Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 13, 2025

Stronger legislation needed to combat climate change

Stronger legislation needed to combat climate change

Minister for Natural Resources Vincent Wheatley is urging Latin American and Caribbean leaders to implement legislation that accelerates climate resilience in the region.
Speaking at a 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) side event for parliaments in the region, Wheatley said the resposibility lies with every nation, regardless of their size.

“Latin America and the Caribbean’s ability to cope with the ongoing negative effects of climate change, especially among the Low-lying Coastal States and Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) of the region, hinges on our ability to accelerate climate resilience using legislation that can, among other things, improve building codes that strengthen the ability of our housing and building infrastructure to withstand climate shocks,” the Minister of Natural Resources said.

Wheatley said policies have improved drastically but to help clean up the carbon footprint of the region, the government must strengthen its environmental legislation.

“We have continued to strengthen our environmental policies and laws to conserve and protect our environment. For example, we have adopted stronger measures to protect mangrove forests that serve as natural coastal defences from storm surges and also absorb carbon dioxide from the air,” he added.

In addressing the panel of parliamentary representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean, Wheatley used the BVI’s’ recovery from hurricanes Irma and Maria as examples of how climate change can severely impact small-island states in the region.

“I speak from the experience of the British Virgin Islands as a post-disaster society that is still recovering from the devastation of two category five hurricanes in September 2017. You will recall that Hurricane Irma was one of the strongest hurricanes on record to pass over the Atlantic and Caribbean,” the minister said.

Earlier this month, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley had gained international praise when she gave a speech at COP26 on how climate change has impacted the small island states worldwide.

Mottley challenged more developed nations to do better with their fight against climate change as the rising temperature signals a death sentence for those who live in island-states like the British Virgin Islands.

COP26 is the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference.

It is being held at the SEC Centre in Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom, between 31 October and 12 November 2021, under the presidency of Alok Sharma.

The countries involved in the conference are expected to enhance their drive and ambition towards mitigating climate change. Minister Wheatley was the BVI’s representative.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
×