And keeping it on Caribbean matters, Dr. Barnett was asked about her views on CARICOM's push to get the other nations of the world to treat climate change with the necessary urgency that it requires.
You'll remember how COP-26 in Glasgow, Scotland was widely considered a failure with no clear pathway to the 1.5 degrees Celsius target or any hard decision to phase out coal.
So, where does CARICOM's campaign on climate change currently stand? Here are the Secretary-General's comments:
Dr. Carla Barnett - Secretary-General, CARICOM
"The outcome fell short of our expectations, and much work needs to be done as we continue to advocate on two levels. The first is to advocate for action to reduce CO2 emissions to a level that will keep global temperature rise below 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. The second is to advocate for access to adequate and affordable resources to address the impact of climate change, which we are already experiencing. The positions that have been advocated by all CARICOM countries, every single CARICOM country. We listened to all of the heads that spoke in the leaders' conference - the leaders' event, before the commencement of COP26. I spoke to the fact that our country's every single one needs to be understood to be bearing the heavy burden of climate change, the implication of that meaning that we must also be seeing commensurate access - increase access to financing that flows as a result of the impact of climate change, whether it's loss and damage, whether it's mitigation, adaptation, all of that, but especially in more recent terms, loss and damage and adaptation. Those are increasing costs and within the region. Whether you're coastline or whether you're coastal or islands, the impact is expected to be huge. NOW, all of our countries have access to climate financing, whether it's with the Green Climate Fund GEF funds, whatever - funds are available. The reality is that there are a lot of funds that have been pledged that we have not really seen the countries who have pledged those funds to be making good on those pledges. And the other reality is that those countries that have pledged that are not making good on their pledges are the same emitters. And so, we are caught in a situation in which we don't cause climate change, we bear the burden of climate change, and we don't have access to funding that ought to be provided to help us to respond."
CARICOM's main campaign is known as "1.5 to Stay Alive".
