Caricom y Costa Rica fortalecen vínculos en torno a los efectos del cambio climático
CARICOM and Costa Rica to promote joint interests
Costa Rica has committed to finding common ground with the Caribbean Community on global climate change positions.
Costa Rica’s first Ambassador to CARICOM, Ms. Lydia Peralta noted CARICOM-Costa Rica’s shared climate change concerns and interests as she presented her credentials to CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque at the Secretariat Headquarters, Georgetown, Guyana on Wednesday.
“On the road to the COP21, Costa Rica is committed to continuing the coordination and finding the common point we have with CARICOM, in particular the recognition of the equal parity that adaptation to climate change as well as Loss and Damage must have in the future Paris Agreement,” Ambassador Peralta said. The global community will gather for COP21 in Paris, France from November 30 to December 11 and seek a legally binding agreement on climate with the aim of keeping global warming below an agreed level.
The CARICOM Secretary-General, in remarks at the accreditation ceremony, noted the adverse impact on CARICOM countries when climate change manifested itself through unusual patterns of rainfall and drought in the Region. Citing the recent devastating experiences of The Bahamas, Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, he urged Costa Rica’s “continuing advocacy for the positions of our Small Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS)”. He also sought Costa Rica’s support through the CELAC Special Declaration on SIDS signed by its Members last year.
The two sides also anticipate growth in export and investment opportunities through the CARICOM-Costa Rica Free Trade Agreement signed in 2004. They also expect to build on the recent deepening of their political dialogue. Costa Rica’s President Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera hosted CARICOM Heads to a High-Level Breakfast meeting on the sidelines of the recent UN General Assembly in New York. That meeting discussed their common positions on climate change, the Caribbean Sea Initiative, the obstacles to development that stem from CARICOM Member States’ classification as middle income countries and international cooperation.
