Black Immigrant Daily News

The Virgin Islands and other overseas territories need “truer” representation at global forums like the ongoing COP27 climate change conference in Sharm ElSheik, Egypt, Natural Resources and Labour Minister Mitch Turnbull said on Tuesday. He made the point while meeting with Lord Zac Goldsmith, the United Kingdom’s new OT minister, on the sidelines of the United Nations conference, according to the VI government.

COP27, which started Nov. 6 and is scheduled to end tomorrow, brought together more than 100 world leaders and thousands of other attendees to discuss an array of issues including rising global temperatures.

The forum has seen negotiators from nearly 200 countries working with limited success to find consensus on plans to cut emissions and to create a “loss  and-damage” fund for countries being negatively affected by climate change.

But the VI and other UK territories — which in many ways are on the front lines of the climate crisis — could not participate directly in the negotiations: Because they are represented by the UK, they are not permitted to send their own negotiators to the talks.

Island states

In the lead-up to the negotiations last week, leaders of small island states publicly criticised wealthy nations for driving global warming and urged them to pay for economic damages sustained by their poorer counterparts.
Mr. Turnbull said Tuesday that his call for better representation of the OTs on the global stage was made against the backdrop that the territories “make up about 90 percent of the UK’s oceans and areas significantly affected by climate change.”

During his meeting with Lord Goldsmith, he added, the British member of parliament expressed enthusiasm about his new portfolio and pledged to provide resources to different regions to mitigate the climate crisis.

Mr. Turnbull deemed the appointment of Lord Goldsmith — the successor of Jesse Norman, who served briefly as OT minister while Liz Truss was prime minister in September and October — as opportune because “his professional interests and innate passions comprise nature and the environment.”

The VI minister also said he invited Lord Goldsmith to visit the territory as Mr. Norman had planned to do shortly before he was replaced.

Declaration

Last Thursday on the sidelines of COP27, Mr. Turnbull also signed a joint declaration on climate financing along with 12 other parliamentarians from ten countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean who participate in the Parliamentary Observatory on Climate Change and Just Transition (known by its Spanish acronym OPCC).

The declaration was signed during a hybrid forum organised by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean with the support of the European Union through the Euroclima+ Programme and the Open Society Foundations, the UN stated.

The declaration reaffirms the signatories’ commitment to “the co-construction of a concrete agenda of actions to promote information access and the design of climate policies,” according to the UN.

Additionally, the agreement highlights the main preliminary findings of the OPCC’s first policy brief, which is expected to present a comparative study of climate change framework legislation in the countries represented in the OPCC, including the issue of climate finance, the UN stated.

Attendees

The global heavyweights who have attended COP27 in recent days include US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, India Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
On Tuesday a Reuters report stated that Mr. Biden and China President Xi Jinping plan to resume climate talks soon — a move that the report described as a major potential boost to the COP’s long-delayed pledges.

As of Tuesday, Reuters stated, negotiations at the conference had been moving at a snail’s pace since the negotiators had been unable to find consensus on a proposed loss-and damage fund through which rich nations would help developing nations meet the costs of climate-related disasters.

VI goals

Before Mr. Turnbull left for COP27, he said the VI delegation would aim to collaborate with other nations to influence the global conversation on climate-change solutions. He pointed out that small island nations typically have the smallest carbon footprints and produce the least pollution, but they often suffer the worst effects of climate change.

“This is why our presence and participation in COP27 along with other small island states is crucial,” he said. Mr. Turnbull added that the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events globally is impacting the lives of millions of people. In that regard, he said, the VI has had first-hand experience from the devastation caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017.

Mottley speech

Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley aired similar concerns when she made a blistering call for more action last week at COP27. Ms. Mottley told the audience that funding is badly needed to assist small nations in their climate-change mitigation efforts, and she noted that many such states have put mitigation plans in place. “We have come here to ask that we open our minds to different possibilities,” she said.

“We believe we have a plan that there can be the establishment of a climate mitigation trust that unlocks $5 trillion of private-sector savings if we can summon the will to use the [International Monetary Fund’s Special Drawing Rights] — $500 billions of SDRs in a way that unlocks the private-sector capital,” she said.

