50 Caribbean organizations write to Biden Administration for more climate assistance

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

September 9, 2023 – The Caribbean has expressed its desire for more support from the United States’ Biden Administration in its battle against climate change, with the signing of a letter seeking relief.

As reported by the Miami Herald, over 50 organizations signed the letter addressed to the US President Joe Biden and Janet Yellen, Treasury Secretary.

The letter which was sent on Tuesday, the Herald says, points out that countries of the Caribbean contribute less to climate change but are more affected by the effects  such as the increased intensity of hurricanes and tropical storms, much unlike some of the countries that contribute more.

Additionally, the letter informed that “The cost of these disasters will increase in tandem,” further making mention of what the Caribbean has lost as a result of weather occurrences.

“Caribbean countries have lost an estimated $30 billion in GDP due to extreme weather events between 2000 and 2014.  When combined, these two great challenges — soaring debt burdens and climate change — are a recipe for disaster in our region.”

The Center for Economic and Policy Research, a Washington think tank, supports the nations’ appeal and Dan Beeton, a spokesman for the center, expressed they are cognizant of their situation saying, “These countries are asking the [International Monetary Fund] to assist them with liquidity and reserves.”

Under the letter, policy shifts were drafted which the administration can consider pursuing as reported, such as the IMF, which gives development aid to nations. The letter also emphasized that Caribbean countries should be able to access more financial assistance from the IMF.

In light of what these Caribbean nations  want from the IMF, “civil society groups want Caribbean nations to have access to $650 billion in an international reserve asset created by the fund to supplement the official reserves of member countries,” the Herald reports, as Beeton expressed.

Beeton later spoke directly to some of the costly factors facing the Caribbean, adding that the region is not as equipped as the US and Europe to cope, referring to the need for alternatives.

“The concerns are there’s still enormous shocks going on in the global economy and to a large degree, unprecedented.  You have this pandemic, you’ve got the climate crisis which is very costly and there’s a lot of needs for these Caribbean countries,” Beeton said.  “There are a lot of needs and these are countries that aren’t able to engage in the kinds of stimulus that the U.S. and Europe did with COVID, so they need other avenues to respond to all of these crises,” he said.

The success of this letter, that is if it’s acknowledged, would be in line with the 2022 launch of the  U.S. Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030, known as PACC 2030, as well as the meeting in June of this year where Kamala Harris, US Vice President met with the region discuss climate related initiatives.