Photo Caption: Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade presents during the Voice of the South Summit hosted by India on Thursday, January 12.
Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade emphasised food and energy security, the fight against climate change and the cross-cutting challenge of financing for development, as areas of priority which should be given attention by world leaders at the upcoming Group of Twenty (G20) Summit in India.
Speaking at the Foreign Ministers’ Session of the Voice of the South Summit hosted by the Republic of India, the current President of the G20, Minister Johnson Smith stated that, “The COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and geo-political tensions, have ushered in a new era of global uncertainty and insecurity, and highlighted the vulnerability of the Global South to exogenous shocks.”
Johnson Smith further noted that food insecurity faces millions of the world’s most vulnerable and underscored the need to address the grim reality through “innovative action, partnerships and collaborative work at every level, to strengthen the resilience of food systems in developing countries.”
The Minister also recommended the sharing of models such as the CARICOM ‘25 by 2025 Initiative’ (a plan to reduce the Caribbean food import bill by 25% by the year 2025) across regions, and technical cooperation among the countries of the Global South, to promote increased food production, trade, and the availability of inputs for the Agricultural and Fisheries sector.
With respect to energy, the Foreign Minister called for the global community to lend its support in scaling up the transition towards cleaner and more sustainable forms of energy. She noted the benefits of Jamaica’s membership of the India-led International Solar Alliance (ISA) and encouraged elevation on the G20 agenda of similar pragmatic policies and programmes supportive of energy transition by fiscally constrained developing countries.
According to Minister Johnson Smith, the Global South, and particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS), have been the worst affected by impacts of climate change. As such, the Minister reiterated the urgent call for ambitious climate action and the fulfilment of climate financing commitments by the Global North.
Reflecting on the contradiction between countries’ increasing need for capital expenditure and their mounting fiscal constraints, the Minister implored the G20 “to consider the need for a new approach to the international financial architecture aligned with the SDGs, and perhaps more narrowly, a new vulnerability index to allow greater flexibility as the Global South works towards sustainable development – beyond mere recovery to our pre-crisis levels.”
Additionally, the Minister applauded India’s commitment to inclusive global leadership, and emphasized that, “Jamaica has and continues to support the call for reformed multilateralism that allows the voices of the Global South, as the world’s majority, to be better represented at the decision-making table.”
Jamaica was the only CARICOM participant in the Foreign Ministers Session. The two-day virtual Summit is being executed under the theme “Unity of Voice, Unity of Purpose.” It provides a platform for the Global South to share perspectives, priorities, concerns, and expectations, for elevation to the global agenda, particularly during G20 engagements over the course of India’s Presidency.
