the islands contribute little to climate change, they experience relatively many detrimental effects.
“It is amazing to see how some islands already do so much in terms of renewable energy, environmental awareness and waste sorting. It is not perfect yet – and we, of course, know that both St. Maarten and Aruba face many problems concerning their garbage dumps – but overall awareness is advancing,” he said.
The Netherlands will be co-hosting the UN 2023 Water Conference, formerly known as the conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation, which will take place at UN Headquarters in New York from March 22 until 24, 2023 and will focus on adaptation and mitigation.
Queen Maxima added that it is also of utmost importance to protect the islands’ natural resources. “The mangroves and the coral reef also play a significant role in protecting the islands – that was made very clear on this trip,” she said.
