Britain agrees to support climate-change fund for OTs
The British Government has made a commitment to support a climate-change fund for Overseas Territories, the House of Assembly heard today.
Walter Roban, the Minister of Home Affairs, gave MPs an update on his work at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP28, in Dubai.
He visited the region with David Burt, the Premier, who also attended the Abu Dhabi Finance Week.
Mr Roban told MPs: “The most important accomplishment achieved at COP28 was securing a commitment from the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero, through minister Graham Stuart, to support a climate-change fund dedicated to the Overseas Territories.
“I led the OT delegation in the meeting, where we secured the pledge by the minister to explore this commitment with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and HM Treasury.”
The minister said the British Government had recently pledged £100 million of funding to support vulnerable populations to adapt to climate change.
“Vulnerable countries will be provided with assistance from the UK Government to strengthen the resilience to the increasingly frequent and severe effects of climate change.
“Where it relates to the territories, our UK representatives in London will work together with relevant UK government departments to develop a transparent dedicated source of climate funding,” Mr Roban added.
The minister said that Bermuda’s presence at COP28 was important “for the highest level of diplomatic engagement for global co-operation and collaboration, which presents an opportunity for Bermuda to build relationships, exchange ideas and shape outcomes with key figures we normally would not have access to”.
“Through strong lobbying efforts by UK representatives based in London, our representation increased immensely to ensure that every territory at government level would be afforded a delegation to collectively represent our position.
“At COP28, all Overseas Territories were afforded the opportunity to be represented for the first time ever.”
Mr Roban said that taken together with Britain, the OTs “represent the world’s fifth-largest marine estate — over 90 per cent of the UK’s biodiversity — and are essential to the UK meeting its pledge by 2030 to protect 30 per cent of the world’s oceans”.
“Climate change will have a profound impact upon our environments, economies and societies. A failure to act will impact not just us, but our children and all generations to come.
“To overcome the climate crisis facing our communities, we must increase global solidarity and align our actions.
“As coastal and island communities, our economies rely upon maintaining healthy, sustainable marine and terrestrial environments.
“Together we have committed to take action to protect our fisheries resources and to conserve and, wherever possible, restore our marine ecosystems and biodiversity.
“Building on the good work already undertaken across the Overseas Territories, we reaffirmed an alliance to take action to tackle the harmful effects of plastic pollution and marine litter, often as a result of other countries which have impacted our shores.
“Our biodiversity, terrestrial and marine, support not only our wellbeing, but also contribute to our uniqueness, our nature-based fight against climate change and are important to those of us where tourism makes an important contribution to our economies.
“As an island community vulnerable to the effects of climate change, and as a global capital of climate-related financial risk management, we are determined that Bermuda will participate in the international response to ensure our collective safety and prosperity.
“To that end, Bermuda is committed to increasing our protection of our fragile ecosystem, reducing our carbon footprint and mitigating the impact of climate change.
“COP is important to Bermuda and Bermuda’s participation is important to the discussion of addressing climate change.”
• To see the minister’s statement in full, see Related Media.
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