CARICOM’s strong negotiating team for the just-agreed Marine Biodiversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction treaty (BBNJ) comprised representatives of the Region’s Permanent Missions to the United Nations and capital base experts supported by scientific and legal experts drawn from the regional institutions (the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (and the University of the West Indies) with the CARICOM Secretariat providing technical, logistical and administrative support when needed. 

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) remains deeply concerned that human actions, including the emissions of greenhouse gases, have led to the rapid ongoing decline of marine ecosystems from coastal to deep sea, with particularly acute and large historical losses in coastal marine ecosystems.

• Honourable Frederick A.

• Honourable, Alva Baptiste, Minister of External Affairs International Trade, Civil Aviation and Diaspora Affairs of Saint Lucia and Chair of Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED);

• Other Honourable Ministers and Heads of Delegations;

• Representatives of Regional Institutions;

• Distinguished Delegates;

• Ladies and Gentlemen.

CARICOM Secretary-General, Dr. Carla Barnett, has hailed the "remarkable progress" Antigua and Barbuda has made over the 41 years of its independence.