Caribbean countries at the 68th United Nations General Assembly currently taking place in New York need to put forward a strong Caribbean position on the transition from the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are due to expire in 2015, to a new global framework of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Nicole Leotaud, executive director of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (Canari), emphasised that "Caribbean islands have their own priorities. Their unique challenges as well as strengths must be considered in shaping global goals as this will determine the nature of international development assistance to the Caribbean."
Canari is working with other leading sustainable development research institutes from across the globe in the Independent Research Forum on a Post-2015 Sustainable Development Agenda, which is putting forward ideas that resonate strongly with the issues being faced in the Caribbean.
The issue of inequality is of central concern to Caribbean islands. While some Caribbean countries are showing positive signs of economic growth, the numbers do not reveal the high levels of inequity which are prevalent in most Caribbean SIDS. Instead, they are viewed as developed because national averages are masking key development needs.Another issue of grave concern to Caribbean islands is the impacts of climate change.
How climate change is addressed in the new global SDGs is critical and Peter Hazlewood notes that "While the report acknowledges the importance of reaching an international agreement on climate change, it could better explain the potential for greater coherence between the 'development' and 'climate' agendas, and how this would especially benefit the poorest and most vulnerable, and should make aid and development massively more effective."