St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
AIS High-Level Dialogue Leveraging partnerships for climate resilience and sustainable finance
H.E. Wavel Ramkalawan, President of the Republic of Seychelles,
H.E. Ulisses Correia e Silva, Prime Minister, Republic of Cabo Verde
H.E. Patrice Emery Trovoada, Prime Minister,
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies,
Distinguished delegates,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am honoured to join this AIS High-Level Dialogue on Leveraging partnerships for climate resilience and sustainable finance.
I commend the leadership of the African Island states Climate Commission (AISCC) for convening us around this important topic.
This event provides an excellent platform to further our discussions on leveraging partnerships for climate resilience and sustainable finance.
Climate impacts are escalating, including sea level rise, coastal erosion, and flooding. A warming ocean makes fishing, a main economic pillar of many African SIDS, increasingly difficult.
African Island States, like many other SIDS, are still suffering from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and global financial crisis, limiting their capacity to fight against climate change and achieve sustainable development.
To this end, the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS) calls for scaling-up climate action and support, including climate finance.
I am very encouraged to note that innovative climate financing and other initiatives are already being undertaken, by countries in the AIS region.
Among African Islands, we have the good example of Seychelles’ debt-for-nature swap and blue bonds and the debt-for-nature partnership between the government of Cabo Verde and Portugal.
The partnership between the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa and the Green Climate Fund, has also been pivotal in mobilizing financial resources to support African Island States to manage climate risks and strengthen resilience
Excellencies,
We can build on these and other examples to strengthen clmate financing in the AIS region.
You can count on UN DESA and the broader UN development system to continue working closely with you to achieve this important objective and the other aspirations of ABAS.
Thank you!