US Rejoins Paris Agreement; What Does this Mean for SIDS?
Hours after he became President of the United States, Joe Biden moved to recommit the United States to the Paris Agreement. Last year, the U.S. became the first country to withdraw formally from the internationally binding treaty to combat climate change. However, the U.S. is the second-largest producer of greenhouse gases. With the U.S. committing to rejoin the climate agreement, they are expected to resubmit the emissions reduction target for 2030. Since 2015, one hundred and ninety countries have ratified the agreement, each committing to its own nationally determined contribution – an emissions reduction target and a plan to achieve it. But what does this mean for climate change and global emission targets in the context of the small island developing states, the most vulnerable group of countries to climate change? C.E.O. in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction Doctor Kenrick Williams praises the U.S. decision, which he says can have positive implications for a country like Belize.
Dr. Kenrick Williams, C.E.O., Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Reduction
“We are lauding that decision by the U.S Government to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement because when you look at countries like Belize and the impacts from Climate Change, we stand to be impacted and so we have a powerful country that can support mitigation and adaptation efforts like Belize and other small island developing states. So, we are excited about the opportunities now that exist in terms of addressing issues of climate change because in parallel with climate change there are associated development and other challenges and when you look at Belize, a significant – maybe more than forty percent of our population are coastal communities so they stand to be impacted by climate change. We see the impacts in Dangriga, Monkey River and others and then we have seen the impacts from the recent storms and floods. And so we are able to go to the table through associations like AOSIS and other regional and international mechanisms which we are part of to negotiate reductions, finance and other climate resources to be able to address adaptation, as well as mitigating the impacts of the climate change.”
