Excellency, it is my pleasure to receive your credentials as your country’s second Plenipotentiary Representative to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). Our relations have been improving steadily since our first interaction in 2009 and further strengthened by the efforts of your predecessor during his term.
Through your membership in the European Union (EU), your country is no stranger to our Region, having been party to the Fourth Lomé Convention, the subsequent Cotonou Agreement and, since 2008, the CARIFORUM-EU Economic Partnership Agreement. Finland’s Observer Status in the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) has also assisted in furthering its knowledge and understanding of the issues important to our Region thus creating the basis for a meaningful and substantive relationship.
Finland has been a prime mover in the now regular encounters between the Foreign Ministers of CARICOM and the Nordic countries, at the time of the United Nations General Assembly, an encounter which we value. Discussions at these sessions have been productive and have led to an improved mutual understanding as well as concrete actions of benefit to both sides, including a contribution from Finland to the CARICOM Development Fund.
Excellency, Finland has also co-operated with the Region in its efforts to advance energy integration and access, through the increased use of renewable energy and energy efficiency. Your country, for example, was a significant contributor to the highly successful Third Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum. The importance of this sector was underlined in the Caribbean Community’s first ever Strategic Plan, as a major element in unleashing our key economic drivers as we continue to pursue our sustainable development. One of the goals in the Plan, approved by Heads of Government, is for renewable energy to provide 20 percent of the electricity supply in the Region by 2017.
Excellency, the Community Strategic Plan also identifies other areas for priority focus over the five-year period 2015-2019, some of which are in areas in which Finland has shown particular interest and which have been among issues discussed during our interactions. Chief among these is Climate Change.
The issue of Climate Change is an existential one for our Community, given the reality of sea-level rise and the increased frequency and intensity of climatic events. The Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, in its latest Report, recognised the risks from climate-related events to small islands and low-lying coastal developing states (SIDS), such as those in the Caribbean. Crucially, the Report also emphasises the need for appropriate assistance from the international community to assist SIDS in developing effective adaptation and mitigation programmes.
Finland’s demonstrated interest in the development of the Caribbean Sea Commission of the ACS indicates its sensitivity to the Region’s concerns about the effects of Climate Change on this precious resource. The assistance, both technical and financial, has been invaluable in advancing this important initiative. It is my hope that we can extend co-operation to include Finland’s active support for our positions at international climate change negotiations. The upcoming Meeting of the Conference of the Parties later this year in Peru, provides an ideal opportunity as the international community seeks agreement on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions that is acceptable to everyone and is favourable to SIDS.
The effects of Climate Change are just one of the issues that challenge SIDS and expose their vulnerability to actions, over which they have little or no control. As the international community negotiates the Post-2015 Development Agenda, the peculiar vulnerabilities of SIDS must be taken into account in an open, transparent and inclusive process.
Another of these issues which affect SIDS that are categorised as middle-income, is the persistence by the international community with the flawed assumption that GDP per capita is the primary measure of development. This is used to justify the policy of differentiation or graduation of middle income countries from access to development financing and fails to take into account other critical factors such as the effects of climate change, small populations, negligible export diversification and a reliance on very few export markets as examples.
Excellency, Finland has demonstrated its support for our Region on an issue in which we have a keen interest. As of April this year, Finland became one of 41 countries to ratify the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty. CARICOM played an active role in the negotiations for that first ever international Treaty to attempt to regulate the trade of conventional weapons. The illegal trade in arms allied to the trade in illegal drugs has severely compromised the security of our citizens and threatens our economic and social development. In thanking your country for its support for that initiative, the Community also looks forward to Finland’s further support for one of our Member States, Trinidad and Tobago, as the home of the Treaty’s Secretariat.
Ambassador, the possibilities for expansion of our relations are numerous and, as we continue on the path to strengthening our ties, I am certain that the opportunities will present themselves for this relationship to further benefit the people of our countries. In that regard, I look forward to working with you during your tenure and, once again, welcome you to the CARICOM family.
