Saint Lucia has made a sterling contribution to the Region’s effort towards coordinated, balanced and integrated action required to ensure the survival of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) with the threat that climate change poses.

This sentiment was expressed in a message from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM)  to the Hon. Dr. Kenny Anthony, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, on the occasion of the country’s 37th Independence Anniversary on 22 February, 2016.

CARICOM, it said,  had benefited from Saint Lucia’s invaluable contribution in pursuing its responsibility within the CARICOM Quasi-cabinet as lead Head of Government for Sustainable Development.

It underscored Dr. Anthony’s “excellent work” as an advocate of the Region’s position on climate change, and that of Dr. The Hon. Anthony Fletcher in his capacity as lead CARICOM negotiator at the 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held in Paris last December.

The message said the success of the Community’s coordination on this complex issue underlined the critical importance of integration, in which Saint Lucia had participated actively.

As the Community congratulated St. Lucia, it said the theme of the celebration ‘The Journey Continues’ evoked a sense of continued national development which showed that while much had been accomplished, the Government and the people of Saint Lucia would continue to strive to make progress on the many fronts leading to further socio-economic development.