Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management Leads Belize Delegation to COP28

Hon. Orlando Habet, Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management, is leading Belize’s delegation to the 28th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28), including the 18th Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol and the 5th Meeting of the Parties to the Paris Agreement. The conference is being hosted in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, from November 30 to December 12.
Minister Habet is joined by Dr. Kenrick Williams, CEO of the ministry. Other members of the delegation include CEOs of the Blue Economy, Economic Development and Energy, and technical leads, representing several departments across the Government of Belize.
The minister will serve as ministerial lead for negotiations on Loss and Damage and Article 6 of the Paris Agreement on behalf of CARICOM and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). Additionally, Belize will serve as AOSIS technical lead for the Mitigation Work Program and Transparency. Minister Habet will be delivering the national statement on behalf of Belize at the Resumed High-Level Segment scheduled for December 9 and 10.
The minister’s first engagement was a side event hosted today and co-organized by Belize and Taiwan. The session titled Cross-level Governance and solutions for Global Net-Zero Transition explored interdisciplinary policy challenges in the context of the net-zero transition. Hon. Habet delivered special remarks at the event, which featured several speakers: Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, Caribbean Community Climate Change Center; Mr. Shih-Hung Liu, Director of the Lending and Investment Department, Taiwan International Cooperation and Development Fund; Ms. Rose W. Yen, Deputy Director, Research Division III, Taiwan Research Institute; Dr. Maria João Rolim, Partner, Rolim Goulart Cardoso; and Mr. Aliyu Mohammed Ali, Founder and CEO of Ehfaaz.
Over the next few days, the Belize delegation will be engaging in several side events to promote the actions Belize has taken and challenges in building long-term low emissions resilient development for Belize. Belize will also engage in several bilateral discussions with multilateral development partners, research institutions, and governments to further areas of collaboration.