President Alejandro Giammattei of Guatemala delivered a fiery speech at an event hosted by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE). He laid the blame for climate change affecting Central America at the advanced industrialized nations and called on the rich nations to “create a wall of prosperity in Central America” or face “hoards of Central Americans looking to move to other countries with better living conditions.”
The nations of Central America and the Caribbean are some of the most underdeveloped in the world yet face the greatest threat from climate change, Giammattei went on to explain. “This human development won’t be achieved easily and simply through speeches, it will require actions, and actions that come from industrialized nations.”
At the same event, the BCIE announced a $2.5 billion program to fund projects aimed at combating and preventing disasters stemming from climate change.
The week before the BCIE event, the Guatemalan government published a statement saying that Guatemala and Honduras agreed on a common agenda to use funds to combat climate change.
