FORT-DE-FRANCE, Martinique – The full value of what was achieved at the Caribbean Climate Change Summit this weekend won’t be revealed until later this year, says Hon. Minister of the Environment Claude Hogan.
Speaking following the closure of the one-day conference which brought together more than 40 Heads of Government, Ministers of the Environment, as well as experts talking about renewable energy, waste and water management, Hogan said the meeting was indeed a game changer.
“We have completed a global change maker at Martinique, but the value of that will be unveiled at Paris in Dec 2015 at the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, COP 21,” he stated.
COP 21 will bring together all the major industrialized countries which are the chief contributors to Climate Change, including the Chinese, the Americans and European.
Minister Hogan said he was pleased that France was taking the lead which has galvanized the Caribbean. “It’s symbolic that it’s the 21st COP, because the process has now come of age with the Caribbean strongly committed to grow green and blue economies. That is already a success story, because we have promised that things won’t get worst with our own pursuit of development, but we need the help from the first world countries.”
Global governments have pledged US$10billion to combat climate change however funds have been slow in coming in. President Hollande hopes that more than 50% of that will be received before the December conference.
Minister Hogan and other Caribbean leaders attended the summit to state the need of France and the industrialized world to invest in halting the continued damage to the planet, which is causing rising temperatures among other dangers.
The group called for a plan to keep global warming below 2°C and to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases. The Caribbean contributes less that 0.3% to global greenhouse emissions.
