 was easier for them to get fish closer to the sh systematic fish is now moving further away the system which means the fish woman of fish a woman needs to put in more resources especially in terms of fuel in order to now get a catch that they can use to sustain the family and the livelihoods and so the measures put in place to mitigate to adapt and to build resilience as it related to climate change in the fisheries tasted is very important for the mass survival of that sector, madam president. Madam president, a few years and even just recently as this year, I would have been privy to take part in discussions and workshops and perhaps discussions where there are consultants and so on to look at projects geared towards resilience, building resilience, building mitigation and adaptation for climate change in the fishery sector. And so for me this bill is very timely and very important. Perhaps a bit, well I shouldn't say timely because I think we're a bit behind time as it relates to putting together a comprehensive bill, a comprehensive act that will actually look at the different activities, the different programs and projects that lend itself to climate change resilience and climate change mitigation so that we can bring all of it together to ensure a more holistic approach to climate change. What I have found madam president is as I sit at workshops and seminars and so on, there seems to be a lot of fragmentation as it relates to the efforts geared towards climate change. And so I think what this bill before us actually would do in the way it's set up is to bring the parties together, those of course who climate change will affect directly and those who have a stake and those who can contribute to the discussion and the solutions madam president to bring the ideas and the solutions together because like I indicated I have found that a lot of the policies and a lot of the programs that exist are quite fragmented. Not too long ago I sat in discussion with a program for Ned by the FAO which is a fisheries sassap readiness project and even whilst we were discussing this project madam president there was another project that I sat in a discussion on, can't remember the name now and then so often I had to interject and say but we're looking at this under the other project and so the question has always been where is the nexus formed where all of these can come together to ensure that we actually maximise especially the climate change funding that comes to the country so that we can prioritise what the areas are and we can use the funding to ensure that we get something more for the country rather than many projects doing the same thing madam president and so like I said I think this brings everything very nicely together madam president if we look at section 10 of the bill that looks at the function of the committee and when I say the committee we're looking at one the designation of a national designated authority and it's something that always comes up in the discussions and under the sassap project we had a questionnaire that we were supposed to fill from the FAO and there was a question about the existence of a national designated authority on climate change and of course we had a back and forth as to what exists and whether what exists the semblance of what exists actually meets the needs and so on and of course we know that that too madam president has negative implications for even the receipt of climate change funding and into the country and so when we look at that is why in particular I like some of the sections there when we look at section 10 which looks at the functions of the committee and in eighties to guide the development of a cross sectoral policies, laws, strategies and action plans for one reducing greenhouse gas emissions and two building resilience to climate change impacts and loss and damage from climate change and I like I said I particularly like these this clause because I think that is so important madam president and of course coming out of a more holistic approach it means that like I said the industry in which I operate which is a fisheries industry of course we are get to benefit from that type of discussion of moving away from the fragmented approach because you know as you go along you see little things happen within the fisheries sector and I need to applaud the government for some of the actions that they've taken to help the fishers mitigate and manage climate change such as the introduction of additional fish aggregating devices I know last year into this year we have a few that has not deployed but across the island we've seen a greater thrust by this government to ensure that fish aggregating devices what is known as fads are deployed around the island to help the fishers reduce the cost that they have to face due to the issues of climate change and I'm grateful for that madam president what we've also seen in the fisheries industry is higher records of distresses so for example we're having more incident of fishers who are stranded at sea fishers who are having mechanical problems and so on we're getting so many more of these incidents and we know some of it is related to the additional pressure placed on them because of climate change I did say very short madam president and so as I'm winding down I want to also look at the aspect that speaks to the purpose of the act which sort of summarizes all of what is within the act so if we go to page 10 madam president it tells us that the purpose of the act and I just want to touch a few to recognize the challenges that climate change poses to the population natural