St. Kitts and Nevis commenced its participation in Sustainable Development Session

St Kitts and Nevis participated in the Climate Finance and Sustainable Development session held in Nassau, Bahamas on Thursday. The session was inaugurated at the IV Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and High-level Authorities on Sustainable Development. 

It was opened under the theme “Climate Action: Building a hemispheric agenda to secure our future”.

The Minister for Environment, Sustainable Development, Constituency empowerment Dr Joyelle Clarke said that St Kitts and Nevis is committed to sustainable development and takes climate change crises utmost seriously.

Notably, on the second day of the IV Inter-American Meeting of Ministers St Kitts and Nevis also chaired the OAS ministerial meeting.

Clarke referred to it as an auspicious time following the safe passing of Tropical Storm Philippe. While addressing the meeting, she emphasized the need to access more funds for climate finance to respond to the damages caused by events such as Tropical Storm Philippe.

Prime Minister- Dr Terrance Drew’s agenda for the Sustainable Development:

Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis Dr Terrance Drew and his government work with great efforts to mark their hard work for a sustainable island state.

He formulated and supported some goals for the sustainability of the island. In the opening ceremony for Diplomatic Week 2023 in April, he shared the country’s plan towards achieving sustainable growth.

He had said, “Your government promises to bring about positive change and pledges to transform our nation into one that is more resilient, modern, self-sufficient, prosperous, peaceful, and indeed sustainable”.

As per PM Drew, his administration focuses on several key pillars, including green energy transition and food security. He expressed, “As it pertains to the very critical area of food security, in the next five years, we aim to significantly increase production and manufacturing of agricultural products by introducing or scaling up the use of technology and innovative techniques. We are cognizant that many of your countries are much more advanced in these areas, and we, therefore, hope that we can count on your invaluable support to assist us in becoming equally competitive in this market”.

He added, “Green energy transition is also fundamentally important as we continue to champion the issue of climate action and mitigation to minimize the hazardous effects of climate change on our very vulnerable society. We also share the vision to transition St. Kitts and Nevis to a position where water and energy are sustainable and in sufficient supply to meet the growing demands of our country”.

Prime Minister Drew brought his attention to water security, which has a direct association with climate and can be a reason for climate change.