Patterson: Vulnerable countries must demand climate justice
Published:Wednesday | November 26, 2025 | 9:44 AMErica Virtue/Senior Gleaner Writer
Former Prime Minister P. J. Patterson says small island states like Jamaica, which are highly vulnerable to climate change despite contributing little to global emissions, must use every international platform to demand climate justice.
His call comes after Hurricane Melissa’s devastating impact on Jamaica, which the World Bank has preliminarily estimated at US$8.8 billion in physical losses.
With winds in excess of 160 miles per hour, the Category 5 storm was the worst to have slammed into the island when it made landfall on October 28.
Patterson argues that climate change, driven largely by industrialised nations, has intensified natural hazards affecting the Caribbean.
“We in the Caribbean know too well that the winds from Sahara to the Americas have existed throughout time. In fact, that accounts for how we were captured, kidnapped, and taken across the Atlantic shores, as the boats depend on those same winds to give power for the boats to sail from Africa,” he said in a Gleaner interview.
He noted, however, that human-induced global warming has now “caused an imbalance of the forces of nature”.
“So, hurricanes, really, are no longer acts of God. They are the responses to our way of life as we have created them, and that has to be made very clear because they are the cause of emissions from the developed world which have given rise to climate change,” he stressed.
He pointed to recent pronouncements by the International Court of Justice, suggesting that heavily polluting nations bear responsibility for the damage inflicted on vulnerable states across the Caribbean, the Pacific, and other developing regions. Within this context, he said, Jamaica must “join with others in all the discussions that are taking place at the international level that what we really want is climate justice”.
Patterson expressed concern over reports from the recently concluded COP30 summit in Belém, Brazil. Despite Jamaica’s participation, led by Environment Minister Matthew Samuda, who also made a call on behalf of small states, the final declaration included no direct reference to the damage caused by fossil fuels.
“I hope that that will not be so, in fact,” he said.
FAILED ATTEMPT
More than 80 nations, including the United Kingdom and the European Union, had pushed for commitments to phase out oil, coal, and gas more rapidly. But major oil-producing states resisted, insisting on the right to exploit fossil fuels for economic growth. As a result, the summit again failed to secure a firm commitment to keep global temperature rise within 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels – a benchmark critical for protecting vulnerable nations.
The issue will resurface at the G20 meeting in South Africa, where Patterson hopes for stronger action.
“I should let you know that I have recently been invited, in the last month, to be a member of a group which consists of elder statesmen from the six regions of Africa, and of course, the Caribbean and the diaspora. I have already sent in my contribution to that dialogue by saying that the issue of climate change, and what I think we must talk more about climate justice, must be part of the declaration,” he told The Gleaner.
“And I hope we are going to get a strong declaration on that, because the terms of reference of the Africa group are not confined to making proposals to international fora in which there is a predominant African-Caribbean interest, but also in our retirement, assisting in whatever ways we possibly can to ensure appropriate follow-up,” he explained.
With losses from Melissa expected to to be even more substantial, he said Jamaica could be facing a US$20-billion fallout.
“Obviously, we’re going to have to find international resources because we can’t find those resources out of our own budgetary provisions. And in addition to the insurance premiums payment that will flow, I think we have to be looking at some other options,” he said. “There is a precedent that when national disasters of this scale occur, there can be donor conferences convened. It was done for the earthquake in Turkey, and Haiti, and I think it has to be understood that the damage to the county of Cornwall is of that scale and enormity.”
Given descriptions of Cornwall’s devastation as comparable to a “nuclear bomb”, he insists it would be unjust for industrialised nations – whose emissions have fuelled climate change – to ignore their responsibility.
Patterson also drew a link between the climate crisis and long-standing debates over reparative justice.
“What I say is that those who have resisted the claim for reparative justice have been wrongly contending that it is too late and that it is out of time. We do not accept that, but certainly, they can see that we must deal with the current situation. And we’re dealing with the current situation now, so the obligation to provide climate justice is compelling and immediate,” he said.
He hopes upcoming global meetings – from Brazil to the G30 and G20 – will finally acknowledge that small island states are facing an international disaster that demands an international response.