BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, has accepted an invitation from Ban Ki-moon, 8th Secretary-General of the United Nations and Chair of the Board of the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA)and Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of GCA to become a member of the Advisory Board.
Hon. Mia Amor Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados
On accepting the invitation, Mia Mottley, Prime Minister of Barbados said:
“For those who are becoming increasingly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and for whom the current system isn’t working, the stakes couldn’t be higher. I look forward to working with the Global Center on Adaptation to ensure governments engage with greater urgency to fix a broken financial system and fulfil their commitment to double adaptation finance by 2025.”
Ban Ki-moon commended the Prime Minister’s work to reform the global financial system through the Bridgetown Initiative, a proposal for the creation of new instruments and the reform of existing institutions to finance climate resilience and the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): “Prime Minister Mottley is shaking up the status quo to ensure inclusivity and that resilient finance will enable the GCA and climate vulnerable states to address the climate crisis effectively. I look forward to working closely with Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley at GCA to ensure funding reaches those who need it the most through our innovative and ground breaking adaptation programs.”
Breaking the Climate Disaster Trap
Professor Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation said: “The world’s poorest and most climate-vulnerable nations are falling into a destructive debt and climate disaster trap. The economic cost of climate disasters in developing countries is projected to reach as much as $580 billion a year by 2030. I look forward to working with Prime Minister Mottley to break this vicious cycle. We need far greater investment in climate resilience – money invested in climate adaptation today will reduce the cost of dealing with climate disasters tomorrow.
