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More climate action needed from big nations — Premier tells BBC

Premier Dr Natalio Wheatley. (GIS Photo)

Premier and Minister responsible for Climate Change, Dr Natalio Wheatley has called out rich nations that are contributing heavily to greenhouse gas emissions, stating that they need to be as ambitious as possible in meeting targets to reverse the ill effects of climate change.

Rich nations like the US and UK are responsible for most of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions. Because of this, they are responsible for taking the biggest actions to limit their contributions to the problem.

But recently, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that some of Britain’s environmental commitments will be watered down. He said the country must fight climate change without penalizing workers and consumers.

In a recent interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Newsday programme, Premier Wheatley said those nations who are big polluters have to recognise that their decisions affect the rest of the world.

The Premier stressed the need for world leaders to recognise climate change as an existential threat to the planet and as such, keep the threat of climate change in proper perspective.

Premier Wheatley said the Caribbean is one of the regions of the world most vulnerable to climate change.

“Its large coastal populations and exposed location leave it at the mercy of rising sea levels, stronger hurricanes and worsening floods and drought,” the Premier said. He added, “Increasing temperatures, meanwhile, threaten its unique biodiversity, including coral reefs, and create human health impacts.”

Premier Wheatley added, “Despite its tiny contribution to global greenhouse gas emissions, the Caribbean region is already bearing the brunt of climate disruptions, putting many of its tourism-dependent countries deeply in debt and spurring increased migration across the region.”

Signalling that there does not have to be a choice between economic development and climate change mitigation, the Premier highlighted that, “We can’t build economies of the past…we can’t take the example of those big nations who have polluted the planet, we have to build economies of the future”.

Meanwhile, here in the BVI, steps are being taken to increase the territory’s climate change resilience through the implementation of the Virgin Islands Climate Change Adaptation Policy. The policy sets the target of replacing 30 per cent of the national electricity supply with renewable energy by 2025.

The government says it continues work to operationalise the Virgin Islands Climate Change Trust Fund which was legally established in March 2015.

The Trust Fund is an independent entity dedicated to raising, managing and disbursing funds to qualified applicants to build resilience to climate change impacts and to reduce carbon emissions. The fund will support the implementation of the territory’s Climate Change Policy and can support actions by government, the private sector and civil society.

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13 Comments

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  1. Ergo says:

    Self delusion, Go sit down and deflate.
    Ego cognito, ergo sum. “I think, therefore, I am”

    Like 14
  2. Pot Calling Kettle says:

    How about taking off the blinders and look in your own back yard first? You can start at pockwood then move to slaney sewage outflow.

    Like 15
  3. EGO says:

    I’VE BEEN HEARING THIS EVERY YEAR FOR THE LAST 5 YEARS

  4. Wondering says:

    When are people going to understand Climate Change is a trick to control people just like Covid 19 and the fakezines?

    Like 5
    Dislike 9
  5. Cowboy says:

    You go tell ’em big boy! With your track record, they surely must listen to you. 😉

    China, India, Pakistan, Russia, Japan, rest if the Asian block, your Central and Southern American buddies, and all our ‘allies’ in the EU – rally them all, oh great leader!

  6. Fotunately says:

    No one listens to this man anymore.

    Like 12
  7. Why not says:

    start at home?

    Stop burning our trashing and pouring those poisonous cariogenic compounds into the air, to settle on peoples roofs and then in their cisterns and water supply.

    Just do it.

    Like 14
  8. HonestTruth says:

    Any one still believing this nonsense should do themselves a favour and look up the NASA study on CO2 fertilization. While they’re at it, I invite them to reply to this comment explaining what the optimum temperature is for the planet.

    Like 3
    Dislike 5
  9. You know what? says:

    Mr.Premier, you know what? I’m not going to let you stress me out today with the BS. I’m like sooooo over the constant BS with you everytime you open your mouth.

    Like 12
  10. DropNews says:

    Please look up these topics of cloud seeding.
    Weather modification.
    Atmospheric Geo-Engineering.

    I think playing with nature will do the trick and global warming rebranded as climate change.

    First, it was the Ozone story, that didn’t work.

    Rising sea levels nonsense, high and low tides, and dredging for sand to make products like glass and cement, etc. cause beach erosion.

    These big corporations continue to take, take for profit, and expect the rest of the world to suffer for their misdeeds. Their carbon footprint is some of the largest flying around in those big jets, owning 100 gas-guzzling limousines in a 200-car parking garage.

    I agree we can do better in the way we dispose of waste and other items that are bad for the environment. But trying to scare persons into submission for more control of our Human rights is unacceptable.

    Hurricanes come and go, some stronger than others and there is no increase in the number of hurricanes. Nature is ever-changing and dynamic not static. Mother nature-female (unpredictable sometimes) wink wink.

    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79751c40f0b63d72fc5fca/EIR_13-0107_cloud_seeding.pdf

    https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2022/05/12/geoengineering-injecting-aerosols-into-the-atmosphere-is-untested-and-dangerous/?sh=74163de16665

  11. Jim says:

    Says the country that burns its trash…

  12. This man sure got a lot of nerves says:

    He spitting a whole lot of BS. We got raw sewage running in the streets, open burning garbage sending poisonous fumes in the air giving people cancer and other illnesses, people living on the hill side sewer water running down the hillside from pipes destroying and eroding the hillside from a lack of proper sewer installation and the list goes on and on. STOP ALLOWING THIS BAND AID AND SUB PAR BEHAVIOR.

  13. @Jim says:

    Begin with you. Eat your trash, that of your racist mind and heart. Then, buy the country the proper trash disposal equiptment that your first world uses.

    Sarcasm and racism come out of the same whole and have the same smell, FOUL…

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