Caribbean News
Rich Nations told to pay for Climate Change, Mia Mottley bring another charged speech to World Leaders
By Shanieka Smith
Features Writer
#Barbados, June 25, 2022 – Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, unapologetically laid the blame for the climate crisis on wealthy nations. She said it is long past time for them to compensate countries undergoing the effects of climate change. Motley expressed her thoughts and made the request in New York, where she joined a panel on sustainable development at the Global Citizen NOW summit with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Bill Nye.
“We’ve been carrying the costs on our balance sheet of your behaviour…”We’re not asking for the world. We’re saying: Look, put some money down and help us,” she said.
Barbados is battling rising sea levels, which threaten the water supply and encroach on coastal communities. The
Mottley expressed that the reason for the issues of climate change is the G20 nations, including the US, UK, China, Russia and the EU. The countries that have released the vast majority of the emissions heating the planet.
“That’s what”s put us in this position,” she said.
To emphasize the effects of climate change on the island, she added, “Can you imagine going to a restaurant next to a place full of sargassum seaweed smelling?” “You’re not gonna go!”
Meanwhile, the heavy polluters are better equipped to deal with the consequences of climate change, and smaller developing nations in the Caribbean are forced to battle climate extremes with very few resources.
“It would be not so bad if we had 25, 30 years to adapt. Instead, we’ve got 12-13 years, according to everyone,” she said. This is approximately 144 months.
Motley said that mitigating the issue is not simple and that it comes with obstacles like Covid-19 and Russia-Ukraine. She said, however, that we have to “push past the pain.”
She added, “the issue is, will we get there fast enough to save those of us on the front line?”