During his Keynote Remarks at the Welcome Ceremony of the Caribbean Ministerial United National Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Pre-Conference of the Parties (COP) 16, on August 8, 2024. Prime Minister and Minister of Finance the Hon. Philip Davis pointed out to attendees that, in a region with so many islands and so much ocean and sea, the land beneath their feet did not always get the attention it deserved.

“But land has always been significant in the Caribbean,” Prime Minister Davis stated at the event held at SLS Baha Mar.  “It was from the soil that indigenous tribes harvested life-sustaining cassava, that sugar and cotton were painfully reaped to power the world economy, and that still today, food and mineral commodities are harvested to sustain communities across the region.”

“Increasingly, however, the changing climate coupled with non-sustainable and destructive human activity threatens to further degrade our lands – at a great economic, social, and environmental cost,” he added.  “It is more crucial than ever that we ramp up efforts to promote sustainable land management at home and abroad.

“The needs of our people may be dynamic and complex, but sustainability is a simple and lasting truth.”

Among those present from the Bahamas Government were Minister of the Environment and National Resources the Hon. Vaughn Miller, the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary David Davis, Director of the Forestry Department Danielle Hanek; and Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources the Hon. Jomo Campbell.

According to Minister Miller’s Ministry, Ministers of Government, National Focal Points, and Government officials, attending the event included: Hon. Alfred Prospere, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries, Food Security and Rural Development, Government of St. Lucia, Chair of the Pre-COP 16 Meeting; Hon. Anthony Smith, Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Fisheries, and the Blue Economy, Antigua and Barbuda, along with Permanent Secretary Sandra Joseph; Hon. Adrian R. Forde, M.P., Minister of Environment and National Beautification, Green and Blue Economy, Barbados; along with Permanent Secretary Yolande Howard and Technical officer Steve Devonish; Edgar Hunter, Senior Technical Advisor, Ministry of the Environment, Rural Modernisation, Kalinago Upliftment and Constituency Empowerment, Dominica; Sherilita Dore-Tyson, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Sustainable Development, St. Kitts & Nevis; Ritesh Sardjoe, Permanent Secretary of the Directorate of Environment, Ministry of Spatial Planning and Environment, Suriname; Julius Smith, Environmental Specialist, Ministry of Planning and Development, Trinidad and Tobago; Keith Philippe, National Correspondent to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization; and Calvin James, Executive Director of the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM). 

Attending via Zoom: Astrel Joseph, Director General, Ministry of Environment, Haiti; Joseph Noel, Land Use Officer, Ministry of Agriculture and Lands, Fisheries and Cooperatives, Grenada; Enrique Monize, Commissioner/ CEO, Lands and Surveys Commission, Guyana; Kareem Sabir and Shaun Baugh, CARICOM; and Chamberlain Emmanuel and Cornelius Isaac, Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).

Prime Minister Davis thanked the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management, headed by Mr. Calvin James, for collaborating with the Government of The Bahamas to arrange “this important forum”; and said that it was, indeed, a pleasure to welcome all participants to The Bahamas.

“Tonight, we convene as Caribbean brothers and sisters, as political leaders and environmental champions, to make good on our commitments as stewards of this Earth,” he said.

Prime Minister Davis noted that the world was experiencing what he called a “triple planetary crisis”.

“Addressing climate change, protecting biodiversity and nurturing ecological restoration of our land has become an urgent priority for us all,” he stated.  “The biggest threat to the security of the world, in my view, is environmental destruction.”

He pointed out that those threats moved the Commonwealth of Nation members through a call to action on a living lands charter.

Prime Minister Davis noted the Living Lands Charter takes a system-wide approach toward implementing the following five thematic action areas: climate-resilient agriculture for food security; soil and water conservation; sustainable green cover and biodiversity; carbon neutral and climate-resilient livestock rearing and animal husbandry; and indigenous and local people [engagement] for climate-resilient development.

“We cannot continue to recklessly clear land or extract resources, turn a blind eye to unplanned urbanisation, or promote harmful farming practices that undermine, rather than improve, our food security,” he said.

“Not when 30% of degraded land in small island developing states (SIDS) worldwide can be found in the Caribbean region,” Prime Minister Davis added.  “And certainly not in light of the recent passage of Hurricane Beryl, which laid bare how worsening storms and land degradation can easily form a dangerous, what I call, feedback loop.”

Prime Minister Davis continued, saying that taking better care of land resources was “vital to our collective health and to our common flourishing and prosperity”.

“Colleagues, the quality of life we enjoy tomorrow, will depend on the decisions we make today,” he pointed out.  “So, let us unite for our lands.  Let us protect and replenish the earth beneath our feet.

“Doing so will have significant payoffs in the short and long term.”

Prime Minister Davis stated that healthy lands mitigated climate change, contributed to economies, and supported human health, nutrition, and general wellbeing.

“Proper land preservation also goes hand in hand with combating the rising incidence of drought and desertification in our region,” he said.  “Water scarcity is a pressing concern for the Caribbean, with most – if not all – of our island nations experiencing some form of water stress in the last five years.”

He added: “Meanwhile, three quarters of the Caribbean’s population resides in urban areas – and that number only stands to rise.  Urbanisation is our reality, my friends, and it will continue to place a strain on water access.  Conservation of essential resources will be key as we advance regional development and work toward achieving the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals.”

Prime Minister Davis pointed out that, in that common mission, it will be important to harmonise their policies and unify their voices.

“We face similar struggles, and so we stand to benefit tremendously from coordinating policies, sharing knowledge, and speaking with one voice on the world stage,” he said.  “When we go to Riyadh, let us go with our hearts and minds in harmony, committed to the noble cause of Caribbean wellbeing.”

“Let us move the needle on the issues that matter most, my friends,” he added.  “Let us unite for land – our lands – which have already withstood so much.

“I look forward to seeing the progress we will achieve together at COP 16.  May God bless this region, and all our efforts to protect it.”

By ERIC ROSE/Bahamas Information Services

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