. base that we have within caricom— base that we have within caricom. , ., caricom.ed _ contractualjobs you have created for young people so i want — created for young people so i want to — created for young people so i want to publicly thank you for that — want to publicly thank you for that. ., ., ., ., ., ., , that. you have a lot of fans here today. _ that. you have a lot of fans here today, prime - that. you have a lot of fans| here today, prime minister. that. you have a lot of fans - here today, prime minister. my ruestion here today, prime minister. ij�*i�*i question today here today, prime minister. m question today is here today, prime minister. vj�*i1: question today is about here today, prime minister. m1 question today is about climate change, however.— question today is about climate change, however. how big a risk do ou change, however. how big a risk do you see _ change, however. how big a risk do you see climate _ change, however. how big a risk do you see climate change - change, however. how big a risk do you see climate change is - change, however

this is a caricom issue, and there is a ten—point caricom plan.i happen to be the prime minister, has lead responsibility for reparations in caricom. i am not surprised because we were the country where the modern expression of racism took form, regrettably, in the 17th century and in the 18th century. because barbados was the first british slave society. absolutely, and a lot of the laws and a lot of the iniquitous practices came out of here. and that's why you've heard me say that our parliament has had broken service — that we have both been seen as an instrument of oppression but it's now a tool of empowerment in the last 80 or so years. we start from that perspective. reparations for us is a development issue, and it's one we believe whose time has come. 20 years ago, when we first started having this discussion, people would laugh us out of the room. when emancipation came, there was a compensation to slave owners of £20 million. we ask ourselves today, when these countries became independent, what was the development compact given to us? we

this is a caricom issue, and there is a ten—point caricom plan.t i happen to be the prime minister, has led responsibility for reparations in caricom. i am not surprised because we were the country where the modern expression racism took form, regrettably, in the 17th century and in the 18th century. because barbados is the first british slave society. absolutely, and a lot of the laws and a lot of the iniquitous practices came out of here. and that's why you've heard me say that our parliament has had broken service — that we have both been seen as an instrument of oppression but it's now a tool of empowerment in the last 80 or so years. we start from that perspective. reparations for us is a development issue, and it's one we believe whose time has come. 20 years ago, when we first started having this discussion, people would laugh us out of the room. when emancipation came, there was a compensation to slave owners of £20 million. we asked ourselves today, when these countries became independent, what was the development compact given to us? we

so you are chair of a caribbean commission, caricom, the inaugural chair in 2013, a commission set upt reparations to redress all these grievances that you've just set out. but i'll be frank with you, i mean, talking to diplomatic sources here in barbados, western sources, they say, "reparations — this isn't a topic that concerns the ordinary barbadian." at every moment in history when there's a major crime to be adjudicated, a major transition to be made, the general view has always been it's not going to happen in my lifetime. if you asked the enslaved people in 1830, british parliament is going to legislate the abolition of slavery in 1833, but if you took a census on the west indian sugar plantations and the slaves and you asked them the question, "will you ever see freedom in your lifetime?" i would wager that the majority of enslaved people who had been enslaved for 200 or 300 years would have said, "we will never see freedom." let's just look at the legacy of slavery. you've outlined some of the economic grievances. let me tell you what a french—african historian says, amzat bo

we also shipping doses today to caricom countries. and, every day, we're making progress against a once-in-a-generation pandemic. we are still the world's largest provider of vaccines to the global community. we are still a huge advocate for the trips waiver, which would allow that information to be shared for manufacturing purposes with countries around the world. so -- and we have also conveyed and we have done -- and are -- implement this already, to date -- that when we have extra doses, we will share those. so, i think the point here is that we are -- the united states is the arsenal of vaccines to the global community. we are -- by far and away, in terms of what we've donated; by far and away of what we've committed; by far and away in our partnership with quad countries -- we're on track to produce at least 1 billion doses of covid vaccines in india for the asia region by the end of 2022. but it also requires other countries in the global community -- other wealthy countries stepping up and doing more to contribute. so, that's