European Commission Executive Vice-President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans, will visit Barbados from 12-13 June, to discuss with government representatives, stakeholders and civil society the path towards the upcoming COP28 UN Climate Change Conference and to look for common ground for action on urgent climate issues.
Upon his arrival in Barbados on 12 June, Executive Vice-President Timmermans will have a working dinner with Prime Minister, the Honourable Mia Mottley.
On Tuesday 13 June, he will participate in a tour on climate resilience and vulnerability, hosted by the Prime Minister and in the presence of Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, the Honourable Kerrie Symmonds.
The tour will include a visit to the HOPE Project (Home Ownership Providing Energy) that offers affordable, energy efficient, hurricane resilient homes for first-time homeowners, as well as a visit to Walkers Reserve, a sand quarry undergoing a regeneration process into a natural reserve.
It is at Walkers’ Reserve that the EU recently launched EUROCLIMA in the Caribbean, the climate-related flagship programme of the EU, now active in the region.
The tour with the Prime Minister will end in the community center in Bathsheba on the East Coast, where a press conference will be held.
Executive Vice President Timmermans will continue to Martins Bay to exchange views on the challenges and opportunities of climate adaptation, including Sargassum.
He will engage with officials from Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), the University of the West Indies (UWI), as well as with the local community and representatives of the Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit (CZMU) and the Department of Emergency Management (DEM).
The visit to Martins Bay will showcase past and current support to Disaster Risk Management actions, by visiting EU funded Early Warning Systems in place and discussing how these systems are making the difference at local level.
From Barbados, Executive Vice-President Timmermans will travel to Guyana where he will meet with CARICOM Assistant Secretary General Ambassador Donna Forde, as well as government officials in Guyana, before concluding his visit in Suriname.
Ahead of the Paris Summit for a new Global Financing Pact on 22 and 23 June and the EU-Latin America and Caribbean Summit scheduled for Brussels from 17 to 18 July, this mission is a step towards the further strengthening of engagement between the EU and the Caribbean region.
Background
The European Union is working in the Caribbean towards supporting the region in being more resilient to the impact of climate change and natural hazards.
This entails that natural resources and infrastructure are better protected and managed in a responsible and sustainable manner and that approaches to disaster risk management are implemented in line with the regional strategies.
The EU also supports Caribbean countries scale up their inclusive green transition, by promoting circular economy policies and processes and supporting the increase of energy efficiency and the share of renewable energy in the countries’ mix for energy production.
EUROCLIMA is the EU flagship climate-related programme that has been operating in Latin America for over a decade and since 2023 has integrated the Caribbean countries.
The Programme aims at increasing resilience to climate change of ecosystems and vulnerable communities, including women, youth, and indigenous populations through the implementation of demand-driven actions jointly identified in dialogue with the countries.
EUROCLIMA was launched at Walkers Reserve on 10th May 2023.
In the occasion of the launch, European Commission Executive Vice President for the European Green Deal, Frans Timmermans said: “Tackling the climate crisis starts and ends with emissions reductions.
But to support the climate transition across the world, we also need to make finance flow towards low-emission investments, climate-resilient development and environmental sustainability.
With financial needs running into the trillions, we cannot rely on public finance alone.
We need to mobilize and enable private finance as well, show investors that it pays off to invest in the energy transition and climate adaptation. Euroclima helps to do just that.”
EUROCLIMA will be a main vehicle for the implementation of the Caribbean-EU Partnership for a Green Deal as well as the Global Gateway is the EU’s offer to bridge the infrastructure investment gap by using public financing to leverage private capital and investment for projects that contribute to the green and digital twin transition.
Barbados has recently approved a Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems (MHEWS) Policy in August 2022, supported by a 7 M Euros EU projects on Building the Resilience of the Caribbean States to Disaster Risks and Climate Change. This project is managed by CDEMA.
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