Saint Lucia commits to Declaration of High Ambition on Climate Change

24 July 2018

Saint Lucia commits to Declaration of High Ambition on Climate Change

By Department of Sustainable Development

PRESS RELEASE – On the heels of the Second Ministerial on Climate Action held in Brussels, Belgium on June 20 and 21, 2018, a group of countries have come together to sign a Declaration of High Ambition on Climate Change.

The Declaration, which was led by the Marshall Islands, calls for, “…the commitment of all signatories to exploring the possibilities for stepping up the ambition of their own climate action by 2020, and to lead from the front in galvanizing global political momentum for others to do the same.”

The Declaration has been signed by 23 countries, including Saint Lucia and it calls for the UN Secretary General to focus the upcoming Climate Summit in September 2019, on the possibilities for delivering enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). NDCs embody efforts by each country to reduce national emissions and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Saint Lucia NDC has proposed targets of 16% and 23% green House Gas (GHG) emission reductions by 2025 and 2030 respectively, expected to be achieved through interventions in the energy (geothermal, wind and solar) electricity generation and transport sectors.

Minister with responsibility for Saint Lucia’s Climate Change portfolio, Honourable Dr. Gale T.C. Rigobert, signed the Declaration of High Ambition on Climate Change, on Saint Lucia’s behalf.

“There is a great need for Climate leadership on a global level,” the Minister said. “It is important that small States, like Saint Lucia, which are disproportionately impacted, call for the raising of ambition. The Caribbean has already begun to suffer from the impacts of a warmer world, and so we must now come together to find the solutions that will help us all.”

The Declaration for Ambition further calls for the UN Secretary-General to focus the Summit on the need for countries to set long-term strategies to reach net zero emissions, and to mobilize support and investment to assist with implementation and the raising of ambition.

The Ministerial on Climate Action was convened jointly by the Governments of Canada, China and the European Union.

Notably, Saint Lucia was the only member of CARICOM that participated in the two-day Ministerial on Climate Action, ahead of the upcoming Conference of the Parties (COP 24) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) to be held in Katowice, Poland, in December, 2018.

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