Dominica president stresses preparedness as key to climate resilience

President of the Commonwealth of Dominica Sylvanie Burton has said building true climate resilience starts with planning ahead, long before disaster strikes.

In an exclusive interview with China Media Group (CMG) aired on Friday, Burton described the Caribbean nation's strategy to defend its people and future from severe natural disasters.

As one of the world's most climate-vulnerable nations, Dominica is pioneering a bold initiative to become the first climate-resilient country on Earth.

"So we know climate change is something that is on everybody's mind across the world. This is a global crisis -- climate change. And for us in Dominica, unfortunately, we are said to be in 'hurricane aisle.' In 2015, Tropical Storm Erika set over Dominica for about 12 hours and did a number on us. In 2017, we were badly devastated by Hurricane Maria. Ninety-five percent of our housing was either destroyed or damaged. And our trees stood like the trees that stand during winter with no leaves. And so we are going to build the first climate resilient country. And everybody started thinking, 'Well, what is the first climate resilient country? What is it going to look like?' And for us, it is the fact that we have to prepare so that whenever we are hit, we will not remain down. We will rise as soon as possible. We will rejuvenate and we will continue to live our lives. And so in everything that we do in Dominica at this present time, we have a little bit of resilience," said Burton.

That spirit of preparation now touches every sector of the island country's national development plan, she explained.

"So if we are planting crops, we say, let us think of resilience. If the government is doing the budget, there has to be a level of resilience. So in every sector, government has built a level of resilience. In addition to that, government has revised the housing code to ensure that the houses that are built are climate resilient houses. They can withstand the hurricane. They may be able to withstand a landslide. And all of that. And also for volcanoes because Dominica, beautiful as we are, we sit on nine active volcanoes. This is what we decided that we would do. And also we've had several trainings. The disaster management program has gone out and reached out to every community and set up disaster committees and done quite a bit of trainings. And it's a lot of work that has been done and the work continues," the president said.

The Commonwealth of Dominica, often called the "Nature Island of the Caribbean," has faced storms year after year, with Hurricane Maria in 2017 alone causing destruction exceeding double the nation's annual GDP.

Dominica president stresses preparedness as key to climate resilience

Former Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has lauded China's inclusiveness, diversity and wisdom in its five-year plan and high-level opening-up process.

In an exclusive interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN), Diab said China has repeatedly demonstrated its dedication to these values through its actions and deliberate policy planning.

"I think the path that China is leading, and its self-evident Five-Year Plans, [both] over the past 14th Five-Year Plan and the current 15th Five-Year Plan, stress inclusiveness of cultural diversity, cultural diplomacy, openness to other societies, countries -- that echoes very well with people like me that [China] wants the world to benefit, not just a single country," said Diab.

"Lebanon is a very small country. We've been doing e-commerce, relatively small, compared to China, of course. I think it's great that China wants to open up to the world, and the success of China is actually having the world markets. You can have the greatest idea, but [what's the point] if you can't sell? So I'm very much for cooperation and collaboration between China and the rest of the world, and of course, Lebanon, my country. But I think it's a very unique perspective that the Chinese leadership, which I have much respect for, and of course, the Chinese people, that made it happen. Because, as I always say, they are hard-working people, and very committed people, very resilient people," he said.

The former prime minister also highlighted that the diversity of Chinese society and policies has solidified the foundation for its high-level opening-up process while ensuring that modernization can be achieved through multifaceted efforts.

"This is exactly what I was trying to say that China encourages diversity. And when I say diversity, not with respect to identity, with respect to modernization, success, pathways, industrialization. They are open to other ideas, to other civilizations, to other points of views. I mean, the world is not black and white. It's gray. Everybody has something to offer, one way or the other. So, having multiple paths for modernization, it's probably the right way. I mean, we're not photocopies of each other across the globe. What China did is great for China, and what China is recommending for other countries to do, is also great for these countries. But I'm saying, no country has full wisdom. It's the collective wisdom of everybody that will make a difference at the global level. That's what impressive about China," Diab said.

Former Lebanese PM lauds China's openness to all societies