Former US President Clinton commits with Dominica on climate change

President20Bill20Clinton20centre20pictured20with20Prime20Minister20Roosevelt20Skerrit20left20and20wife20Melissa20right.
President20Bill20Clinton20centre20pictured20with20Prime20Minister20Roosevelt20Skerrit20left20and20wife20Melissa20right.
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The travel and tourism industry in Dominica was almost wiped out after the hurricane hit last year. Now former President of the United States of America, Bill Clinton, has visited the small island-nation of Dominica today, reasserting commitment from the Clinton Foundationโ€™s Climate Initiative to assist Dominica in their mission to become the worldโ€™s first climate resilient nation.

The country needed some good PR after the recent hurricane destroyed most of the nation and the travel and tourism industry is suffering tremendously,ย Prime Minister of Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, welcomed President Clinton this morning to the island, and together they gave a joint press conference, declaring their ongoing plans to lead the way in sustainable nation-building.

President Clinton believes that Dominicaโ€™s approach to climate change has the potential to lead the world to a whole new way of producing clean power, reducing the threat of climate change and improving the

The President praised the countriesโ€™ heroism and the peopleโ€™s ability to not only โ€œovercome the impact of the natural disasters [โ€ฆ] but even more, to take advantage of this moment to position this country to handle the next disasters and to respond in a way that will improve both your chances of surviving the climate change that is ruling the world and prospering from it.โ€

The President then went on to comment on the strength of leadership and vision provided by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit:

โ€œCan we find a different way to develop and generate power that gives you a chance to raise your children and your grandchildren in this place safely and more prosperously? The answer is yes.

โ€œIโ€™m just very grateful that your Prime Minister, almost more than any other leader around, gets it.โ€

In relation to acting more sustainability and following through with the vision for a climate resilient Dominica, the President conveyed a particular message to the young members of the audience at the press conference:

โ€œYouโ€™ve got a chance here, beginning in Dominica… that the Caribbean can be more prospering by building resilient homes and structures than by ignoring [climate change]. More prosperous, more plentiful green powerโ€ฆ You can change the whole preconception.โ€

Among President Clintonโ€™s commitments via the Clinton Foundationโ€™s Climate Initiative includes assisting Dominica in the Governmentโ€™s integrated resource plan for the energy sector.

President Clinton also stressed the amount of work still needed to return Dominica to itโ€™s former glory:

โ€œItโ€™s easy for people to move in when thereโ€™s a disaster and everybodyโ€™s torn up and upset, and you forget that 90% of the work has to be done after the debris has cleared after the tragedy has passed.โ€

The Dominican Government continues to encourage donations to DominicaRelief.org.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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