Climate Action 2016-2017
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BUSINESS & FINANCE<br />
People gather on a riverbank in Bangladesh to recieve aid packets.<br />
money so they have a clearer appreciation<br />
of what countries need. For example, nations<br />
such as those in the Caribbean, among the<br />
most indebted in the world, have come to<br />
depend on expatriates sending money home<br />
in the form of remittances. Now with banks<br />
and financial institutions de-risking, pulling<br />
out because they perceive potential perils<br />
with the tightening up of regulations, or it<br />
simply not being cost-effective to trade, these<br />
remittances are going to be needed more than<br />
ever. The Hub can now come into its own. It is,<br />
if you will, one funnel which has the capacity<br />
and energy to help the whole.<br />
The Commonwealth states in the Caribbean<br />
breathed a sigh of relief as Hurricane Matthew<br />
swept out of town and flew to America. But<br />
people like Conrad Jack know it was luck that<br />
they were left relatively unscathed and only<br />
a matter of time before they are pummelled,<br />
once again, by an unwanted visitor to their<br />
shores, disrupting and changing lives for<br />
ever. My work is clear: the Commonwealth<br />
Secretariat has to be better at providing<br />
collaborative, concrete, facilitative support<br />
for all our members so that we can really feel<br />
that, as a family, we have mechanisms which<br />
enable us to support each other in our hour<br />
of need. The Commonwealth <strong>Climate</strong> Finance<br />
Access Hub is only the start of that journey.<br />
Patricia Scotland QC took office as Secretary-<br />
General of the Commonwealth of Nations<br />
on 1st April <strong>2016</strong>. She is the first woman to<br />
hold the post of Secretary-General. Born in<br />
Dominica, she moved to the UK at an early age<br />
and has had a dynamic career in law, public<br />
service and politics. She has served in many<br />
ministerial positions within the UK government,<br />
most notably as the Attorney-General for<br />
England and Wales.<br />
The Commonwealth of Nations (http://<br />
thecommonwealth.org) is a voluntary<br />
association of 52 independent and equal<br />
sovereign states. It is home to 2.2 billion<br />
citizens, of which over 60 per cent are under<br />
the age of 30. The Commonwealth includes<br />
some of the world’s largest, smallest, richest<br />
and poorest countries, spanning five regions.<br />
Thirty-one of its members are small states,<br />
many of them island nations. The Secretariat<br />
provides guidance on policy-making, technical<br />
assistance and advisory services to the<br />
Commonwealth countries.<br />
www.climateactionprogramme.org 63
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