Minister Dr. Joyelle Clarke Urges Investment in Sustainability at Investment Gateway Summit

St. Kitts and Nevis: Minister of Sustainable Development, Dr Joyelle Clarke, addressed the attendees during the 3rd day of the Investment Gateway Summit 2024. She shed light on the St. Kitts and Nevis’ vision for the Sustainable Island State.

During her address, she explored the visionary roadmap towards a sustainable island state while remarking, “Invest green, invest clean.”

The inaugural Investment Gateway Summit is underway in St. Kitts and Nevis since July 10 and will run through July 14, 2024. The 3rd day of the event is running and features a number of inspiring sessions, including Minister Clarke’s address.

She noted that the sustainability transition demands the reskilling, upskilling and the retooling of the people to support their transition to an evolving, climate centric workforce.

Joyelle Clarke continued to say that the gateway to national scale transition is public private partnerships and added, “That’s why we need you. We need each other.”

The government of St Kitts and Nevis must partner with its citizens, the private sector, and multilateral corporations to make sustainability and climate resilience a way of life, she further noted.

The Minister highlighted that the government is crafting opportunities for every citizen to have equitable and fair access to green financing or small business development, and her unit is already in partnership with the Global Green Growth Institute to ensure this is a reality.

Clarke said that this initiative opens avenues for entrepreneurship and keeps the next generation plugged into the endless possibilities of the global digital economy of a world running on technology and artificial intelligence.

She further said that the success of the sustainable island state agenda does not rely solely on policy, legislation and political will but there is a need of investments and partnerships.

The Senator further outlined, “If we believe in Saint Kitts and Nevis as it is now the strongest, smallest independent nation in the Western Hemisphere, with the strongest Human Development Index in Caricom with a strong, resilient tourism and investment-based economy, then we must collectively work together to secure and strengthen this reality,” and asked that what is at stake and said its speed, scale, and cost.

She explained that speed means that St. Kitts and Nevis must keep pace with the rapid changes in the climate financing landscape, and the government must quickly innovate, transform, and respond.

Scale signified that innovation and investment must match the scale of the ambition to lift every Kittitian out of poverty, and the government must protect the most vulnerable through investments and partnerships. By cost, the Minister meant that it has a price tag and helps people adapt.

The Minister concluded her addressed by saying that transition and sustainability is about the future and the government must pursue this shared vision of sustainability for our children, for their children, and for the future generations of physicians and clinicians.