Trinidad and Tobago and EU hold high level talks on climate change

NEW YORK, USA — Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of State in the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources, Ramona Ramdial has held discussions on climate change with European Union (EU) Commissioner for Climate Action, Connie Hedegaard.

The bilateral meeting took place last Wednesday on the margins of the General Debate of the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which was held New York. Ramdial was a member of the high-level delegation from Trinidad and Tobago in attendance at the United Nations General Assembly.

The meeting was convened by the EU to allow progressive states, both developed and developing, to discuss their expectations for the next round of climate talks to be held in Warsaw, Poland, in November at the 19th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the 9th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol.

During the meeting, Ramdial said there is an urgent need to identify sources of climate finance. The minister expressed her hope that the Warsaw Conference ought to be a confidence building meeting for Parties, which should set important milestones for meetings in Peru in 2014 and Paris in 2015:

“For Trinidad and Tobago, the upcoming Warsaw Conference must result in a legally binding agreement applicable to all; one which accords with the principles of environmental integrity and ensures that there are no free riders in concerted global action on climate change,” she said.

Ramdial also outlined the domestic action being taken in Trinidad and Tobago to address the issue of climate change such as the development of a national climate change policy, a renewable energy policy and a national carbon reduction strategy in the industrial and power generation sectors, local studies for the mainstreaming of climate change into national development and a feasibility study on carbon capture and storage in geological formations.

Ramdial was invited to meet with Hedegaard for a bilateral discussion on the relevant issues after the main meeting.

During the bilateral meeting, Hedegaard and Ramdial exchanged views on the main issues at stake for the Warsaw meeting in November. Both parties emphasized the need for further dialogue and continued cooperation.

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