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Commonwealth Secretary General to meet with Caribbean leaders

Published:Tuesday | February 18, 2020 | 12:00 AM
Patricia Scotland

BRIDGETOWN (CMC):

Embattled Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Patricia Scotland will hold discussions with Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders during their two-day Inter-sessional Summit that begins here today.

The Commonwealth Secretariat and the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat have confirmed her attendance at the summit, with the London-based secretariat indicating that she “will reassure Caribbean leaders that the Commonwealth will keep fighting for bold climate action on the global stage.

“Secretary General Patricia Scotland will highlight that despite ambitious pledges, countries are receiving limited funds to improve response to climate change. She will also focus on how the climate crisis is destabilising economic growth, leading to food insecurity, stressed resources and impaired livelihoods across the Commonwealth,” the statement said.

It said that as of February 2019, less than a quarter of the US$26 billion deposited for climate action has been disbursed, according to Climate Funds Update.

“Patricia Scotland will brief Caribbean leaders on the current Commonwealth initiatives helping the region tackle the effects of climate change and external shocks such as disasters and financial crises,” the statement said, adding that “during her visit, Patricia Scotland will listen to Caribbean leaders and strategise with them as to how the Commonwealth can mobilise more tailored and practical assistance to the region.”

“The Commonwealth has been engaged with CARICOM from the beginning. Our partnership spans over 46 years working together on socio-economic issues and delivering initiatives to advance development in member countries,” she is quoted as saying in the statement.

But the statement makes no reference to the efforts by some countries, including Britain, to suspended voluntary contribution to the Commonwealth Secretariat after Scotland was criticised by auditors for “circumventing” usual competitive tendering rules when she awarded a lucrative consultancy contract to a company run by a friend.”

London has withheld its funding of £4.7 million joining New Zealand and Australia in doing so until the Secretariat’s financial systems are tightened up and tested by external auditors.