ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates – The 16th session of  the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Assembly has started here with the Dominican Republic’s Minister of Energy and Mines, Joel Santos Echeverriìa, noting the importance of green energy to the Caribbean.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua – The government says it is stepping up efforts to make communities greener by expanding a nursery and landscaping programme that supplies plants to public buildings and new homeowners.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Guyana has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the United Kingdom establishing a strengthened framework for cooperation under the Forest Governance, Markets and Climate Programme (FGMC2) and reinforcing Guyana’s global leadership in sustainable forest management, low-carbon development, and climate action.

CASTRIES, St. Lucia – Forestry officials have condemned the killing of at least five boas or Tete Chien snakes by members of the public, saying “this extreme cruelty to wildlife is unacceptable and constitutes a major offence”.

NAROBI, Kenya – Jamaica’s Minister of Water, Environment, and Climate Change, Matthew Samuda, has been elected as the new president of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), indicating that environmental matters are no longer an “isolated” agenda item.

BELEM, Brazil – Caribbean agriculture faces an existential crisis as increasingly intense climate events devastate farming communities across the region, experts and development leaders have warned.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Prime Minister Andrew Holness has expressed gratitude to the Government of the People’s Republic of China for its support to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa, which caused extensive damage across parts of the island.

CAIRO, Egypt – The Egypt-based African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) Friday said it is making a donation of US$1.1 million to the governments of Jamaica and Haiti to support the recovery efforts following the devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa in October.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness said Monday he had used his attendance at the G20 conference in South Africa last weekend to underscore the importance of his country’s presence “both as a nation navigating a recent disaster”, as well as on behalf of the 15-member regional integration movement, CARICOM.

UNITED NATIONS – The United Nations says Jamaica is still struggling to rebuild, 50 days after Hurricane Melissa’s unprecedented destruction.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Minister without Portfolio in the Office of the Prime Minister,  Dr. Andrew Wheatley, says the Jamaica government is focused on “building forward” following the passage of Hurricane Melissa that tore into the country on October 28, killing at least 45 people and causing billions of US dollars in damages.

ROSEAU, Dominica – The Dominica government says it will commission its 10-megawatt geothermal power plant next month, as the country continues with efforts to transition to a cleaner, more resilient energy sector.