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'We are just as vulnerable as other islands'- Premier tells SIDS conference
The call came during Interactive Dialogue 2: “Enhancing critical forms of financing and aid effectiveness through collaborative partnerships: a conversation” as part of the fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States on Tuesday, May 28, 2024, in Antigua and Barbuda.
Premier Wheatley said the mantra also means no one must be left behind in accessing the resources they need to make progress in these critical areas of Climate Change.
“As an Associate Member of ECLAC, the British Virgin Islands is a member of the SIDS family; however, we find ourselves locked out of climate finance, and development finance more generally. Our needs are great, and we do not receive any form of external budget support,” Dr Wheatley said.
He added that the matter is serious because, for many Associate Members, a resource gap exists where countries do not have the needed resources to build climate resilience and sustainable development.
'We are just as vulnerable as other islands'- Premier
The VI Premier said Associate Members present in Antigua and Barbuda met to discuss the issue. “Our political status and per capita income are cited as the reasons for not being eligible for support, but our vulnerability has not been properly factored into decisions by donors and even our Administering Powers,” he said.
Dr Wheatley further added that like other SIDS, Associate Members are affected by more frequent and powerful storms, sea-level rise, global inflation and high borrowing costs. “We are just as vulnerable as other islands. Just like other SIDS, we need concessional financing and grants to close this gap, as well as the technical assistance we lack in our small government administrations,” he added.
Dr Wheatley said for the new SIDS Programme of Action to be meaningful, states need access to climate finance and to get that access, they need the support of the international community.
He further called for a specific UN forum for Associate Members on Sustainable Development to help address these issues and stated that such a forum could help to keep the UN system engaged on the vulnerability financing needs of those states if they are to achieve the SDGs.
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10 Responses to “'We are just as vulnerable as other islands'- Premier tells SIDS conference”
After the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, there now appears to be a broken down relationship between the British Virgin Islands and the UK. I think I am going to have to write a letter to His Majesty King Charles III and ask him if he can grant me full UK/British Citizenship and Nationality and full human rights to live in the UK. If the relationship between the British Virgin Islands and the UK ends then I do not want to return to my birthplace to live there. I was born in the British Virgin Islands in 1968 and I always thought that it was the British Government was helping the territory of the British Virgin Islands all along and now I know that there is definitely a problem in the British Virgin Islands.
It’s infuriating, it’s not just about the after effects of climate change, it’s also about addressing the root causes of climate change.
I know, let’s extend the runway and encourage more flights because planes don’t produce any damaging emissions right?