History

In July 2022, Prime Minister Mottley convened a high-level retreat in Bridgetown, Barbados, which resulted in the Bridgetown Initiative. What began as a loose set of ideas and calls for change coalesced and was initially codified as the Bridgetown Agenda, and then subsequently renamed the Bridgetown Initiative. Details are evolving as the work proceeds, with the first update – Bridgetown Initiative 2.0 – released in April 2023.  The second update – Bridgetown Initiative 3.0 – is in progress.

In 2022, key moments in launching and highlighting the Bridgetown Initiative included PM Mottley’s addresses at the UN General Assembly (UNGA77) and the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27).

In 2023, the Bridgetown Initiative (version 2.0) featured prominently in the discussions and influenced the resulting agreements at the June 2023 Paris Summit (resulting in the Paris Pact for People and Planet) and at the December 2023 Climate Change COP28 (the BI was influential both in the negotiations as well as the UAE Leaders’ Declaration on a Global Climate Finance Framework).