Prime Minister Gaston Browne has invited Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle to join Antigua and Barbuda’s delegation to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP) in Belém, Brazil, signaling a rare display of national unity on one of the country’s most pressing global issues.

Director-General of Communications Maurice Merchant confirmed that Browne has written to Pringle, extending a formal invitation for him to participate in the international summit, where small island developing states (SIDS) will renew their call for climate finance and loss-and-damage compensation.

Merchant said the Prime Minister viewed Pringle’s participation as an opportunity to expose the Opposition Leader to the scale of the global climate debate while demonstrating that Antigua and Barbuda stands united in its advocacy for environmental justice.

“The Prime Minister believes that having both sides represented will send a signal that Antigua and Barbuda speaks with one voice on climate change,” Merchant said.

He noted that the government remains committed to pressing large emitters and developed nations—especially the United States—to take responsibility for their carbon emissions and to increase funding support for SIDS.

The invitation comes as Antigua and Barbuda prepares to highlight the devastation left by Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica as an example of the growing threat posed by climate change to Caribbean economies and livelihoods.

Merchant added that Prime Minister Browne will personally attend some of the meetings in Belém and expressed confidence that the Opposition Leader would accept the invitation, given the significance of the issue for the nation and the region.