Belize Leads Regional Climate Talks at CARICOM COTED Meeting in Guyana

Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Solid Waste Management, chaired the 124th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), Environment and Sustainable Development. The event held in Georgetown, Guyana yesterday and today, saw gathering of CARICOM Environment Ministers. Minister Habet guided regional discussions on climate change, biodiversity, ocean governance, and sustainable development, with a strong emphasis on moving from commitments to on-the-ground implementation, underscoring the urgency of translating international agreements into real benefits for communities across the region. The central focus of the meeting was improving access to climate finance, with Ministers citing complex application processes, limited technical capacity, and slow funding disbursement as persistent barriers facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS). CARICOM called on development banks and climate funds to simplify procedures, expand technical support, and deliver faster, more predictable financing. Minister Habet also discussed the continued effort to costal management including mangroves, coral reefs, and seagrass beds, and vouched for the acceleration toward national and regional climate priorities, including Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), adaptation strategies, and loss and damage responses. In engagement saw representatives of the incoming COP31 Presidency of Türkiye and Australia, CARICOM stressed that COP31 must be an “implementation COP” one that delivers concrete outcomes with full and equitable inclusion of SIDS nations. The meeting concluded with a renewed commitment to strong regional cooperation and ensuring that the priorities of small and vulnerable nations remain central to international climate decision-making. /////