Roger Nyhus, United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean and PM Browne
washingtoninformer: Antigua and Barbuda received high praise from several officials for its hosting of the Fourth Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS4), including Roger Nyhus, United States Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, who described the conference as “wildly successful.”
“Our inherited vulnerabilities, characterized by small size, limited financial resources, and constrained human capital, place us at a disadvantage on the global stage, with the scales of equity and justice unevenly balanced against us,” Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, who was elected president of the conference, said during his opening speech.
SIDS4 was held from May 27 to May 30, as island nations from around the globe gathered in Antigua and Barbuda to engage in wide-ranging discussions about their future.
Under the theme, “Charting the course toward resilient prosperity,” the conference focused on assessing the ability of SIDS to achieve sustainable development, including the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.
“The world is fast approaching the 1.5 degrees limit that would avoid the worst impacts of global heating,” United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said at the launch of the event. “Exceeding this limit could trigger multiple climate tipping points with abrupt, irreversible and dangerous impacts for humanity, posing an existential threat to some SIDS.”
At one of the 170 side events that took place at this conference, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley officially launched consultations for the renewed Bridgetown Initiative. Bridgetown 3.0, as it is dubbed, seeks to bring about system change.
She pointed out during a panel discussion that changing the current standards held by the global financial infrastructure is necessary to remedy the problem of lack of access to affordable finance many SIDS still face. This 18-month consultation will focus on securing significant funding for small islands by pushing pivotal reforms in the global financial system.
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