Good morning.

His Excellency Dr. Didacus Jules, Director General of the OECS; Outgoing Chair from Anguilla, Hon. Quincia Gumbs-Marie who is being represented by Hon. Merrick T. Richardson; Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries with responsibility for Environmental Sustainability and High-level Representatives; Member States technical delegations, including Permanent Secretaries and Senior Officials; Distinguished representatives and contributors of regional and international partners; OECS Commission Staff, including Head of the Environmental Sustainability Division, Chamberlain Emmanuel; Other invited participants and esteemed friends of the OECS – welcome!

As your host and incoming Chair, I am delighted to receive you to the topaz and emerald shores of The Virgin Islands for the 11th Meeting of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Council of Ministers: Environmental Sustainability (COM:ES). 

I can't underscore enough the significance of this gathering. As you all know, COMES is responsible for overseeing and facilitating the implementation of the St. George's Declaration of Principles for Environmental Sustainability in the OECS “to minimize environmental vulnerability, improve environmental management and protect the region's natural resource base for optimal social and economic benefits for Member States.”

There was a time in Caribbean politics, not that long ago, when the Environment portfolio was not considered to be very consequential to country affairs and, therefore, not highly sought after. But, we sit here today as Ministers of Environment about to deliberate and decide on the very topics now widely accepted as those that will directly dictate the ongoing viability, security and prosperity of our island homes. These are neatly captured in the six thematic areas of the St. George's Declaration 2040:

1. Climate and Disaster Resilience,
2. Sustainable Energy,
3. Land and Water,
4. Ocean Governance and Fisheries,
5. Biodiversity and Ecosystems, and
6. Chemicals, Pollution, and Waste.  

The specific subtopics of Climate and Disaster Resilience, the Blue-Green Economy, Ocean Governance and Renewable Energy are foremost in my mind as we go into this COMES, against the backdrop of the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS.

This very meeting, originally slated for July 3-4, had to be postponed on account of three (3) OECS member states being affected by unprecedented, record-breaking Hurricane Beryl. In particular, Hurricane Beryl left a trail of devastation in its wake in Grenada’s Carriacou, where approximately 60% of homes were damaged or destroyed, and critical infrastructure, such as roads and power lines, were severely impacted. St. Vincent and the Grenadine’s Union Island faced similar devastation, with an estimated 70% of buildings sustaining damage and essential services disrupted for weeks. The storm's ferocity and the unprecedented damage it caused in these islands are stark indicators of the increasing severity of climate-related disasters.

As Premier of The Virgin Islands, I offer my deepest empathy for the leaders and people of all Caribbean countries affected in some way by Hurricane Beryl, including Barbados, Saint Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Having experienced catastrophic damage from Category 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, and still actively recovering, The Virgin Islands is all too familiar with the realities on the ground right now in these countries and the long road to recovery ahead. The Virgin Islands stands in solidarity with you and, today, rest assured that just as the OECS member countries were there to support the Virgin Islands in the wake of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, we are here to support St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. I look forward to making a further announcement on this at this evening’s reception.

Colleagues, at worst, hurricanes like Beryl would be the rare nightmares of peak season in September, but there she came barreling through our islands on the 1st of July. Besides a tendency towards major hurricanes, the rapid intensification displayed by Hurricane Beryl is now another marker of storms in this perilous climate change era forced upon our region.

Climate change is the single greatest threat to our individual and collective viability, security and prosperity as a small-island sub region. Successfully navigating this existential threat requires a regional approach and the OECS Commission is to be commended for ensuring that climate resilience remains top of the agenda year round, facilitating initiatives like the Caribbean NDC Finance Initiative and the OECS Climate Change Advisory Panel. As Premier of an Overseas Territory left in the cold in the global climate finance landscape, I'd like to extend a special thanks to the OECS Commission for empathizing with our peculiar circumstances and doing its best to advocate for Territories within the OECS to be included in regional climate change initiatives. I look forward to the discussions on climate resilience over the next two days, in particular on “Advancing Climate Adaptation and Mobilisation of Climate Finance.”

