The Tribune

Canada’s High Commissioner has revealed plans for a “clean technology and infrastructure mission” to The Bahamas next month in the wake of Hurricane Dorian.

Laurie Peters, pictured, who will address next month’s Bahamas Business Outlook conference over how Canada is engaging the Caribbean on climate change, the environment and disaster preparedness, said: “The devastation experienced in the Caribbean following the hurricanes and storms over the last few years has reminded Canadians of the vulnerability of small island states in the region.

“Canada and The Bahamas enjoy a long-standing friendship and deep people to people ties, hence our desire to be part of building climate resilience and strengthening disaster response in the region.

“An important aspect to this partnership is our respective private sectors, which is why we plan to lead a clean technology and infrastructure mission to The Bahamas in January 2020 to bring them together and plan for the future.”

The Canadian High Commission’s participation in the January 16 conference is part of its multi-faceted approach to impact disaster preparedness in the region.

Richard York, senior trade commissioner at the Canadian High Commission, said many Canadian companies reached out to his office about the possibility of sharing technology and environmental solutions that would be relevant to the reconstruction of Abaco and Grand Bahama.

“A lot of these storms that we are now seeing are the result of climate change, and we’re expecting that these types of events will become more common in the future,” said Mr York. “So our visit to The Bahamas is more about planning for the future.

“Rather than having to endure the full impact of these types of events, we’re hoping to mitigate and to help where we can to share knowledge and experience with our partners in the Caribbean so they are fully prepared for what will likely be even stronger events in the future.”

Canadian companies that specialise in various environmental fields such as coastal engineering, microgrid solutions for small islands, engineering and dredging will attend the Business Outlook 2020 as well as a cocktail reception being sponsored by the High Commission immediately following the day-long forum.