Additional Funding Announced by UK’s Minister Rutley to Help CARICOM Countries to Manage Their Oceans Sustainably

(Press release) Georgetown – Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and Overseas
Territories, David Rutley, represented the UK at the 46th CARICOM Heads of
Government Meeting. At the event, he announced £190,000 of UK funding to help
CARICOM countries manage their oceans sustainably.

The funding will be used to create a unified action plan that will allow Caribbean
countries to benefit economically from their ocean resources in an environmentally
friendly manner. Minister for the Americas, Caribbean and UK Overseas
Territories, David Rutley said: “The UK and CARICOM members are building on our
modern partnership and we are committed to working together to protect our natural
environment. Our new funding will help CARICOM states create and implement plans
to conserve their unique marine environments for future generations while also helping
to boost their economies. This is part of our wider partnership, which supports regional
security, deepening trade and building resilient economies. Our collaboration will
continue ahead of the UN’s Small Island Developing States summit in May.”

The new UK funding comes ahead of the UN’s Small Island Developing States (SIDS)
summit in May, where the international community will meet to discuss the impact of
climate change on SIDS. The UK will also provide additional funding to CARICOM to
help the organisation launch an action plan at the summit on the sustainable use of
natural resources.

The UK is one of the largest bilateral donors to the Caribbean, an area of the world
particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and has provided £400 million
for development programmes in the region since 2016. These include £26 million for
a climate-resilient highway in Belize, as well as almost £20million to help Eastern
Caribbean countries build their renewable energy capacity.

The UK is already leading marine conservation efforts in the Caribbean, with three
Overseas Territories (Cayman Islands, Turks & Caicos Islands and Anguilla) members
of our flagship Blue Belt programme. Established in 2016 and covering 10 OTs, Blue
Belt is the largest marine conservation network in the world – covering 1% of the
planet’s oceans from the Southern to the Pacific.