ST. LUCIA: The Regional Coordinating Committee on Climate Change met to review the progress made in the implementation of the region’s climate change plan.
The Regional Coordinating Committee on Climate Change (RCCCC), under the chairmanship of Hon. Dr. James Fletcher, the Minister for Public Service, Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology met in Saint Lucia last week to review the progress made in the implementation of the region’s climate change plan.
The Hon. Dr. James Fletcher delivered a much-anticipated address that not only spoke to the the work carried out by the RCCCC over the last few years, but also of the achievements gained by the Caribbean while at COP 21 in Paris in 2015.
“We went into Paris with our ministers better prepared for any COP than they have ever been. We also went into Paris with a closer knit relationship between Caribbean countries, as one Caribbean delegation understanding what role each of us would play, and what part of the Paris agreement we would take as out own and ensure that our red line issues were attended to and received prominence,” Dr. Fletcher said.
The Minister went on to comment on some of the successes which were attained.
“A good thing happened in Paris that I was asked to be one of Laura Fabiosis’ facilitators on an issue that was of critical importance to us: the question of our mission on the long term temperature goal and that resulted in the Caribbean receiving a more sympathetic ear towards having 1.5 degrees celcius reflected in the Paris agreement. At the end of the day the reference to 1.5 degrees is not as strong as it could have been but it is certainly alot stronger than we thought it would have been. We also got things like loss and damage, red plus, the preservation of the special and unique vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States, issues related to climate finance and equally importantly, the COP decision a commitment to review the level of climate finance in the post 20/20 period using 100 billion dollars as a floor.”
The Regional Coordinating Committee on Climate Change comprises of representatives from a wide range of regional organisations.
