UK to fund Caribbean ocean management

The United Kingdom has announced £190,000 ($486,950) in funding to assist Caribbean countries in sustainably managing their ocean resources. The announcement was made by David Rutley, Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and UK Overseas Territories, during the CARICOM summit last week in Georgetown.

The funding is to be used to create a unified action plan for Caribbean nations to benefit economically from ocean resources in an environmentally sustainable manner, according to a British government release.

“The UK and CARICOM members are building on our modern partnership and we are committed to working together to protect our natural environment,” Rutley stated. “Our new funding will help CARICOM states create and implement plans to conserve their unique marine environments for future generations while also helping to boost their economies.”

This initiative is part of a broader UK partnership with the region, supporting regional security, deepening trade, and building resilient economies, said Rutley. He noted that the collaboration will continue ahead of the United Nations’ Small Island Developing States (SIDS) summit in May, where the impact of climate change on SIDS is to be discussed.

Britain also plans to provide additional funding to CARICOM to help the bloc launch an action plan at the summit on the sustainable use of natural resources.

Much of the British government’s funding to the region has been in recognition of the region’s particular vulnerability to the impacts of climate change. Since 2016, the UK government has provided £400 million ($1.025 billion) for development programmes in the region, including £26 million ($66 million) for a climate-resilient highway in Belize and nearly £20 million ($52 million) to help Eastern Caribbean countries build their renewable energy capacity.

The UK is leading marine conservation efforts in the Caribbean through its Blue Belt programme for three UK Overseas Territories – the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Anguilla. Established in 2016, Blue Belt is the largest marine conservation network, covering ten British territories stretching from the Southern Ocean to the Pacific and making up one per cent of the world’s oceans.

(PR)