Caribbean States 'lighting path' towards sustainable future, says UN chief in Barbados

This is a year for global action, with international community in the final stretch of preparing a transformative post-2015 agenda for sustainable development that will be agreed in New York in September, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon declared in Bridgetown, where, two decades ago, the Barbados Programme of Action was adopted to tackle vulnerabilities facing small islands. "I want to salute Caribbean countries for taking on ambitious renewable energy targets. By 2020, for example, Barbados will be one of the world's top five leading users of solar energy on a per capita basis. You are lighting the path to the future,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said during a high-level symposium focused on sustainable development in the Caribbean.

My main message to you is to remain fully engaged and keep working with us to strengthen our partnership during this vital year for humanity. Together, we can build a better, more sustainable world, for all. This meeting was among the UN chief's first stops in Barbados, where later today he is expected to make opening remarks to the 2015 Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Summit, and where tomorrow, he will, among others, hold an interactive dialogue at the University of the West Indies. "Twenty years ago, this very building was the site of the First Global Conference on Small Island Developing States that adopted the Barbados Programme of Action – the first compact between this group and the international community," he noticed.  For small island developing States, Mr. Ban added, this space is "hallowed ground." Encouraged by the presence of so many leaders of governments, regional and international organizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society, the Secretary-General highlighted the "continuing Caribbean commitment to put our world on a safer, more sustainable and equitable pathway," a few days from the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia."

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