Barbados’ Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, has reportedly invited US President-elect Donald Trump to a face-to-face meeting where she would seek “common ground” and persuade him that climate action is in his own interests.
That’s according to the UK’s Guardian Newspaper which describes Miss Mottley as the climate-championing prime minister who has been an electrifying presence at recent UN climate summits.
According to the Guardian, she has gained a global reputation as a formidable champion of the developing countries most affected by climate breakdown.
In an interview with the respected UK publication at the UN’s Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan Miss Mottley said that only by personal meetings among world leaders can the massive changes needed on climate action be achieved.
She added that President-elect Trump has been very clear about the importance of that kind of face-to-face conversation in the things that he believes that he can solve.
According to the Guardian, the re-election of Donald Trump has thrown a deep shadow over Cop29, which kicked off on Monday in Baku. Scores of world leaders flew in for the summit, but the heads of government of most of the world’s biggest economies stayed away.
Delegates fear Mr. Trump will withdraw the US from the Paris climate agreement, dismantle regulations and climate targets, and push forward with plans to vastly expand drilling for more fossil fuels. Scientists have warned that if he follows through on his campaign promises the world has little hope of limiting global heating.
But, Miss Mottley says in the interview that Mr. Trump has shown a willingness to deal with crises before and she believes there are possibilities for discussion.