Caribbean leaders meet in storm-ravaged Grenada

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Caribbean leaders recently began two full days of meetings in tourism paradise, Grenada, whose two sister isles, Carriacou and Petite Martinique, were recently leveled by Hurricane Beryl. The meetings were convened amid cries that increasingly powerful Atlantic storms and climate change factors are forcing governments to redirect revenues toward rebuilding rather than developing economies.

Every speaker at Sunday’s opening ceremony referred to the plight of the region as a recurring victim of climate change, with host Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell expressing fears that storms and climate change factors are becoming more than an existential threat to the 15-nation bloc.

“If someone chooses to bomb your country, it’s existential but easy to stop. You negotiate, you call a truce. Explain to the citizens of Carriacou and Petite Martinique how we will stop these Category 4 and Category 5 hurricanes from hitting them. That is why Caricom must, shall, and will continue to advocate for climate justice. The stark reality that we may not have a country to pass on to future generations,” he said to applause from colleagues and invitees.

Regional member states have rallied to assist Grenada and its two sister isles to rebuild and recover from Beryl, with some sending cash donations, others sending soldiers to help rebuild schools and restore fallen power lines and personnel to help with security. The island was last badly hit by Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which had destroyed about 80% of the housing stock on mainland Grenada. The summit was initially scheduled to be held from July 4 but had to be pushed back because Beryl had made landfall with devastating effects. Beryl had also touched on St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, the Cayman Islands, and Jamaica.

Mitchell, Guyanese President Irfaan Ali, and Secretary General Carla Barnett all talked about the effects of climatic change on the region, with the host noting that Caricom cannot flinch from its efforts “to advocate for climate justice.” He said that he had initially believed that the bloc was a functioning talk shop but is now well aware that this is not the case given the level of cooperation among member states and the intense level of assistance states are prepared to render to each other in the time of crises.

President Ali, who at this summit turned over the chairmanship to Mitchell, asked “Where are the voices of the private sector and all those who profess immense love for the region, in helping the leadership of the region to call upon the international community to support the redevelopment and to support the rebuilding of the economies that suffered even from this latest hurricane?

“We have to now fight to ensure we build systems that work for us are not systems that are imposed upon us. We have to build systems that work for our region. We have to trust in ourselves. We have to have faith in each other and we have to have hope about the future. We can define ourselves or continue to allow ourselves to be defined.” Other key issues on the agenda include a review of the situation in Haiti. Regional leaders had played a key role in helping the bloc’s most populous member state to form an interim government to replace the previously collapsed one. The island is represented by Edgard LeBlanc Fils.

Progress in the operations of the single trading market and the free movement of people in Caricom are also on the agenda. At the opening ceremony, Curacao was admitted as the sixth associate member alongside the Cayman Islands, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Turks and Caicos, and Anguilla. The Dominican Republic has also made a bid to become a full member, but it is unclear if its bid will be examined by the full conference this time.

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