Barbados made oral presentations today during the morning hearings of the Inter American Court of Human Rights’ (IACtHR) 166th Regular Session, following written observations that were submitted on December 18, 2023.
Representing Barbados were the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade’s Director General, Donna Forde; Co-Agent and Head Counsel for Barbados Robert Volterra; and Attorney/Partner in the public international law firm, Volterra Fietta, Gunjan Sharma.
Director General Forde, in her submission as Barbados’ Agent, stressed the impact of the climate crisis on Barbados and the threat it poses to this country’s overall sustainability and development. She also noted that climate change is increasingly making Barbados a location of extreme weather events.
“Historically, Barbados has not been prone to hurricanes or extreme weather because of our location at the very eastern edge of the Caribbean. In 2021, that changed…. Because of climate change, Barbados’ beautiful beaches are at severe risk of being submerged. Barbados’ good food and infrastructure are at severe risk of being swept away by the tides. Our island’s vibrant tourism economy faces severe risks. Climate change even threatens the production of the very sugar cane we need to produce our unsurpassed rums,” Ms. Forde stated.
She highlighted that as a result of the increased weather events and the damage that followed, property and business insurance was becoming expensive and might soon become inaccessible.
Director General Forde suggested to the Court that human-made climate change adversely affects all states, all peoples, and all ecologies worldwide and that states which lack physical resources and fiscal space to manage these impacts of climate change are the most vulnerable to its harmful effects.
“Ironically, those worst-affected states are not the ones that caused climate change. Barbados is one of those states that did not cause climate change. Yet Barbados is, and is predicted to be in the future, one of the worst affected. And, critically, Barbados lacks the physical and fiscal space to manage effectively the impacts of climate change,” she emphasised.
With that in mind, she indicated that Barbados, like many other small island developing states in the same position, is looking to the Court to identify the applicable international legal norms relevant to climate change that are binding on the Organization of American States’ member states under the Convention.
Director General Forde said Barbados is confident that the Court would act in accordance with law and justice and pleaded with the Court to “do so quickly because the world cannot wait”.
The morning’s session concluded following a question and answer segment from the panel of Judges to the presenters, who included persons from the Republic of Chile, the Republic of Colombia, the United Mexican States, and the Republic of Vanuatu.
In accordance with the Resolution of February 22, 2024, the hearings this week in Barbados will be followed by a second set of hearings, using the same process, which will take place in Brasilia, Brazil, on May 24, and in Manaus, Brazil, from May 27 to 29.
For more information on the 166th Regular Session activities and to register for in-person attendance at any of the sessions, persons may visit https://www.corteidh.or.cr/tablas/166POS-Barbados/index.html.