The Caribbean region intends to make the international community aware of the particular circumstances of small island states.

The second meeting of climate change negotiators and ministers was held in Saint Lucia last week.

The main objective was to apprise ministers on the state of negotiations of a new climate change agreement under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The new climate change agreement will be finalized at the 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) in Paris, in December.

Minister for Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology, Hon. Dr. James Fletcher, detailed the expectations of the Caribbean grouping.

“We want to ensure we have a legally binding agreement coming out of Paris that will allow the main issues to be addressed under some form of protocol. Secondly, we want to limit the temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, because 1.5 degrees Celsius is the threshold for Small Island Developing States."

The Caribbean also aims to address access to financing for climate change adaptation, loss and damage, coral reef bleaching, ocean acidification and sea level rise.

Minister for Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and Environment in Grenada, Hon. Roland Bhola, said special attention must be paid to small islands in the negotiations.

“While we know that the entire world will be affected by climate change, based on the special circumstances of Small Island Developing States and the level of economic development we have, there should be certain allowances made. We are going to ensure that this is fed into the final agreement if there should be one when we get to Paris."

Additional climate change meetings are to be held in preparation for COP 21. These include a meeting of Ministers of the Environment and External Affairs of Latin America and the Caribbean in Ecuador; a pre-COP21 meeting in Paris; and a Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Malta.