{"id":250805,"date":"2025-09-22T14:58:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-22T18:58:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=250805"},"modified":"2025-09-22T15:13:25","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T19:13:25","slug":"prime-minister-gaston-browne-champions-climate-justice-and-gender-equality-on-day-one-of-unga80","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/prime-minister-gaston-browne-champions-climate-justice-and-gender-equality-on-day-one-of-unga80\/","title":{"rendered":"Prime Minister Gaston Browne Champions Climate Justice and Gender Equality on Day One of UNGA80"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Prime Minister the Hon.\u00a0Gaston Browne<\/a>\u00a0opened Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s<\/a> participation in the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80<\/a>) with a series of high-impact engagements that advanced the country\u2019s priorities on\u00a0climate justice, sustainable development, and gender equality. <\/p>

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The day\u2019s programme combined major media interviews, a\u00a0keynote address at the Opening Ceremony of Climate Week NYC, a\u00a0national statement at the UN high-level meeting commemorating Beijing+30, a working lunch on global climate policy, and multiple\u00a0bilateral meetings\u00a0with partner governments and institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Delivering the keynote at the kick-off of Climate Week NYC 2025, Prime Minister Browne drew a direct line from Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s independence in 1981 to its current frontline role in the climate crisis, calling for fairness, accountability and scale in global action.<\/p>

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\u201cEvery degree of warming is an invoice sent to small islands\u2014an invoice we cannot pay.\u00a0Event attribution research proves that our losses are not \u2018acts of God\u2019 but the direct consequence of emissions,\u201d the Prime Minister said. <\/p>

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\u201cAdaptation is not charity\u2014it is survival. Loss and Damage is not theory\u2014it is lived reality. Climate finance is not optional\u2014it is development itself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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He urged timely capitalization and effective operation of the\u00a0Loss and Damage Fund, cautioned against empty promises, and highlighted the\u00a0Antigua and Barbuda <\/a>Agenda for SIDS (ABAS)\u2014including the\u00a0Multidimensional Vulnerability Index (MVI)\u2014as a fairer pathway to development finance.<\/p>

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At the United Nations, Prime Minister Browne also delivered Antigua and Barbuda\u2019s national statement during the\u00a0High-Level Meeting marking the 30th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He traced national progress from the establishment of a\u00a0Women\u2019s Desk (1981)\u00a0to today\u2019s\u00a0Directorate of Gender Affairs, noting milestones such as:<\/p>

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