Prime Minister Gaston Browne engaged in discussions with Simon Stiell, Executive Director of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Antigua and Barbuda’s Prime Minister Gaston Browne took center stage at the start of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA80), pressing world leaders to treat climate justice as a matter of survival, not charity.
In a keynote address at Climate Week NYC 2025, Browne painted a stark picture of the existential threat facing small island developing states (SIDS). “Every degree of warming is an invoice sent to small islands—an invoice we cannot pay,” he warned.
He pushed for immediate capitalization of the Loss and Damage Fund, highlighted the Antigua and Barbuda Agenda for SIDS (ABAS), and urged recognition of the Multidimensional Vulnerability Index to ensure fairer access to finance.
Later in the day, Browne met with the Green Climate Fund to demand more direct funding for SIDS projects, rejecting models that filter resources through costly intermediaries. “Climate finance must flow where it is needed most directly to the vulnerable,” he stressed.
Keep advocating PM. Hopefully your words won’t fall on deaf ears this time
Antigua and Barbuda continues to lead the global conversation on climate justice. Truly proud moment
When he says every degree is an invoice, it hits hard. This is a debt the world cannot keep ignoring
Small islands are on the frontlines of a crisis they did not create. The world must finally listen
When Browne says every degree of warming is an invoice, he’s giving voice to what every islander feels, we’re paying bills we never ran up.
For too long, the climate crisis has been framed as charity. Browne flipped the script: this is justice, this is debt owed.
Prime Minister Browne is speaking truth to power….As he always does tho……..climate justice is survival, not charity.
His speech is powerful, but will the big powers finally act? Words won’t stop rising seas
The Loss and Damage Fund has been promised for too long. It’s time to deliver, not delay.
He’s right climate funds must go directly to vulnerable nations, not get stuck in layers of intermediaries
This is not just an island issue, it’s a global crisis. Proud to see our leaders standing firm on climate justice.