The draft Bridgetown 3.0 Initiative consultative document and the acute vulnerabilities of small island developing states (SIDS) were discussed during a recent courtesy call between Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and COP29 President-Designate, Mukhtar Babayev.
During the meeting at Ilaro Court, Ms. Mottley warned that with surface temperatures tipping above 1.45 degrees consistently, the window of opportunity for SIDS to build resilience and to effect adaptation was getting “smaller and smaller”.
She continued: “What we found is that even when we have settled the financing, we have major hurdles to execute the project. So, we say that we need to settle the financing early because SIDS don’t have the capacity to go through hoops and all kinds of hurdles to try and get access to financing.”
The Prime Minister informed Mr. Babayev, the Republic of Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, that the draft Bridgetown 3.0 Initiative document was launched at the just concluded Fourth International Conference on Small Island Developing States in Antigua.
She stressed that it was open for comment until the end of June and once finalised will be presented in various fora, including the upcoming COP29 meeting in November.
Minister Babayev said he understood the vulnerabilities faced by SIDS and agreed with Prime Minister Mottley that the region requires assistance. “We need to work together to find the solution and I will try to motivate developed countries to assist,” he assured.
The two officials also discussed Barbados’ groundwater crisis and the costs associated with coastal protection and other interventions; the need for loans with longer repayment periods; and the need for a global compact of philanthropic organisations to assist with climate financing.