The urgent request was made at an OAS meeting in Washington, D.C., where officials noted that the historic storm exposed the vulnerability of small islands. Beryl killed at least seven people in the Caribbean and razed nearly all infrastructure on some of the islands that make up Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
A resolution approved Friday by the OAS stated that previous hurricanes have led to higher insurance premiums, unemployment and poverty. It called for the immediate operation of a loss and damage fund agreed upon at previous U.N. climate change conferences to help vulnerable countries rebuild and also prepare for future storms.
Chet Neymour, the Bahamian delegate, criticized how top greenhouse gas emitters worldwide have remained “silent and noncommittal” about their responsibilities, noting that the Caribbean is one of the regions most affected by climate change and among those that contribute least to it. .