The Caribbean leaders who met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau this week hope that Canada will prioritize their concerns, such as the serious threat their countries face due to climate change, on the international agenda.

Trudeau also temporarily set aside issues of domestic politics and his commitment to the conflict between Israel and Hamas to co-chair a three-day meeting with leaders of the economic and political bloc that brings Caribbean nations together in a group called CARICOM.

On October 13, the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre, outlined the issues that would be on the agenda of the Canada-Caribbean summit taking place in Ottawa through Thursday.

Pierre, the climate change leader in the Caribbean community, stated that the world is not on track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, which was signed in 2015 and entered into force in 2016.

This agreement, under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, commits countries to work on limiting global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Yet despite this agreement, the planet is nearing the point of exceeding this target, as the United Nations reports that global temperatures have already risen by at least 1.1 degrees Celsius.

According to the United Nations, failure to meet global climate commitments has put the world on a path to an increase in temperatures of between 2.4 degrees Celsius and 2.6 degrees Celsius by 2100.

The Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Philip J. Pierre, expressed hope that one of the outcomes of the summit would send a message to the world, via Canada, that the region needs help to cope with the ongoing effects of climate change: storms, rising sea levels, and hotter days.

Pierre also stated that the region needs Canada’s assistance to secure better financing conditions from private sector lenders and multilateral development banks to help it adapt to climate change.

Prime Minister Trudeau’s office stated in a press release that this week's summit would be an opportunity for countries to amplify shared priorities.

The statement also mentioned that the leaders would work to combat climate change and address its impacts in the Caribbean region, including exploring ways to improve access to financing for small island developing states in the Caribbean.