Press Releases

During the first Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Lecture for the CPA Caribbean, Americas and Atlantic (CAA) Region, the Head of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit of the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, Mr Kishan Kumarsingh, stressed the importance of implementing the Paris Accord on Climate Change at a national level and how Speakers and Presiding Officers in the Caribbean Region can take the lead.

Mr Kishan Kumarsingh stressed the need for all countries to adhere to the Paris Agreement and the importance of and challenges to its implementation. He also spoke about the role that Parliamentarians can play in this process and how they can promote the application of new technologies of climate change adaption and mitigation: “The impact of climate change poses a substantial threat to Small Island States. Addressing climate change and implementing a multi-disciplined approach is of crucial importance. Climate change is a development issue, not an environmental issue and is beyond political partnership.”

The Speaker of the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago, Hon. Bridgid Annisette-George, MP said: “The CPA Lecture reinforced the issues we were discussing during the Conference. Mr Kumarsingh’s presentation reminded me of the importance of the role of Presiding Officers in parliamentary committees to achieve the SDGs and exercise effective oversight through committee mechanisms. It also underlined the importance of Parliament as a monitoring entity as part of the Monitoring, Reporting and Verification framework for Climate Change.”

The CPA Commonwealth Parliamentary Lecture, titled ‘The Geo-political response to Climate Change’, was delivered in the margins of the Caribbean Region’s 18th Biennial Regional Presiding Officers and Clerks Conference, hosted by the Parliament of Trinidad and Tobago and was attended by over 35 Speakers, Presiding Officers and parliamentary staff from across the Caribbean Region.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Lecture Series is a global programme of Commonwealth lectures that offer Members of Parliament and the parliamentary community a unique opportunity to hear from distinguished former and current Parliamentarians and key policy-makers who have made an outstanding contribution to their nation’s democracy and to the institution of Parliament and all that it represents. An expert in international environmental law and its national application, Mr Kishan Kumarsingh has authored Trinidad and Tobago’s National Climate Change Policy and First National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

Collectively, this series of lectures will contribute both to the CPA’s continuing dialogue within its membership and to reach out beyond to other stakeholders such as members of the international community, the diplomatic corps, civil society and the wider public with the lectures being available online through the CPA website and CPA YouTube channel.

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