NEW YORK, USA — Dominica is calling for changes to the way vulnerable countries access international financing, arguing that greater investment is needed to build climate resilience before disasters strike.

Addressing the 81st United Nations General Assembly on September 22, President Sylvanie Burton said international financial institutions must recognise the transformative potential of investments in renewable energy and climate resilience in vulnerable countries.

“We need financing mechanisms that allow countries such as Dominica to move faster. And we need partnerships that allow the energy transition to become an engine of economic development and growth,” Burton said.

She pointed to Hurricane Maria, which devastated Dominica as a Category 5 storm in 2017, as a lesson in the need to build resilience before disaster rather than waiting to rebuild afterwards.

“The international community must therefore move from a model that primarily finances reconstruction after catastrophe, to one that invests systematically in resilience before disaster strikes,” Burton said.

For Dominica, she said that means investing in resilient roads and bridges, buildings, communications, water systems, health infrastructure and disaster-ready communities.

Burton said resilience must also extend beyond physical infrastructure to public institutions, public finances, energy systems and food systems.

“Above all, a resilient nation must have people who possess the skills and confidence to withstand shocks and move forward,” she said.

Dominica targets 100% renewable energy

Burton also highlighted Dominica’s progress in transitioning away from imported fossil fuels, saying the country is on course to achieve 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030.

“This is more than an energy project. It is economic transformation,” she said, adding that reducing the need to import oil would strengthen Dominica’s resilience to international price shocks and improve its energy security.

She said reliable renewable energy could also support new industries, investment, employment and greater competitiveness.

Burton urged the international community to provide financing that allows vulnerable countries to move faster with such projects, arguing that resilience should be treated as an investment rather than simply a response to disaster.

Burton calls for delivery on UN commitments

The President also used the Assembly’s theme, “Restoring Trust, Managing Transformation: A United Nations That Delivers for All”, to call for greater delivery on international commitments.

“That is why I welcome the central challenge of this 81st General Assembly, ‘restoring trust’,” Burton said.

“The world does not need another generation of promises that remain unfulfilled. It needs delivery. It needs institutions that respond faster. It needs financing that reaches vulnerable countries more efficiently.”

She said restoring trust for Dominica means ensuring that resources promised for climate resilience reach the communities that need them and that financing mechanisms do not make sustainable development more difficult to achieve.

Burton also argued that the challenges facing small island states should not be viewed as marginal issues, saying they offer an early warning of challenges that other parts of the world may increasingly face.

“The United Nations must remain a place where every country — large or small — can believe that its voice matters. But the United Nations must also remain a place where ambition can become action,” she said.