Georgetown – Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and Overseas Territories, David Rutley, represented the UK at the 46th CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting.
At the event, he announced £190,000 of UK funding to help CARICOM countries manage their oceans sustainably. The funding will be used to create a unified action plan that will allow Caribbean countries to benefit economically from their ocean resources in an environmentally friendly manner. Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and UK Overseas Territories, David Rutley said: “The UK and CARICOM members are building on our modern partnership and we are committed to working together to protect our natural environment. Our new funding will help CARICOM states create and implement plans to conserve their unique marine environments for future generations while also helping to boost their economies. This is part of our wider partnership, which supports regional security, deepening trade and building resilient economies. Our collaboration will continue ahead of the UN’s Small Island Developing States summit in May.”
The new UK funding comes ahead of the UN’s Small Island Developing States (SIDS) summit in May, where the international community will meet to discuss the impact of climate change on SIDS. The UK will also provide additional funding to CARICOM to help the organisation launch an action plan at the summit on the sustainable use of natural resources.
The UK is one of the largest bilateral donors to the Caribbean, an area of the world particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and has provided £400 million for development programmes in the region since 2016. These include £26 million for a climate-resilient highway in Belize, as well as almost £ 20 million to help Eastern Caribbean countries build their renewable energy capacity.
The UK is already leading marine conservation efforts in the Caribbean, with three Overseas Territories (Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands and Anguilla) members of our flagship Blue Belt programme. Established in 2016 and covering 10 OTs, Blue Belt is the largest marine conservation network in the world – covering 1% of the planet’s oceans from the Southern to the Pacific.