Caribbean leaders meeting with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week are hoping Canada will push their concerns — such as the profound threat they face from climate change — higher on the international agenda.
The planet is inching closer to surpassing that target; the United Nations says the world already has warmed by at least 1.1 C.Pierre said he hopes one outcome of the summit is a message to the world, through Canada, that the region needs help to cope with the effects of climate change — more frequent and intense tropical storms, rising sea levels and hotter days.
"The leaders will also work to fight climate change and address its impacts in the Caribbean, including by exploring ways to improve access to financing for Small Island Developing States in the Caribbean," the statement reads.This is Trudeau's second meeting with CARICOM heads of government since his trip to the Bahamas in February. As it did then, the worsening security, political and humanitarian crisis in Haiti will feature in the discussions in Ottawa this week.
Skerrit said Haiti will need a "Marshall Plan," citing the strategic economic plan developed by allies to help rebuild Europe after the Second World War. Skerrit said the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and CARICOM need to come together for Haiti.Canada's former Jamaican high commissioner Robert Ready said this week's summit is about strengthening the ties between this country and the region through an overdue meeting.