BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 19. There is hope for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) at COP29 in Baku, said Joyelle Trizia Clarke, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate Action, and Constituency Empowerment of Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trend reports.
As she delivered her address at COP29, the minister highlighted the severe impacts of climate change on SIDS.
"The Caribbean and Latin America observed nearly 40,000 climate-related deaths and $1.3 trillion in economic loss in the past decade. Islanders live the horrors and hopes as frontliners on the climate crisis," she stated, describing the hardships faced by her nation: "The receding wave claims our land. The fisher's net has no haul. The farmer's hoe breaks no ground. The pouring rain knows no end".
Clarke called out the inequities in climate finance, noting that SIDS received just 0.2% of global adaptation funding in 2023. "Where is the solidarity? Where is the justice? Baku must be synonymous with relief and results for SIDS," she said, urging for reforms that include concessional financing, a fully operationalized loss and damage fund, and accountability in climate action.
She outlined Saint Kitts and Nevis’s commitment to sustainability through decarbonizing energy, building climate-resilient homes, and forging partnerships. Announcing plans to co-host a Global Sustainable Island Summit, Clarke emphasized the need for united action.
“Our children, our elderly, our women, our girls, our indigenous people, our youth deserve better. Let us be seized by a desire for better, not seduced by incrementalism. Let Baku be the space of co-creation of a financing goal,” she concluded.