Barbados eyes collaboration on climate change

Barbados is looking forward to working with Australia on climate change, Bridgetown’s special envoy on climate change has told the Australian High Commissioner.

Ambassador Elizabeth Thompson, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary for Climate Change, Law of the Sea and Small Island Developing States, made the call at a recent meeting  with High Commissioner to Barbados Bruce Lendon at Government Headquarters.

A government statement said the two diplomats discussed the possibility of collaboration on building up Barbados’ education profile; the establishment of a green bank; climate financing, capital for loss and damage due to severe weather events, and the Caribbean Economic Recovery and Transformation Plan.

Ambassador Thompson raised concerns about potential “wipeout events” brought on by climate change that could devastate Caribbean countries, referring not only to June’s freak storm and the passage of Hurricane Elsa but also volcanic ash from the La Soufrière volcano in St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

She noted that countries like Barbados had to access climate financing and grant funding on their own while dealing with the threats posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite these challenges, Ambassador Thompson pointed out that there were opportunities for cooperation on the blue economy and marine explorations. Ambassador Lendon said that climate change was also an issue in Australia, and noted the country was sensitive to issues raised by the ambassador.

He acknowledged that there were areas for cooperation between the two countries in the future, particularly as they were aware of the impact of climate change and how it affected other countries.

During the visit, Senior Environmental Officer in the Ministry of the Environment and National Beautification, Travis Sinckler, also stated that Barbados was looking at how it could create a research hub for science and technology, as it sought to develop its blue economy.

Barbados and Australia established diplomatic relations on January 7, 1974.