Europe: Member of European Parliament Stephane Bijoux told the EU-CARIFORUM Delegation that small island countries are among the most impacted by climate change and stressed on climate-resilient solutions provided by the Commonwealth of Dominica.
During the talks concerning the Caribbean states, MEP asserted that the war in Ukraine strongly impacts the island states. He said that the EU-CARIFORUM has been working diligently to strengthen the cooperation against food and water insecurity.
MEP Bijoux also highlighted that small island countries must work on the solutions towards climate resilience like Dominica. The small island country situated in the Caribbean claims to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation with its modern infrastructure to withstand any natural calamity.
Notably, Dominica suffered two significant climate impacts during 2015 and 2017 as Tropical Storm Erika and category 5 Hurricane Maria resulting in the loss of many lives and $1.2 billion in economic damage dropping GDP by 226 percent. Following the damages, Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit pledged to make Dominica sustainable and climate-resilient houses, healthcare centres, geothermal energy plant, schools and many other infrastructures are a testament of the government’s commitment.
According to information, the Dominica government has been providing a climate-resilient house to Dominicans who suffered the impact of climate change and lost their homes during TS Erika and Hurricane Maria. The government has already provided over 1,500 houses without charges to thousands of families in Dominica and aims to give about 5,000 houses.
“The war in #Ukraine strongly impacts the island states of #Caraïbes. With the EU-CARIFORUM Delegation, we are working to strengthen our cooperation against food insecurity. Focus also on the solutions provided by Dominica for climate resilience,” MEP Stephan Bijoux stated on his social media.
La guerre en #Ukraine impacte fortement les États insulaires des #Caraïbes
Avec la Délégation🇪🇺 UE-CARIFORUM, nous travaillons à renforcer notre coopération contre l’insécurité alimentaire.✅Focus aussi sur les solutions portées par La Dominique🇩🇲 pour la résilience climatique pic.twitter.com/gBjooMvNtU
— Stéphane Bijoux (@StephaneBIJOUX) November 17, 2022
The magnitude of the crisis prompted a crucial change. Denise Edwards, Dominica’s financial secretary representing Dominica, states that during Hurricane Maria, “the challenge of building back better and being a more resilient nation in all aspects became the mantra for the government.”
MEP Stephan Bijoux has earlier stated that Dominica is doing great in terms of building a climate-resilient infrastructure. The government of the Commonwealth of Dominica and the European Union met on June 23, 2022 at Brussels, during this meeting MEP Bijoux met with the Financial Secretary, Denise Edwards.
Both leaders discussed about how the small island of Dominica has been working to become the world’s first climate-resilient nation. MEP also lauded the efforts of Dominica and pledged that the European Union would help the country in this working development. He stated, “We are with Dominica in the fight against climate change.”
Furthermore, he lauded the efforts made by the country to build a resilient infrastructure to strengthen the war against climate change despite being a small island nation.
This meet was also attended by the CEO of the CS Global Partners, Micha Rose Emmett.
