Dominica has called on the international community to create new financing mechanisms that allow small island developing states to move faster, and to build partnerships that turn the energy transition into an engine of economic development and growth.
President Sylvanie Burton made the appeal while addressing the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), according to a Caribbean Media Corporation report. She used the platform to press the case for reform of the global financial architecture, arguing that countries like Dominica cannot meet their development and climate goals under existing arrangements.
The President said the current system leaves small states waiting too long for support and forces them to borrow on terms that do not reflect their vulnerability. She called for mechanisms that deliver resources more quickly and predictably, so that island nations can invest in resilience and in the transition away from fossil fuels without adding to already heavy debt burdens.
Dominica has been positioning itself as a leader in renewable energy in the Eastern Caribbean, with geothermal resources seen as a foundation for its long-term energy security. President Burton told the Assembly that the energy transition should not be treated only as a cost, but as an opportunity for economic development and growth, and that partnerships with international partners should be designed to make that possible.
Her remarks come as small island developing states continue to press for changes to the way international financial institutions assess their eligibility for concessional finance. Many Caribbean governments argue that high national incomes per capita mask the extreme exposure of their economies to hurricanes, floods and other climate shocks, and that this exposure should be reflected in the terms on which they can borrow.
Dominica has direct experience of that vulnerability. The island is still rebuilding from the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017, which destroyed much of its housing stock and infrastructure. The government has since made resilience a central theme of its reconstruction programme, and has argued that the cost of recovery should not fall on a small population alone.
President Burton's address also underlined the importance of partnerships. She said cooperation with international partners should be structured so that investment in renewable energy, infrastructure and climate adaptation supports jobs and enterprise at home, rather than simply meeting external targets.
The UN General Assembly session brings together leaders from across the world to debate global challenges, including climate change, development finance and the reform of international institutions. For Dominica, the annual gathering is one of the few forums where a small island state can make its case directly to the largest economies and to the institutions that shape global finance.
Dominica's call is likely to be echoed by other Caribbean and Pacific island states, which have made similar appeals for faster disbursement of climate finance and for a fairer international financial system. The question of how quickly those reforms can be delivered remains open, but the President's message was clear: small states need mechanisms that match the speed and scale of the challenges they face.
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