Vaz to attend UNCTAD forum in Switzerland

Hon. Daryl Vaz to attend Trade Forum of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)

Sustainable Development Goals and Climate Change will be at the top of the agenda for the upcoming United Nations Trade Forum to be held under the umbrella of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, from September 9 to 13, 2019 in Geneva Switzerland. Prime Minister the Most Hon. Andrew Holness will be represented at the Forum by Hon. Daryl Vaz, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, who has responsibility for Climate Change. The United Nations Trade Forum is considered the most important international platform leading up to the United Nations General Assembly. Climate talks which have been steadily gaining momentum over the years will take centre stage this year, given the number of climate disasters that have affected countries around the world, the latest being Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas. Small Island Developing States like Jamaica are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change that have an adverse effect on economic growth, trade, infrastructure and social well being. Participants at the Trade Forum are expected to explore the linkages between trade and climate change and exchange innovative ideas and best practices on how global trade and related policies may enable and support the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals and the 2015 Paris Agreement. The insights and inputs from the Forum will feed into the much-anticipated UN Climate Action Summit taking place on September 23, at the UN Headquarters in New York.