The
Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley warned of a backlash of mass
migration to the world’s richest and biggest polluters, saying an
influx of climate refugees can be expected in coming years as a
consequence of failing to take action to stop climate change.
“It
is diabolical and it is unbelievable. I refer to the plight of
Barbuda whose cost of recovery was 10 times that which was pledged,
and who still have not collected even that which was pledged,”
Mottley says. “I refer to Dominica, whose public service is
minuscule to most countries but who are required to jump through the
same hoops to unlock 300 million dollars in public funds while the
people of Dominica, who were affected like the people of Abaco and
Grand Bahama in the Bahamas, don’t know where they’re going to
earn money this week,” Mottley adds.
Foreign
Affairs Minister of Belize Wilfred Elrington says the
latest special report on the ocean and cryosphere from
the IPCC projecting that 65 million people who inhabit islands
and low-lying states are at risk of total inundation, only reinforced
what is already happening.
“Our
people receive daily reminders of the ticking clock for our survival.
Last year we had a special report from the IPCC that predicted
utter devastation for our countries if we missed the 1.5° C target.
Our beaches are disappearing, our drinking water is being salinated,
our oceans and seas are warming, acidifying and deoxygenating
threatening our reefs and our fisheries. And if we are not
experiencing more frequent flooding events, we are experiencing
extreme drought events,” Elrington adds. “Anyone of us could be
the next to face a Category 5 hurricane or cyclone. We are the ground
zero of a global climate and biodiversity crisis.”
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