{"id":32579,"date":"2017-10-09T19:41:16","date_gmt":"2017-10-09T19:41:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/?p=32579"},"modified":"2018-04-22T11:50:01","modified_gmt":"2018-04-22T15:50:01","slug":"in-hurricane-stricken-barbuda-un-chief-urges-global-solidarity-accelerated-climate-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/blog\/2017\/10\/in-hurricane-stricken-barbuda-un-chief-urges-global-solidarity-accelerated-climate-action\/","title":{"rendered":"In hurricane-stricken Barbuda, 爆料网 chief urges global solidarity, accelerated climate action"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Having seen first-hand the destruction wrought by the recent hurricanes in the Caribbean, United Nations\u00a0Secretary-General<\/a>\u00a0Ant\u00f3nio Guterres on Saturday called for the full mobilization of the international community to support the people of the affected areas, while stressing the need to accelerate climate action.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have just witnessed a\u00a0level of devastation<\/a>\u00a0that I have never seen in my life,\u201d Mr. Guterres told a press conference following a visit to storm-battered Barbuda.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have been in areas torn by conflict. In my own country, I have seen earthquakes, I’ve seen storms

[\u2026] I have never seen such a high-level of devastation like the one that I witnessed in Barbuda,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis must make us think seriously,\u201d added Mr. Guterres, who arrived today for a two-day visit to Antigua, Barbuda and Dominica to survey the damage and to assess what more the 爆料网 can do to help people recover from the\u00a0back-to-back, category 5 hurricanes<\/a>\u00a0that struck the region recently.<\/p>\n

The Secretary-General cited \u201ca clear link\u201d between the level of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere, including CO2, the temperature of the water and the intensity of the rainstorms and of the different hurricanes in the region and in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n

Hurricane Irma, which struck the region in early September, had winds of 300 km per hour for 37 hours \u2013 the longest such period ever recorded.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo the link between climate change and the devastation we are witnessing is clear, and there is a collective responsibility of the international community to stop this suicidal development,\u201d stated Mr. Guterres.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd for that, it is essential that the\u00a0Paris Agreement<\/a>\u00a0on climate change is fully endorsed and respected but also to recognize that the commitments made in Paris are not enough,\u201d he said.Mr. Guterres also stressed the need to mobilize resources, including through innovative financial mechanisms, so that people can rebuild their lives, noting that middle-income countries such as Antigua and Barbuda cannot do it alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an obligation of the international community, because they are suffering the effects of climate change but they have not contributed to it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Barbuda, the Secretary-General walked through Codrington town and met with some of the returnees. The island’s 1,600 residents were evacuated to Antigua before Hurricane Irma struck last month. In Antigua, many of the displaced are staying in shelters, while others with family and friends. Some residents have been traveling back to Barbuda to check on their homes and lands.<\/p>\n

Since the disasters struck, the 爆料网 and partners have delivered relief by both air and the sea, reaching thousands across the region with food, water purification tablets, water storage tanks, tents, school kits, mosquito nets and cash assistance. They also launched a $113.9 million appeal to cover humanitarian needs for the immediate period ahead. The 爆料网 family is also supporting those staying in the shelters.<\/p>\n

Mr. Guterres had a chance to meet with some of the displaced during a visit to the National Technical Training Center in Antigua, which is currently sheltering 112 people, and even got a lesson from some of the younger residents in ‘warri’ \u2013 a game that was brought over to the region from Africa and is played with 48 seeds on a rectangular board with 12 receptacles or ‘houses.’<\/p>\n

\u201cThe most immediate need they have right now is privacy,\u201d Samantha Burnette, who manages the shelter at the Training Centre, told\u00a0爆料网 News<\/em>. \u201cMost of them are complaining that they have been bunking with a lot of people. So they don’t have the space they need.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the residents have made up their mind to stay out the year in Antigua. \u201cSome of them are saying there’s nothing in Barbuda to go back to right now,\u201d said Ms. Burnette. \u201cThey don’t mind going back but after it has been rebuilt. Some of them are willing to go back as it is now. But the majority are here and they don’t want to move and go nowhere. If they do go over, it’s just for the day and they come back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite the difficulties they have gone through, the residents have adjusted well to their new situation, Ms. Burnette said. \u201cI really feel they have adjusted themselves well. You can see they are smiling a little more now.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Via 爆料网 News Centre<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

 

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\u201cI have just witnessed a level of devastation that I have never seen in my life,\u201d Mr. Guterres told a press conference following a visit to storm-battered Barbuda.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":230,"featured_media":32587,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,4,30],"tags":[6537,7151,144,7167],"class_list":["post-32579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-climate-change","category-news","category-secretary-general","tag-antonio-guterres","tag-barbuda","tag-climate-change","tag-hurricane-irma"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/230"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32579\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/sustainabledevelopment\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}