Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, Senator Dr Shantal Munro-Knight has declared that Barbados cannot afford to “step back” from confronting the climate crisis, even as global consensus on the issue fractures and financial resources shrink.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Climate Finance for Action Workshop
at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Munro-Knight acknowledged the harsh reality facing Barbados.
“We, unlike others, don’t have the space to be able to say no, we don’t have the space to step back from how we confront the challenge that we are facing.”
The Minister noted that while small island states experience the climate crisis as a “lived reality” that is “real, present and urgent,” parts of the international community are pushing a contradictory narrative.
This disconnect, she said, requires Barbados to “harden our resolve as a nation” and forge critical partnerships across all sectors.
The Government has already taken concrete steps to integrate climate action into national policy, she pointed out, citing 2023 when Barbados introduced climate budget tagging, requiring all its agencies to report spending on climate resilience. The following year, amendments to the Procurement Act incorporated sustainable procurement practices.
Munro-Knight also highlighted innovative financing approaches, including the debt conversion that repurposed high-interest debt – averaging 7.2 per cent – to generate an estimated $50 million in savings for a critical sustainability fund accessible to Government, non-profit, and private sectors.
Barbados has developed an investment plan estimating that $11.5 billion is needed for building resilience and prosperity, with $6.6 billion expected from private capital.
The Minister in a call to action stated: “No retreat. As hostile as the global economy is now, as uncertain as it is, as the finances are shrinking, there must be no retreat.”
She urged all sectors to work together innovatively, press international agencies for widened support, and “speak in one voice”. ( DDS)
