This unaltered story [1] was originally published on OpenDemocracy.org.
License [2]: Creative Commons 4.0 - Attributions/No Derivities/Int'l.
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Barbados: the small but mighty force for climate action

By:   []

Date: 2021-12

Here are some key excerpts:

“If I used the speech prepared for me to deliver today, it would be a repetition. A repetition of what you have heard from others, and also from me. Equally, how many more times will we have a situation where we say the same thing over and over and over to come to naught? My friends, we cannot do that any more. And I ask simply that we recall three years ago, when I made my maiden speech. I told the international community that the world appeared awfully similar to what it looked like a hundred years ago. Barbados made that position clear. Regrettably, we have not come to say we told you so. But we have come to say that the needle has not moved, and that we have not seen sufficient action on behalf of the people of this world.

“How much more must we do before the global, moral, strategic leadership that our world needs comes? How much more global temperature rise must there be before we end the burning of fossil fuels? And how much more must sea levels climb in small island developing states before those who profited from the stockpiling of greenhouse gases contribute to loss and damage that they occasioned rather than asking us to crowd out the fiscal space that we have for development to cure the damage caused by the greed of others? And how many more hurricanes must destroy, locusts devour and islands be submerged before we recognise that $100bn in adaptation is simply not enough? The answer is that we are waiting for urgent global, moral, strategic leadership.

“How many more crises must hit before we see an international system that stops dividing us and starts to lift us up? How many times must people come to this podium, and speak to the plight of people in Cuba and Haiti and see very little being done to lift the floor of social development to give those people the right to pursue legitimate ambitions?

“How many more crises and natural disasters before we see that the old conventions of aid mean that assistance does not reach those who need it most and those who are most vulnerable?

Who will stand up for progress?

“And how much wealthier must tech firms get? The top five tech firms have a market capitalization of $9.3tn. How much wealthier will they get before we worry about the fact that so few of us have access to data and knowledge and our children are being deprived of the tools that they need in order to participate in online education? The answer is that we have the means to give every child on this planet a tablet. And we have the means to give every adult a vaccine, and we have the means to protect the most vulnerable on this planet from a change in climate – and we choose not to. It is not because we do not have enough, it is because we do not have the will to distribute that which we have.

“And it is also because, regrettably, the faceless few do not bear the consequences sufficiently. How many more leaders must come to this podium and not be heard before they stop coming? How many times must we address an empty hall of officials in an institution that was intended to be made for leaders to discuss with leaders the advancement necessary to prevent another great war or the other great challenges of humanity?

“How many times will we stand idly by and see women of colour and men of colour and women period be attacked by the leadership of international organisations disproportionately? And yes, how many more times must the great needs be met simply by nice words and not have before us the opportunity necessary to prevent nationalism and militarism? The answer is that this age dangerously resembles that of a century ago. A time when we were on the eve of the Great Depression, a time when we fought a similar pandemic, and a time when fascism, populism and nationalism led to the decimation of populations that are too horrendous for us to even contemplate. Our world knows not what it is gambling with. And if we don’t control this fire, it will burn us all down.

“As I said two years ago, this is not science fiction. This is our reality. Who will stand here and support [the secretary general] to give him the mandate and our institutions, be it the WHO, the IMF, the World Bank or the regional development banks or the development institutions – who will give them the mandate to go forward if we continue to refuse to summon the political will to confront what we know we must?

“In the words of Robert Nesta [Bob] Marley – ‘who will get up and stand up?’ Who will get up and stand up for the rights of our people? Who will stand up in the name of all those who have died in this awful pandemic, the millions? Who will stand up on behalf of all those who have died because of the climate crisis? Or who will stand up for the small island developing states who need 1.5°C to survive as we go to COP26? Who, who will stand up? Not with a little token, but with real progress.
[END]

[1] Url: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/oureconomy/barbados-the-small-but-mighty-force-for-climate-action/
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