By: Staff Writer
January 22, 2021
Antigua and Barbuda prime minister Gaston Browne sends message to newly elected US president, Joe Biden on climate and cites “grave threat.”
Mr Browne, writing in his capacity as Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) for the period, 2021-2022, told President Biden, “On this historic day, we wish to thank you for your foresight and your concern. We look forward to your leadership”. He explained that AOSIS is “a coalition of 44 small island and low-lying coastal developing states that are most gravely threatened by Climate Change – many of us are your close neighbours in the Caribbean”.
Prime Minister Browne said that the Alliance knows that President Biden “will agree that reducing and eliminating the causes of climate change must remain a priority of each nation’s efforts”. He emphasized. “We are already failing to limit the global average temperature to a 1.5 degrees Celsius increase above pre-industrial levels. It is urgent that: (i) the machinery for global financial flows, including through International Financial Institutions, be adjusted to ensure that every country is served in accordance with its needs; and (ii) resources be provided to allow the most vulnerable countries to adapt to the present alarming conditions and to prepare for future negative conditions”.
The AOSIC chair stressed, “It is vital that every nation acts to preserve the planet for future generations; to save the most vulnerable countries from extinction; and to protect the global community from the consequences of enlarged numbers of refugees, economic destruction, public health emergencies, food insecurity and conflict”.
In this connection, Prime Minster Browne assured President Biden of the “readiness and determination of AOSIS to hold hands with him to jointly address this most dangerous threat to our one planet and our one humanity”.
So far, the Biden administration has signaled its willingness to deal with climate issues. In its first week, it signed on to the Paris Climate Agreement that his predecessor, Donald Trump, had opted out of. The U.S. will rejoin the deal on Feb. 19—107 days after it withdrew.
The Biden administration also revoked a Trump administration permit for TC Energy Corp.’s controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would have carried crude from the Alberta oil fields to Gulf of Mexico refineries.