resources and economy and the urgency of climate change action that is needed and of course I need not go in detail into these because the speakers before me have looked at in depth in my opinion what the challenges are and what the consequences are in terms of climate change and of course all of the spin-offs from that also SEED speaks to developing a comprehensive approach to climate change in addressing mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage and in terms of loss and damage and what I indicated madam president will see in the effects not just on the physical infrastructure as senator Zha pointed out and as well as senator Pauline Antoine but also the other resources such as fishing vessels and the degradation of the fishing ports and so on I know during sometime last year during one of the adverse weather conditions we had much more reports of loss of fish ports and the question that we could not really give a succinct answer to the fishers was what happens in these circumstances. A lot of them had reports of loss of fishing ports and when we look at the cost associated with building a fish port, a row of fish port wire four feet five feet is about almost nine hundred dollars now. So imagine having put in that type of resources just for the wire measure loan and there are other little items that come into building a fish port and just in a few hours it is gone and most fishers who do deploy ports, they deploy five and ten and fifteen, twenty ports and all of that is gone because of an adverse weather condition and the question is what is the compensation that is available to us already given that they cannot insure the ports so there is no means of them insuring the ports but they have made an investment madam president and so I think the fishers will be quite elated to know that the government has now put a bill before us that is to become an act that will look at all of these little aspects that will inevitably help them in building and growing the industry as every loss madam president puts them back a few. So I just wanted to like I said make some of these observations specifically on behalf of the fishing sector madam president and to lend my own wavering support to the bill before us as we seek to deal with the adverse effects of climate change a phenomena we know that we have to deal with whether we like it or not. I thank you madam president. Senator Lee. Thank you madam president. Just some very short observations or I guess again questions as relates to the bill. I'm not going to repeat the I think what has been said before as it regards the reality of climate change we all live in a small vulnerable country and I think we on a daily basis experience the very very real impact of climate change but my concern with regard to the bill and reading through it is that in some ways it seems to be a plan to plan I accept obviously that there does need to be research it does need to be as my colleague said as a shall report I'm grateful for intervention in that regard that there needs to be unity sorry in the approach of the various disparate organizations that are involved and today some central coordination of their activities and I understand that as part of the bill but again listening to senator Jean she sort of reinforced the point that came to me when I was reading through the bill that to actually have any concrete impact on climate change you have to go a lot further than this bill currently provides for there actually has to be and we're going to be I'm sure coming back well I don't know how long I'll be in this chamber but the government whoever ever government forms the government will have to come back on several occasions to act actual legislation to carry out the steps necessary to combat climate change so from a policy point of view I understand why this is being done but like I said it seems to your plan to plan and there's a lot more work that is going to have to be done before we can actually have any genuine impact on climate change listening to senator shallery again and she made the point about the impact that climate change is having on her fishing industry and it sort of struck me and it's a question I've had for some time now what steps are actually being taken to reorganize the industry I think we've recognized for a number of years now that the movement or the migration of our fish is away from St. Lucia away from our coast I should say sorry yet still we keep investing in small open pirogs that are ill suited for perhaps the distances that persons have to travel to actually get the fish that we need to land so what steps are actually taken to accelerate the change in the industry it is necessary one for the industry to survive and two for it to become more sustainable and more profitable as a whole so one of the questions I have how does this bill assist with that other than again planning to plan where are the actual concrete steps that are being taken to accelerate that development in just that one industry for example but again with plastics, with energy, with all these other areas what are the concrete steps that are being taken to achieve the changes in practice changes in the industries, the various industries that we need to address the negative impacts of climate change I note that we are incorporating the Kyoto Agreement we are incorporating the Paris Agreement and I believe the UN Convention on Climate Change part of that for example is setting of greenhouse gas emissions limits and restrictions but the question that sort of came to me again is what happens if we don't meet them if we set the standards