00:00The first COP 29 high-level meeting of world leaders took place today with UN
00:05Executive Secretary Simon Steele saying there has been a seismic shift in the
00:10global climate crisis as it is no longer a future issue. The climate crisis is
00:16fast becoming an economy killer right now, today, in this political cycle.
00:25Climate impacts are carving up to 5% of GDP in many countries. The climate
00:34crisis is a cost-of-living crisis because climate disasters are driving up
00:41costs for households and businesses. Climate change has been unraveling with
00:47some countries experiencing extreme heat, uncontrollable wildfires and floods over
00:53the past 12 months, leading to the loss of homes, livelihoods and even lives.
00:58And global warming is unequivocally caused by human activities through
01:03emissions of greenhouse gases that arise from unsustainable energy use, land use
01:08and land use change and lifestyle patterns. The extremes we are witnessing
01:15have been aggravated by human-induced climate change. This is the new normal.
01:21Imagine what is in store in the coming decades if we don't act swiftly and
01:26decisively. Leaders from across the world presented their positions at the
01:30high-level meeting with Suriname and Barbados advancing the CARICOM and CIDS
01:35position. President of Suriname, Chandrika Prasad Santokhi says his
01:40country is on a path of sustainability as a carbon-negative nation. Our forest
01:47still covering 93% of our territory act as a vital carbon sink, absorbing more
01:55carbon dioxide than our economy emits and we are committed to stay carbon
02:03negative. CARICOM and CIDS nations are facing the injustice of a crisis. They
02:10didn't cause a crisis, they cannot solve alone even with their best efforts to
02:18cut their emissions which are now lower than 1%. He joined other leaders in
02:25highlighting the dire need for developed countries to act now as most CARICOM
02:29countries lack the capability to recover from climate impacts. CARICOM calls for
02:35a binding commitment to allocate at least 15% of climate finance to CIDS
02:40instead of the unacceptable 1.5% CIDS now receive. We call for easier, more
02:48tailored access to climate financing for CIDS including simplified applications,
02:53capacity building, direct funding and affordable financing. The Prime Minister
02:59of Barbados, Mia Motley reflected on the damaged hurricane barrel and the earliest
03:04category 5 hurricane on record did to her country and other regional
03:08territories. We must change the rules of the game, shockproof vulnerable economies
03:13and indeed review debt sustainability while at the same time augmenting
03:18resources. Fourthly, rich countries must deliver on their commitments. She
03:24proposes levies be considered. If we put a $5 per tonne on CO2 for fossil fuel
03:33extraction, we can raise $210 billion a year. If we put $100 per tonne on CO2 for
03:40shipping, we can raise in excess of $80 billion a year and we've not addressed
03:45aviation or indeed the elephant in the room, a 0.1% levy on all bonds and stocks
03:54that can raise us in excess of 400 million, 400 billion. And efforts should
03:59be made to clamp down on methane production. Methane is responsible for
04:0445% of current global warming and it's 80 times as devilish as CO2 with
04:11respect to warming the planet. This makes it mitigation of methane the most
04:16effective way to slow the rate of warming in our world and I trust and
04:20pray that we can have a global methane agreement as Pope Francis led the call
04:25earlier this year for us to see a parallel track to decarbonization.
04:31Trinidad and Tobago is not represented at COP 29 by any government official.
04:37Ravishi Tiwari, Rupnirayan TV6 News.
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