By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

UNITED States special presidential climate envoy John Kerry last night told government officials at a welcome reception hosted by the US embassy that every country must join in the fight against climate change and do its part to respond to the crisis for the future generations to come.

Mr Kerry, who previously served as the 68th US Secretary of State, is a part of a 20-plus member delegation from the US that is in The Bahamas for the CARICOM Heads of Government meeting.

The high-level talks will begin on Thursday and end on Friday, but a ceremony to mark the event’s opening will be held later this evening.

Last night, US Chargé d’Affaires Usha Pitts hosted a welcome reception in honour of CARICOM, which saw a number of senior government ministers, among them Prime Minister Phillip Davis, in attendance.

Mr Kerry, former US Senator Chris Dodd and Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols and other CARICOM officials were also present.

Speaking at the event, Mr Kerry told those gathered that their reason for coming to The Bahamas for CARICOM was simply to listen to the concerns of all regional leaders and hear the challenges they face in dealing with the effects of climate change, among other things.

He said the issue of climate change was one that he and President Joe Biden were passionate about and agreed that the time for action was now.

“You can’t say this is an existential issue in one breath and then walk around and slow walk our approach to the technologies, to the challenges we face particularly in island states. The island states of the world and the sub-Saharan African states. I mean 48 sub–Saharan African countries equal 0.555 percent of all the emissions in the world,” Mr Kerry said.

“The 20 major economies of the world equal 80 percent of all those emissions—80—and so we need to move.”

He continued: “I just want to say to all of you, it takes everybody. Every country has got to be a part of this journey and you know The Bahamas and other countries in the region don’t contribute a lot to it, but we all have a vested interest in making certain that we’re on a track to do what our citizens want us to do and citizens around the world want us to do, which is to respond to this crisis.

“So, we’ll talk tomorrow, and I came here along with Chris and Brian and the rest of our delegation, we came here to listen.

“We want to listen to you — how do you deal with the resilience issue? What are the choices in terms of adaptation? What are options in terms of our ability to deal with food production and quick response to increasingly intense storms which take their wrath on the islands again and again and again, most recently, with Dorian.

“So, my friends, we’re all in this together. Different layers of contribution, different levels of responsibility, but every one of us has to take measure of our responsibility to live up to the hopes and aspirations of our kids and grandkids.”

For his part, Mr Nichols thanked the government for its hospitality and said the US delegation was looking forward to having great conversations at CARICOM.

“This is a great opportunity for the United States and CARICOM to strengthen our ties, to work together across a whole host of issues. You have with us, as the charge has laid out, a very wide range of people from US government to cover an incredible relationship that we have and to address the shared challenges that we face,” he said.

Prime Minister Davis also gave remarks and expressed gratitude to the US for its ongoing commitment to supporting the nations of CARICOM.

He also welcomed future collaboration with the US, specifically in the areas of climate resilience, economic diversification and clean energy transition.

“The fabric of our societies is already woven together,” he said, “Our Caribbean sons and daughters are going on to do great things in the United States. Having just witnessed the immense talent of Rihanna at the Super Bowl halftime show, I think it’s safe to say that the Caribbean American connection is an impressive one, capable of astounding not merely at the level of the hemisphere. but the entire globe.

“Moving forward, I would be delighted to see new opportunities emerge for deepening cultural and educational exchange between the Caribbean and the United States.

“The future is certainly ripe for fresh enterprises in the sectors of tourism, education, and the orange economy, so let us innovate and endeavour to strengthen the existing ties between our regions.”