and we don't achieve it what is the penalty that will befall us as a result other than obviously the continuing degradation of our environment but that being said and I think has been said by speakers before me our impact on the environment, the global environment is minuscule so again what is the real benefit of this piece of legislation again I'm happy that the conversation has begun I'm happy that the government at least is signalling that this is a serious issue but again I don't think that anybody is debating that at least not in St. Lucia as far as I'm aware so I would have preferred to have more concrete legislation being brought where we are actually targeting and tackling the actual impacts as opposed to again planning to plan that is just my observation with regard to the piece of legislation and I hope that we will be back here again with the more concrete results to enact the changes that we need to improve our environmental conditions Thank you Madam Senator Fildinon Thank you Madam President My intervention is specific to a response that I wanted to offer with regard to a point that was raised by the independent senator I think I share similar sentiments as far as what climate change does to us as we know we emit less than 1% of carbon emissions yet to pay a heavy price but I think an issue was raised very very pertinent as to how the bill really addresses what senator shall re-raise and that I think is a very legitimate question I would have asked the same I just had a brief exchange with my colleague parliamentary secretary who presented the bill and one of the things we would note is that in one of the sections of the bill I was trying to find a relevant section but I took note when the presentation was made by the Honourable Minister in the other chamber that the bill establishes rules for climate change management facilities to access finance and that would tell me therefore that that bill would speak to the idea of corporatives and I think senator shall re-manages or is part of a such an organisation if I am correct and if there is something like a fisheries cooperative as we have in this country I am seeing that this bill is if it is making available rules to be able to get the management facilities in that case the fisheries cooperative the southern fishermen's cooperative to be able to access finance and we know the amount of money that is available out there it would then provide if the fishermen are cooperatised or any of the stakeholders come together and organise themselves that they can therefore access money or finance for them to be able to access one of the things that was raised which was insurance I think senator shall re-mention that the fishers did not have insurance for their pots and so other sectors the agriculture sector we have issues of crop insurance when 75% of the banana industry was blown off with one tropical storm I think that to give credit to the bill Madam President I think that particular clause where it establishes rules for climate change excuse me management and where it allows for access to finance can be an indication that issue that concern can be addressed and I am hoping that that is explored so that finance can be accessed once you can organise those people to be able to get support for activities or interventions like group insurance I thank you Madam President Honourable Parliamentary Secretary in the means of your education sustainable development, innovation science and technology and vocational training Thank you Madam President Madam President I wish to thank the Senators here who have made an intervention regarding this bill I am happy that we all agree that climate change is real and we must play our part in reducing carbon emissions I am encouraged by the firm conviction that especially Senators Zhe has given about climate change we must appreciate that the world has been making strides in reducing fossil fuels but at this point it is only about a quarter of the world energy is derived from renewable sources and so there is a lot more work in fact a lot of work to be done if we are serious about reducing climate change it is probably time to return our focus to the more renewable resources in St. Lucia we have tried to explore energy from sulphur springs for a long time hydro, what is it again? geothermal energy sorry but we are still here and we are going to drill here and drill there so we are waiting to see whether St. Lucia will be able to make strides with geothermal energy once Senators spoke about plastics and the need probably to ban single plastics on the island in addition to well it is still a product of fossil fuels and we need to get rid of those in our country maybe Senator did not speak about the effects on fish life that the plastics the impact of the plastics on fish life I have attended a few workshops and I am pretty much aware that they have adverse effects on the fish the bigger fish swallow the plastics and it suffocates them etc so there is a need for greater monitoring of what reaches our borders and what is allowed to enter our country I know that we have policy on single plastics in St. Lucia but as Senator Jia was saying we still see the plastics we still drink water from the plastic bottles and the soft drinks etc and we have to dispose we do not have any recycling I don't know if you know of any in St. Lucia where we can dispose of those plastics and so when there is heavy rains we can see the evidence of the plastic in the Cassuese harbour on the sides of the road and everywhere in St. Lucia so there is indeed a need to address the situation with the