Loss-and-damage fund

Ms. Mottley and other island leaders also urged attendees to move forward with a loss-and-damage fund to help the countries most affected by climate change. “How do companies make $200 billion in profits in the last three months and not expect to contribute at least ten cents in every dollar of profit to a loss and-damage fund? This is what our people expect,” she said.

Still debating

As of the Beacon’s print deadline yesterday afternoon, negotiators were still debating a draft text that would launch such a fund, in hopes of reaching an agreement before COP27 ends tomorrow. Ms. Mottley also called for an end to the ongoing Russia Ukraine war, noting that countries such as Barbados often suffer from conflicts that don’t involve them. “Our people on this earth deserve better,” she said.

“And what is more, our leaders know better. Because while many of us may not have been alive during the great wars, the consequences of those wars still live with us, and we have the capacity to choose differently.”

She added that all stakeholders — including oil and gas companies and associated entities — should meet to discuss pertinent issues prior to COP28, which is scheduled to be held in the United Arab Emirates next November.

NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service (MOFPS) has reached agreement with a number of major public sector trade unions, including a majority of the unions under the umbrella of the Jamaica Confederation of Trade Unions (JCTU), on the new, restructured public sector compensation system.

Between Tuesday, November 15 and Thursday, November 17, 14 unions have signed with the MOFPS on the new compensation package, including, the Nurses’ Association of Jamaica (NAJ), Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA), the Jamaica Workers Union, the Union of Schools Agricultural and Allied Workers Union, the Union of Public and Private Employees, the Jamaica Association of Local Government Officers (JALGO), the Jamaica Midwives’ Association, the Council of Paramedics, and the Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU).

The ministry, in a release on Thursday, said the unions that have signed collectively represent approximately 60,000 employees.

Dr Nigel Clarke, Minister of Finance and the Public Service, said so far, it has been a momentous development, given the four years of work that have gone into designing the new compensation system and the extensive period of consultation with unions.

“We set out on this journey in 2018, and we would not be here without the partnership with the unions who agreed to a four-year wage deal that allowed this work to commence.

“We engaged consultants and shared the results with our union partners. Since that time, we have held several rounds of consultations, and I am pleased that we have been able to achieve consensus even as the ministry continues to work through some finer points with the unions and staff associations,” said Clarke.

He added that, “This is a watershed moment as the Government seeks to transform the public sector into a modern public service.”

He reiterated that the current compensation system does not serve the needs of the public sector or the country as a whole.

“I commend the unions for the level of commitment they demonstrated throughout the process. I want to encourage those that are still reviewing the Government’s proposal to complete that review in short order. Time is of the essence,” said Clarke.

He said further that it is the Government’s commitment to implement a public sector compensation that is fair, transparent and sustainable, while emphasising that every public sector worker will be better off financially when the new system is implemented.

The new compensation system is to be implemented over three years with an effective date of 1 April 2022, and is to cost approximately $120 billion over the period.

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Black Immigrant Daily News

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The President of the National Principals’ Association has disclosed that police arrested and charged a young man with recent attacks on students in Castries.

Valerie St. Helene-Henry recalled that students on their way to or from schools in the Sunbilt-Entrepot area had come under attack and were forced to hand over valuables, including mobile telephones and money.

St. Helene-Henry said some of the students had been assaulted.

“One individual has been arrested by the police and has been charged,” the NPA President revealed.

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She lauded the police for being very active, patrolling where the attacks occurred, and working with the victims’ schools.

“I suppose with the adequate information from the victims, the police were able to make an arrest,” St. Helene-Henry told St Lucia Times.

Headline photo: Stock image

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NewsAmericasNow.com

Black Immigrant Daily News

– Advertisement –

The President of the National Principals’ Association has disclosed that police arrested and charged a young man with recent attacks on students in Castries.

Valerie St. Helene-Henry recalled that students on their way to or from schools in the Sunbilt-Entrepot area had come under attack and were forced to hand over valuables, including mobile telephones and money.

St. Helene-Henry said some of the students had been assaulted.

“One individual has been arrested by the police and has been charged,” the NPA President revealed.

– Advertisement –

She lauded the police for being very active, patrolling where the attacks occurred, and working with the victims’ schools.

“I suppose with the adequate information from the victims, the police were able to make an arrest,” St. Helene-Henry told St Lucia Times.

Headline photo: Stock image

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