OECS Heads Endorse Sustainable Agriculture Declaration At COP28

Heads of Government of OECS Member States endorsed the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture, Resilient Food Systems, and Climate Action on December 1, 2023 at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28). The OECS’ particaption in COP28 is heavily focused on sustainability and climate action, and a regional commitment to ensure that OECS member states are positioned to recognise the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Agenda in two of the most climate sensitive industries in the Eastern Caribbean – agriculture and tourism. The Emirates Declaration is an acknowledgement of all 136 endorsers that global agricultural and food systems resilience is increasingly impacted by climate change, and to fully recognise the terms of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement, governments must “urgently adapt and transform in order to respond to the imperatives of climate change”. OECS member states Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, all parties to the UNFCCC, endorsed the declaration. The British Virgin Islands and Montserrat are non-party endorsers. Commenting on the Emirates Declaration, Director General of the OECS, Dr. Didacus Jules said, “This declaration is of practical importance to us; it recognises...