plastics on our island Senator also spoke about building resilient infrastructure and when we look around and we look at the houses that people build we know that if there is strong wind that the roof start to fly away and so these are not climate resilient and so even if we have to spend more money to build a bridge or to build a building it will be cheaper if we spend the money instead of having to replace a building every time it is damaged and we know that we do not have the resources to do that so it might be more prudent if we are able to invest and invest well in climate resilient infrastructure you spoke about the commitment by the regional and global organizations we know sometimes pledges are made and we don't see the monies but we are hopeful that the monies will circulate among the small territories so that we can limit our loss and damage we spoke about the difficulty of fishermen to find fish and we know it is because of global warming the shores are getting warmer and so the fish are venturing further to be more comfortable in deeper waters and so it becomes more expensive to catch fish and probably that's why we have to pay a pound of fish for 14 and 16 dollars sometimes I tell myself I will never go fishing so I will pay whatever price that the fishermen ask but not everybody may be able to buy the fish at those cost so we have to limit on our fossil fuels we have to mitigate climate change in order that the marine life is more comfortable to enjoy the volume of fish that we had known and the fishermen can enjoy greater benefits from fishing Madam President we also spoke about the fragmentation in the efforts towards combating climate change and I think this is why this bill has come into effect we get assistance from organizations from donors overseas and sometimes the money is being used for the same thing in so many different sectors instead of having a coordinated effort so that we can make maximum use of the assistance that we get so I am hopeful that this bill will bring the bits together for a more holistic more deliberate approach to use the resources effectively to mitigate climate change Senators shall we also spoke about aggregating devices that are deployed for cost reduction and as we have always said this government tries this government is the father people and therefore we are trying to assist the fishermen at this time so that at least they can get a livelihood from fishing which is getting more difficult I agree that fishers must invest but cannot ensure insure their fish ports they invest but they cannot insure their fish ports and this is why some of the fishermen find it difficult to continue with their trade because after storm when they lose their fish ports some of them lose their vessels it is difficult to bounce back and we are hoping that the loss and damage fund will assist those fishermen but it is also true as Senator Lee said that the vessels we have are climate resilient and so there might be we should try to ensure that we assist especially as Senator Gibyan was saying getting into cooperatives and we should know that international organizations don't always entertain individuals but they assist groups and so it is easier for a cooperative to get funding than for an individual fisherman and in St. Lucia we know some of the fishermen as we call it they want to do things on their own some of them don't want to be part of any organization they go to fish and get but when there is adversity that they call foul and so we must work with our fishermen we must work with our farmers that they come together within organizations so that they can they can better assist one another Madam President I think I have capsulated most of what the members have said I don't know if there is anything else but let me thank everyone again for their contribution and let me thank all the senators for their contribution and let us see the bills to its final stages Senators the question is that the climate change will be read a second time I now put the question as many as of that opinion say aye as many as of the contrary opinion say no I think the ayes have it an act to implement the united nations framework convention on climate change the paris agreement and the Kato protocol to the united nations framework convention on climate change to provide for the functions of the department responsible for climate change matters to establish an electronic climate change database and the climate change committee set the parameters for the development of a climate change adaptation policy the national adaptation plan the nationally determined contribution and to account for greenhouse gas emissions and for related matters clause 2 interpretation clause 2 stands part of the bill clause 3 force of law clause 3 stands part of the bill clause 4 purposes of this act clause 4 stands part of the bill clause 5 act binds the crown clause 5 stands part of the bill part 1 clause is 6 to 17 administration part 1 clauses 6 to 17 stands part of the bill part 2 clauses 18 to 20 part 2 clauses 18 to 20 part 2 clauses 18 to 20 a new climate change adaptation policy and national adaptation plan before we proceed I think on remember that there was a a change on page 19 of the original page 19, part 2 clause 18, section 1  เด                                  part 3 hold on part 2 clauses 18 to 20 part of the bill part 3 clauses 21 to 22 greenhouse emission now we have a change page 22 clause 21 greenhouse gas emission reduction targets first line delete the second second delete the second second second are we on there Senators? so part 3 clause is 21 to 22 stand