The upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Brazil must deliver a just outcome for small island states in the Caribbean and further abroad, Virgin Islands Special Envoy Benito Wheatley said during a regional meeting held last week in the country’s capital.
At the November conference, known under the Brazilian presidency this year as COP30, the island states plan to continue fighting for climate justice at a time when global attention has shifted away from the climate crisis to tariffs and other conflicts, according to Mr. Wheatley.
The special envoy was speaking at a special two-day meeting of representatives and parliamentarians from across Latin America and the Caribbean.
During the session, attendees presented an official letter of support to COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago, who explained the Brazilian government’s climate priorities.
Panel speech
Mr. Wheatley made the VI’s case during a panel discussion at the event.
“The Caribbean is among the smallest CO2 emitters in the world but yet at greatest risk from the negative impacts of climatic change resulting from global warming driven by global emissions,” he said. “We did not create this problem, and we alone should not have to bear the cost of reinforcing and rebuilding our societies from hurricanes and other climate impacts.”
To address such issues, he called for “climate justice.”
“If global temperatures continue to rise at the current pace and exceed 1.5 Celsius [above pre-industrial averages], the Caribbean will eventually become an uninhabitable place to live,” he said. “The support of Latin America and the Caribbean is critical to Brazil’s push for a just outcome when world leaders meet later this year.”
In a personal exchange with Mr. Corrêa, the special envoy thanked the Brazilian government for engaging with the Caribbean on priorities for climate action benefitting island states.
The summit
The second Parliamentary Summit on Climate Change and Just Transition of Latin America and the Caribbean, held from Aug. 6-7 in Brasilia, was organised by the Parliamentary Observatory for Climate Change and Just Transition (OPCC) and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).
The VI currently serves as a vice chair of ECLAC as well as the Regional Conference on South-South Cooperation in Latin America and the Caribbean and the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee.
COP30 is scheduled for Nov. 10-21 in Belém, Brazil.
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