WASHINGTON, D.C., July 7, 2023 — The 4th Inter-American Meeting of Ministers and High-Level Authorities on Sustainable Development will be held in The Bahamas on October 3rd – 4th, 2023, and will focus on the threat of climate change and need for collective hemispheric climate action.
Ambassador and OAS Permanent Representative Chet Neymour, on behalf of the Government of The Bahamas, and OAS Secretary General Luis Almagro, on behalf of the OAS General Secretariat, signed the Ministerial Hosting Agreement today, in a ceremony held at the headquarters of the OAS in Washington, DC.
In his remarks, Permanent Representative Neymour affirmed that “the existential threat of climate change and the urgency required for climate action top the list of political priorities for The Bahamas and for countries within the CARICOM region”. He also underscored that “the same comparative advantages that the OAS has demonstrated in its work in other spheres regarding political convening and agenda setting, capacity building and technical assistance can and must shape the work that the OAS does to advance climate action.”
It is anticipated that the Ministerial will produce decisions that will steer the work of the OAS on sustainable development between 2023 – 2026 and will scale up the focus of the OAS on supporting climate action.
Alongside hosting the Sustainable Development Ministerial, The Bahamas will also be convening a Climate Finance in the Americas Meeting on October 2nd, 2023, which will facilitate dialogue with multilateral development banks and other climate finance partners to consider pathways to unlock climate finance in the Americas and deliver greater access, affordability and adequacy with respect to climate finance to countries of the hemisphere.
