From left: BVI Special Envoy Benito Wheatley and UNDRR Chief for Americas & the Caribbean Nahuel Arenas Garcia.
ROAD TOWN, BVI--The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and ministers from Latin America and the Caribbean officially endorsed the British Virgin Islands (BVI)’s call for assistance to all small island developing states (SIDS) in the Caribbean, including Caribbean Territories that are Associate Members of United Nations (UN) regional commissions, in order to help them become more resilient to disasters caused by hurricanes and extreme weather events driven by climate change, according to a press release from the government of the BVI.
The endorsement followed the intervention of BVI Special Envoy and UN Representative Benito Wheatley at the Sixth High-Level Meeting on the Implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030 that took place in Basseterre, St. Kitts.
Wheatley highlighted the economic impact of extreme weather on the BVI and other SIDS and the high financial cost of disaster risk reduction and other measures necessary to achieve climate resilience, the release states. He also emphasised the continued injustice toward several highly vulnerable SIDS classified as middle- and high-income that remain ineligible for development and climate finance that would give them access to concessional financing and grants needed to build climate resilience, respond to disasters, and drive sustainable development.
In response, participants reflected these concerns in the meeting outcome document which stated, “The ministers and authorities recognised the high and increasing cost of reducing risk to improve human security outcomes and promote climate resilience. In particular, they highlighted the challenge for SIDS, including those classified as middle- and high-income countries as well as the associate members of the United Nations regional commissions that are deemed vulnerable yet not eligible for international development assistance.”
Underscoring the priority of securing just financing for all SIDS, they called for increased investment in adaptation, access to concessional financing at scale, the scaling-up of climate-smart investments, and the integration of multidimensional vulnerabilities into disaster risk-reduction strategies, according to the release. “Financial support for SIDS is critical to building their social and economic resilience and reducing disaster-related losses,” the document added.
Early warning systems were also strongly encouraged across Latin America and the Caribbean. The meeting was chaired by Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Terrance Drew, on December 5, and held in the margins of the 13th Caribbean Conference on Comprehensive Disaster Management, the release concludes.
