Region Deepens Coordination Ahead of Global Climate Summit in Belem, Brazil.
CARICOM leaders convened in Saint Lucia from October 7–10, 2025, for the Second Regional Preparatory Meeting for the 30th Conference of the Parties (COP30) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Hosted by the Government of Saint Lucia in collaboration with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), these meetings were a critical step in finalizing the region’s negotiating priorities and unified stance ahead of COP30 in Belém, Brazil, in November.
This second preparatory meeting builds on the momentum of the successful first convening held earlier this year in Miami and underscores the region’s steadfast commitment to advancing a unified Caribbean voice in global climate negotiations, ensuring that the priorities, challenges, and aspirations of Caribbean people are powerfully represented and defended on the world stage.
In her official message, Dr. Carla Barnett, CARICOM Secretary General, reaffirmed the region’s unwavering position on climate finance as a central pillar of Caribbean advocacy:
“Climate finance remains the cornerstone of our advocacy. While global pledges have increased, contributions lag well behind, and disbursements remain slow, fragmented, and inaccessible. Small Island Developing States (SIDS) continue to face complex bureaucratic hurdles, eligibility constraints, and inadequate support for adaptation and loss and damage.”
These priorities include demands for recognition of the unique vulnerabilities that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face in climate finance eligibility, reform of multilateral
climate finance architecture to ensure equity, transparency, and responsiveness, and a scaled-up and simplified Loss and Damage Fund with direct access modalities for SIDS.
The four-day meeting convened a diverse and high-level group of stakeholders from across the Caribbean, including Ministers, technical experts, COP negotiators, and representatives from civil society. Their collective presence exhibits the region’s commitment to a whole-of-society approach to climate action, one that is inclusive, informed by evidence, and grounded in the lived realities of Caribbean people.
Colin Young, PhD, Executive Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), stressed that the region’s strength has always been in its unity and moral clarity. He stated, “When we speak with one voice, the world listens—even if slowly, even if imperfectly. The COP, as imperfect as it is, is still the best forum for SIDS to influence global climate action and policy. We have triumphed before: Paris Agreement temperature goal, Loss and Damage Fund, and recently, our quest has been recognized by the advisory opinions issued for the last year. Indeed, while the “arch of the moral universe is long, it bends towards justice.” We need your voices, we need your leadership, and we need your solidarity more now than ever.
The Caribbean stands on the frontline of the global climate crisis, confronting rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes, prolonged droughts, and accelerating coastal erosion. These impacts threaten not only food and water security, public health, and infrastructure, but the very fabric of Caribbean life. For Caribbean Small Island Developing States, the battle against climate change is far more than a policy priority; it is a fight for survival, resilience, and the preservation of our people and way of life.
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