Opposition Leader Jamale Pringle has declined an invitation from Prime Minister Gaston Browne to join Antigua and Barbuda’s delegation to the upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP29) in Brazil.

Browne extended the invitation as a gesture of national unity on climate advocacy, but government officials confirmed during a weekend discussion that Pringle “copped out” of the offer.

The Prime Minister said true leaders put the country’s interests above partisan considerations.

“Every invitation I got from the UPP when I was in opposition, I attended,” Browne said, recalling that he participated in events such as the launch of the national census and the groundbreaking ceremony for the V.C. Bird International Airport when the United Progressive Party was in office.

He described Pringle’s refusal as a missed opportunity to present a united national front on climate change—an issue he said is vital to the survival of small island states.

Antigua and Barbuda will join other Caribbean nations at COP29, where the agenda will focus on climate finance, loss and damage, and support for vulnerable developing countries.