EU-CELAC Summit: Food security, climate change & energy on agenda

…as EU seeks to revitalise Latin American, Caribbean ties

By Jarryl Bryan

During a packed day one of the European Union-Community of Latin American and Caribbean States’ (EU-CELAC) Summit, President Dr Irfaan Ali met with French President Emmanuel Macron and other leaders, even as he laid out his expectations that the summit will address food and climate security, as well as other areas.

This is the first time in eight years leaders from the European Union and Latin America have met.
On day one of the summit, which is being held in Brussels, Belgium, President Ali and French President Macron met and had brief discussions. President Ali also joined fellow CELAC leaders during meetings with other Heads of State and European Union politicians.
The summit will last from July 17 to 18, and according to President Ali, he expects climate, energy and food security to be of high priority. The President also called for an inclusive approach when it comes to involving stakeholders.
“There are three important issues facing the world today. That is climate security, energy security and food security. So, I expect the summit to focus heavily on these three areas, in ensuring that we find the right balance on these three critical global issues,” President Ali said, when approached for an interview by the media in Brussels.
“One in which we don’t lock stakeholders out, but one in which we can have all the stakeholders on the energy front, the climate front and the food security front, together. So that we can find solutions to the financing gap. And we can find solutions to the problems that are affecting people and bridge the gap of inequality.”
At one point there had been reports that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky would attend the summit. When asked by the media for a comment on the Russian conflict with Ukraine, President Ali reiterated Guyana’s official position on the war.
“Our view is that we must live in a peaceful world. And one in which every citizen must enjoy the right of sovereignty, territorial integrity and one in which they build their lives in peace,” President Ali said.
President Ali was also among the CELAC Heads of State who participated in a business roundtable on Monday. The EU-LAC Business Round Table was co-organised with the Inter-American Development Bank and the Development Bank of Latin America. President Ali also participated in the CARIFORUM-European Union High-Level meeting during the summit.

Summit agenda
Meanwhile, Prime Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines Ralph Gonsalves also serves as the co-chair of the European Council and Pro Tempore President of CELAC. During opening day, Gonsalves urged that longstanding issues affecting CELAC members be meaningfully addressed during the summit, including climate financing and reparations.
“Hopefully, this summit will arrive at mutually satisfactory conclusions on a bundle of compelling issues touching and concerning, among other things, inclusive, sustainable development, hunger and food security, a meaningful reform of the global financial architecture in accord with the central thrust of the Bridgetown initiative.”
“Renewable energy, ramped up ambitions and actions on climate change mitigation and adaptation. Tangible delivery to commitments on climate financing and loss and damage funding for vulnerable countries. Public health and pandemics. Education, science and technologies… reparative justice for native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies.”
Gonsalves also expressed hope that the “cessation of unilateral coercive economic sanctions” against some CELAC countries could be addressed during the summit. Also mentioned by Gonsalves was the “weaponising of the banking and financial system” and the “unlawful interference in the internal affairs of countries.”
While the Prime Minister acknowledged that these topics are likely to generate differing views and even some controversies, he was optimistic that as a group they can reach a satisfactory outcome. According to Gonsalves, the people they represent expect them to work “maturely and constructively” to make a positive difference.

Guyana’s advocacy
President Ali has been vocal at the level of CELAC, in calling for a revamp of, among other things, the current framework to achieve food security and nutrition, urging a re-engineering of current policies.
As recently as last month, the President addressed a CELAC high-level Ministers of Agriculture meeting at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre (ACCC), calling for an action plan to come out of this engagement.
Between 2019 and 2021, the number of hungry people increased by 13.2 million in the Region. Severe food insecurity in Latin America and the Caribbean was higher than the global average. The Region also had the highest cost attached for a healthy diet. Ali had pointed out that distributors are also finding it easier to import ‘all junk from outside’ into the Region.
“So, we have a supply problem. We have an eating problem. We have a system problem but now we have an economic problem. Because the model we’re using to feed the people in our Region has resulted in the highest cost for a healthy diet. Something is wrong.”
“The existing framework is not working! Whatever we’re doing in this moment has given the people of our Region the highest cost for a healthy diet,” President Ali had highlighted.
Ali had also told regional leaders that producing more food and integrating food security objectives while reducing poverty and inequality, remains the key to ensuring food and nutrition security in Latin America and the Caribbean. (G3)