Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, Honourable Vincent Wheatley is away from the Territory attending the 2021 United Nations climate change conference COP26 in Glasgow from October 31 to November 12.
Honourable Wheatley will form part of the official UK Oversees Territories (UKOT) Association delegation attending the conference. The COP26 summit will bring parties together to accelerate action towards the goals of the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
The minister while commenting on the event stated, “Participation at the conference is an important move for the Territory since small island states such as ours will bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change. OTs will advocate for greater technical and financial assistance from the international community to adapt and mitigate the impacts.”
Six officials from Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Cayman, Gibraltar and Turks and Caicos Islands who make up the OT delegation will host an event at COP26 on Nature and Land Use Day on November 6.
The event will explore how the UKOTs are taking action to counter and mitigate the effects of global warming and how they are safeguarding precious marine environments.
In the almost 30 years that the UN has been bringing together countries for the global climate summits as climate change has gone from being a fringe issue to a global priority. The goals of COP26 are to secure global net zero by mid-century and keep 1.5 degrees within reach; adapt to protect communities and natural habitats, mobilise finance, and work together to deliver.