Economic diversification will no doubt be one of the keys to successfully navigating the climate change challenge. The mantra of economic diversification has been with our region for decades, but as small islands with limited natural resources that can be extracted and commoditized on the international market and agricultural sectors that have been thwarted by new global regimes, our prospects have long appeared limited.

As a region, we have now arrived at a pivotal enlightened moment in our history where we realize that our pathway to economic diversification and prosperity lies in our redefinition of ourselves as big ocean states. We also recognize that the value of development is limited if it can't be sustained over generations.

By adopting the revised St. George’s Declaration (SGD 2040) at its 70th Meeting in June 2021, and mandating the OECS Commission to intensify its implementation, the OECS Authority reaffirmed our natural environment as the fragile, core and prized resource that it is - underpinning our Tourism economies, Blue Economy prospects and food security - in other words, underpinning island life.

But we are still a far way off from manifesting this understanding through stronger environmental legislation and policies, stronger environmental management regimes and environmentally responsible development. With solutions for clean energy, reduced stress on water resources and reduced waste production, the Green and Circular Economies are now emerging as important support pillars for the sustainable economies we must build. The Blue, Green and Circular Economies are now center stage to our sustainable development and, as Ministers of the Environment, with the able support of the OECS Commission and development partners, it is our responsibility to make sure their potential is fully realised and delivers for our people.

The Blue Economy holds a special place in my heart and my vision for The Virgin Islands. With the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The Virgin Islands has recently developed and approved its Blue Economy Roadmap, supported by an Implementation Plan and Monitoring and Evaluation Framework. By its nature, the Blue Economy is a space, more so than our traditional economic sectors, that requires a strong, sound enabling policy environment and management regime to be established, nurtured, grown to a point of success and sustained. Again, this is our role as Government and Ministers of Environment specifically.

While the private sector will be indispensable to the success of the Blue Economy, we can't simply expect the “invisible hand” and laws of supply and demand to shape this space. Nor, as neighbouring islands washed by the shared waters of the Caribbean Sea, bringing us the same challenges and opportunities, like sargassum influxes, can we expect to go it alone. We must have a unified, regional approach to building our Blue Economies. Here, the old adage "strength in unity" rings loud and true.

Again, the OECS Commission plays a pivotal role in guiding regional policy dialogue on the development of our Blue Economies. There is a lot of work to do, including, for instance, better understanding and quantifying the opportunities, training and re-tooling our citizenry to lead in this space, developing appropriate legal and policy frameworks for Ocean Governance, undertaking marine spatial planning exercises, protecting larger areas of our coastal and marine environment and implementing other prudent management measures to ensure the sustainability and longevity of our Blue Economies. 

Despite the challenges we face, I remain optimistic about our future and enthusiastic about our prospects, for in every challenge, opportunity also abounds. We should take courage and heed in the words of the iconic and visionary Bob Marley - “where there is a will, there is always a way” and “in the abundance of water the fool is thirsty.” The opportunities could not be clearer than in the renewable energy space.

There is no longer an option - a transition to renewable energy is a global imperative and it behooves us as a region, richly endowed with solar, wind and geothermal resources, to lead this transition. Here at home, I am excited to announce that the BVI Electricity Corporation has made an initial investment in the groundbreaking Solar Technology Energy Programme (STEP). STEP will use an innovative model to make solar PV systems affordable and accessible for the average home and business owner. 

Colleagues, let me close by reminding you that we are at a critical and urgent moment in our history. As we go through the next two days, let us keep this year’s theme, “From Aspiration to Focused Action” at the fore of our consciousness, reminding us that we don't have the luxury of time or resources to waste and we can’t afford to be disjointed or divided in our efforts.

As Ministers of the Environment, the future of our respective island homes directly depends on the calibre of the discussions we will have over the next two days, the decisions we make and ultimately the actions we take when we leave this gathering, as individual islands, but more importantly, as a tightly connected and integrated sub region.

Let us always remember that the realities of our sub region dictate that the success of one depends on the success of all. I leave you with the inspiration of the great African philosophy of “Ubuntu” – I am what I am because of who we all are. Let us, therefore, work in the spirit of togetherness and oneness in the common interest of our people and our future. Let this be the COMES remembered for concrete, strategic action on the Road Map to 2030 and the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS! Thank you and Welcome!