Envoy: UK committed to mangrove protection

British High Commissioner Harriet Cross said her country is committed to assisting the region strengthen policy and initiate action to protect expand mangrove forests as a mitigation against climate change.

Mangrove forests are considered a natural measure against flooding and are also valuable because they remove greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, therefore reducing global warming.

In her opening remarks at a virtual forum on mangrove conservation on Friday, Cross thanked regional participants for their work and assured them the British government was supportive of Caribbean policies to find natural solutions to issues of climate change.

Cross said in keeping with the strategic goals of the UN Conference of Parties on Climate Change 2021 (COP 26), efforts would be made to strengthen government commitment while working with academic institutions to enhance research.

She also commented that Caribbean countries, comprising mainly small island developing states (SIDS), were key partners in the fight to reduce global warming as they were oftentimes the most severely affected by its impacts.

"Caribbean nations are SIDS and are at the forefront of the effects of climate change and are key partners for the UK.

"If we are to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement we need a full-scale transition of our energy systems and a transition in the way we use the land and ocean. Our land and coastal marine ecosystems could provide up to a third of cost-effective climate mitigation.

"The UK, in partnership with Italy, will work with governments, businesses and civic organisation to raise ambition, scale up ambition, come up with nature-based solutions and adjust rural transitions."

As part of the strategy to achieving goals under COP 26, Cross said partner countries would be asked to commit to a tangible actions to tackle climate change and increase financial support for nature-based solutions while building agricultural producer and consumer countries.

She said the benefits of preserving mangroves were twofold, as they would act as a buffer against rising sea levels, flooding and hurricanes while serving as a "sink" to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.