The Secretary General of CARICOM recently delivered a speech which is a very useful summary of CARICOM priorities. Well worth a read.
April 30, 2024
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Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Caribbean Community has, as its organising principle, the need, desire and logic of our Member States combining their human, economic and natural resources to find common solutions to development challenges, so as to accelerate development and create a viable and prosperous Region. The objective is to build a sustainable Community with an acceptable quality of life, with people at the centre of our development policies, strategies and initiatives strengthening the national development of individual Member States.When the West Indies Federation of 1958 failed, whether it was because it was a colonial imposition or it was caused by internal disagreements or both, this Region moved on. The Caribbean Free Trade Area (CARIFTA) was born in 1965. It grew into the Community and Common Market which was established by the Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973 and into the Caribbean Community, including the Single Market with the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas in 2001.
At its core, CARICOM is a collaborative and coordination mechanism with a number of specialised Regional Institutions, some of which even predate the establishment of CARICOM. These institutions include the Caribbean Court of Justice, the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, the Caribbean Examinations Council, the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, the Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute and the Caribbean Public Health Agency. These Regional Institutions function to advance and enhance the benefits of our integration in areas, including Education, Health, Agriculture and Fisheries, Disaster Management and Response, Climate Change, Crime and Security, Information and Communications, and Energy.
We have raised our voices as CARICOM in the international arena and undertaken sustained advocacy on fundamental principles of global importance. From the fight to eradicate apartheid in South Africa many years ago to the current struggle for survival of the Palestinian people.
In the ongoing discussions/negotiations on climate change, we advocate for fairness in addressing the sources of the emissions that are central to global warming in a context in which countries like ours bear an inordinate impact of climate change, when together we contribute negligibly to global emissions.
For us in the Caribbean, climate change is neither an esoteric, academic discussion nor an oncoming impact to be expected. We are already experiencing the impact of climate change in loss in agriculture production and productivity; increased cost of replacing housing, public infrastructure such as roads, bridges and buildings; and the cost of raising building standards to withstand the annual cycle of storms that are both stronger and more frequent. Droughts are longer and deeper. Fresh water supplies are receding and the list goes on.
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Read the full remarks here.