During his speech to the nation on Thursday night, “From Maria to Beryl: The New Caribbean Hurricane Reality: A Vision to Protect Dominicans,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit was vocal about the urgent need for Climate Financing Reform in the Caribbean.
He squarely outlined culpability for the current climate crisis as originating outside of the Caribbean.
“My message tonight is not just for the people of Dominica, but for the people of the world. CARICOM has been sounding the alarm [and] the reality is we are not the cause of the global climate crisis, but we are the victims of it,” he said.
He continued, “I know that it is not just the people of Dominica listening to my message tonight. International NGOs, governments, ambassadors, and world leaders. My message for you is this, the Caribbean urgently needs Climate Financing Reforms, we need resources that will not just help us rebuild after storms but resources that would allow our communities to build more resilient infrastructure. Roads, electricity, water, and homes.”
An immediate issue the prime minister delineated is the increased insurance rates that he says are skyrocketing the cost of living. This area, he proposed, requires the support of financing.“We must work with insurance companies to address the cost and availability of insurance at the regional and international levels,” he urged.
Highlighting this chain of causation, Skerrit encouraged Dominicans to pay attention to climate change not just as an international discussion removed from their reality, but as a factor that has a serious impact on the entirety of life in the country.
“If you are worried about the cost of living, you should be worried about climate change… because, my brothers and sisters, I am here to tell you that these things are related!” asserted Skerrit.
He added that he would be happy to share videos, photos, and testimonies of how climate is impacting the Dominican people.
“To the people of Dominica, we must be resilient,” he encouraged. “We must prepare because the next storm is coming.”
According to Skerrit, these preparations include redoubling efforts in agriculture, and increasing food security. Quick access to remote areas after a storm by fine-tuning the strategy of the country’s emergency management teams is also necessary.
Skerrit added, “We must build our energy systems which will allow us to generate electricity in our communities and get electricity up sooner after storms.”
The thrust of which, he said, is increased self-reliance in a changing world.
Meanwhile, he called on churches in Dominica to offer prayers during this holy sabbath for the victims of Hurricane Beryl.
Feller you and your friends have been destroying the Nature Isle for the past 20 years. Your next atrocity is to destroy the wetland behind the Cabrits without even doing an environmental Impact Assessment. Your last is the supposed Airport. I hope that in itself works out. You talking about environment when you have those Chinese that building your 3rd mansion for you in Morne Daniel dumping all the dirt from your property all over the main road and onto someone else’s property. Feller you only singing that song about climate change because is hurricane season, and you know it have big money from international donors for climate change and resilience, and EVERYBODY KNOW YOU ARE A GREEDY FELLER WHEN MONEY IS INVOLVED. 2025, 8 years after Maria, and we are nowhere close to ever being the “first climate resilient nation”. Our biggest disaster has been you. So far Dominica has been resilient, but i dont know how much more of you and your friends it can take.
Seriously the Prime Minister wrote this childish essay to impress upon the international community such serious issues?
Has this man listened to the young Prime Minister of Grenada and the distinguished Prime Minister of Barbados, along with other intelligent CARICOM leaders on the world stage?
PM let me tell you this. Just as lawyers win and lose cases based on their presentation of/and evidence, so also arguments and debates are won and lost based on evidence and presentations! You cannot be serious with this childish nonsense!
I would not even say that you were addressing this to Dominicans because we in Dominica and the Caribbean are in the firing line of climate change, powerful hurricanes, El Niño, La Niña, etcetera, etcetera. Every primary school child in Dominica knows that!
If you want to influence international community appoint knowledgeable ambassadors in global affairs to international organisations instead of friends, family and Lobourats! That’s how it is done!
the people giving this comment a thumbs down are the labourats .
The trouble is that he has zero moral capital to command any kind of credibility or respect.
Sorry, but let Ralph and Mia talk. Those two aren’t perfect but they have an international audience and charisma and they have not sold their country and gotten rich off it. #shame
These. pronouncements are made by Roosevelt with the intention for attention.
Many resident Dominicans dry weather, sieve-like, tarpaulin roof, dilapidated houses. They have received no governmental assistance for years. With the billions collected from the sale of citizenship, how could this be allowed to persist?
His appeal about concerns for victims of Beryl in other Caribbean countries are as insincere as lawyer’s prayer for no.crime.
By the way, DNO, why is your news site so.dominated by the comments of known Liar