Barbados to EU: Help SIDS get climate financing

Barbados has called on the European Union (EU) to ensure effective climate financing for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

Parliamentarian Edmund Hinkson, Barbados’ representative to the Organisation of African Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS)/EU First Joint Parliamentary Assemblies held in Angola recently, urged the EU to develop and implement a viable work programme under the Samoa Agreement focusing on enhancing access by SIDS to effective climate financing.

The Samoa Agreement was signed on behalf of Barbados on November 15 last year. It came into effect on January 1 this year, having been signed by 64 of the 79 ACP member countries and all 27 EU nations.

Hinkson, the Member of Parliament for St James North, emphasised Barbados’ stance on the need for developed countries to increase financial and technical assistance to vulnerable small islands so they can further implement projects which enhance resilience to adverse climatic events, promote sustainable development and reduce the effect of emissions on their territories.

Referring to the Ewald Von Kleist Award recently bestowed on Prime Minister Mia Mottley at the Munich Security Conference in recognition of her efforts on behalf of SIDS to advance climate action, justice and security, Hinkson acknowledged the growing international support for the Bridgetown Initiative and for the need to implement its six key components.

He also took the opportunity to call on the EU to partner with Barbados in reaching international consensus on an effective vulnerability index to replace the archaic per capita criteria for the accessing of development finance by SIDS whose GDPs can be completely wiped out by natural disasters in a very short time. He said that would improve SIDS’ long-term national planning, servicing of debts and access to insurance and compensation schemes.

Hinkson also reiterated Barbados’ position that there ought to be automatic removal by the EU of any OACP member state from its list of uncooperative tax jurisdictions and facilitators of anti-money laundering and terrorist financing once the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development and Financial Action Task Force have amended their lists.
(PR/BT)