Today in the city of Mindelo, Cape Verde is hosting the Summit of the Oceans with the participation of Guterres and Costa.

This Monday, the Oceans Summit will be held in Mindelo, Cape Verde, which will be opened by the Secretary General of the United Nations, attended by Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, and will consider the prospect of converting debt into investment in environmental protection.

“We need justice for those who, like Cape Verde, did little to nothing to provoke this crisis but paid a very high price for it. Cape Verde has demonstrated climate leadership both in words and in deeds,” said the UN Secretary General. , António Guterres, on Saturday, after meeting with the Prime Minister of Cape Verde, in Mindelo, Sao Vicente Island.

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa will also attend this summit on sustainable finance and oceans.

Highlighting the importance of the visit to Cape Verde, the Secretary-General of the United Nations said it was a moment of “greater solidarity”, “greater sense of urgency and greater ambition”.

“I am deeply disappointed that world leaders are not taking the necessary action and investment in this emergency, a vital situation. We are facing a battle for our lives and unfortunately we are losing it,” António Guterres said.

“Emissions continue to rise, temperatures continue to rise, we are on the verge of exceeding the 1.5 degree threshold, and if nothing is done along the way, global warming will be 2.8 degrees by the end of the century. It will be a catastrophe with devastating consequences. effects. Parts of our planet will become uninhabitable, especially in Africa, and for many this will be a death sentence,” he stressed.

The Secretary-General of the United Nations will deliver the opening remarks at the Ocean Summit, which is part of the Ocean Race (January 20-25) in Cape Verde, the largest and oldest regatta in the world, after 9:00 local time (10:00 a.m. ET). Lisbon) on urgent climate change and, in particular, on the front lines of the oceans and small island developing States (SIDS) such as Cape Verde.

Cape Verdean Prime Minister Ulisses Correia y Silva and Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa will also speak at the opening of the summit, which will take place at the Mindelo Ocean Science Centre. politicians, professionals, athletes and environmentalists of Cape Verde and other countries.

The summit program also includes the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the governments of Cape Verde and Portugal to convert debt into a Climate and Environment Fund.

“We are already about to sign a memorandum of understanding regarding the transformation of the public debt, Cape Verde and Portugal for its application in investments that increase the resilience of Cape Verde. In essence, this is fueling the Climate and Environment Fund, with the contribution of Portugal, hoping that other partners, bilateral and multilateral, will contribute,” Ulisses Correia e Silva Louse said on Thursday.

The Prime Minister of Cape Verde stressed that this agreement represents an “example” and a “very strong commitment”, especially given the impacts the archipelago is already facing due to climate change, namely the prolonged drought since 2016. to the economic crisis caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and to the impact of the inflationary crisis caused by the war in Ukraine.

“For a long time and whenever CSs were held [Conferências das Nações Unidas sobre as Mudança Climáticas], there have already been many, many initiatives. The issue of climate finance has always been on the negotiating table. We are building a very good solution here, because this is an investment, financing to increase the country’s resilience and ability to overcome possible crisis situations. It is much stronger in the course of his development,” said Ulisses Correia and Silva.

According to 2021 Cape Verdean government data, Cape Verde’s debt to Portugal was then over €600 million.

“The memorandum establishes not values, but mechanisms. Portugal and Cape Verde will work to establish this climate and environmental fund, in line with the principle of converting bilateral debt between the two countries into environmental and climate finance, namely energy transition, financing to ensure conditions for the protection of biodiversity, including in our maritime zone , an issue related to the protection of the conservation of terrestrial biodiversity, all policies related to water,” he added.