spot of the bill part 4 clause 23 nationally determined contribution part 4 clause 23 stand spot of the bill part 5 clause 24 to 27 miscellaneous part 5 clause 24 to 27 stands part of the bill schedule 1 climate priority sectors schedule 1 stands part of the bill schedule 2 chaotic protocol to the United Nations framework convention on climate change schedule 2 stands part of the bill schedule 3 Paris agreement schedule 3 stands part of the bill schedule 4 United Nations framework convention on climate change schedule 4 stands part of the bill schedule 5 list of agencies represented on the committee schedule 5 stands part of the bill clause 1 short title and commencement clause 1 stands part of the bill senators the question is that the committee rises and the bill be reported I now put the question as many as of that opinion say I as many as all the contrary opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it senators I beg to report that the climate change bill went through committee stage well the amendments were made in the house without amendments Honourable Parliamentary Secretary in the Minister of Education Madam President I move that the report of the committee be adopted and the bill be read a third time and passed Senators the question is that the report of the committee be adopted and the climate change bill be read a third time and passed I now put the question as many as of that opinion say I as many as of the contrary opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it be it enacted by the King's most excellent Majesty by and with the advice and consent of the House of Assembly and the Senate of Zanlusha and by the authority of the same as follows this act may be cited as the climate change act 2024 Honourable Leader of Government Business Madam President I move that the Senate do stand adjourn Senators the question is that the Senate do stand adjourn I now put the question as many as of that opinion say I as many as of the contrary opinion say no I think the eyes have it the eyes have it We just come to the end of today's sitting of the Senators Senate and a moment ago the climate change bill was passed this bill sought to address issues of climate change and how to mitigate the impact of climate change on the island it was also pointed out that the bill was almost a condition for by international lending agencies to secure financing on various projects and so this bill was presented by the Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism Honourable Antoine Honourable Antoine Honourable Antoine and she highlighted the importance of such a bill for small island nations like ours Earlier the House went into a short recession and prior to that there was a very heated debate on the Tourism Development Bill and this is the bill according to the Parliamentary Secretary Minister of Tourism Honourable Gabian Fodenan when he made his presentation said that it was intended to redefine or restructure the tourism industry it was an inclusive and equitable bill which seeks to give members of institutions not merely observers in the tourism industry but also to make them participants and owners a key element of that bill was even the redefinition of the term hotel to mean a property with less than six rooms and in that case it really opened up the industry if you will to anyone with a property of two rooms and this bill like the Minister and other members supported it said it is also intended to give incentives to those people to people who want to explore people who want to invest to know and become partakers in the tourism industry this generated a lot of debate especially from the leader of opposition business Honourable Dominic Febe he said the bill was nothing new and that's inclusions were already owners of the industry Michael yes, it's a new way it's an endless session and it's a senatorate who discussed this bill and the bill who can buy more rights with more ability to do things that can make more changes it's a particular because there are a lot of people in the United Nations who have done changes in the industry to develop policies to make money to do different things and all the time there are a lot of people who have done this to benefit it's necessary to have a discussion about this and to see if it can be done and to see if it can be done to make more changes with more technology and to make more changes in November in September in November in April with a lot of work to be done so it was important to be done and before that we had a debate it was very important to present a presentation for the government for the government so it is important to present a presentation for the government so it is important to present it so it is very important to present the presentation for the government because there is a lot of things to be done ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ B� fle jâte ona다는 ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ ២ B pe shon pa mʌtʊ kom' kre yoni láté reematics op ry me iqipa le. ២ ២ ២ ២ B' Khilmʝ oka mʌtʊ lon láté re Shanha yon ila tteoibh ap zgbeo rental tehwibh pupā le. ulif  transf                                                                                                                                                                                                                            ʕɣm ʕe ndə dʔ chə ʟʟiə məs ʕiʟ ʟe ndə d'ʕɣo ʕiʟ dʕʟiə ʕiʟ ʙa dʕʟiə  ук                                                                                                                                                        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