The foreign minister of Dominica, Francine Baron, addressing the UN General Assembly on climate change, stressed that it is a global responsibility. Ms Baron noted that the global community has neither implemented plans for the 2015 Paris commitments nor mobilised the agreed $100 billion annually to assist the most vulnerable against harmful climate change effects. ‘While we have failed to live up to these commitments, Arctic ice shelves continue to melt at an alarming rate, oceans continue to get warmer, hurricanes and storms continue to develop and threaten our countries, drought becomes more severe, and flooding more pronounced.’ Last year Hurricane Maria brought Dominica to its knees. Immediately afterwards, ‘our people raised their battered and wounded selves, and began the daunting task of search and rescue, clearing roadways and moved into rebuilding mode.’ The cost of rebuilding a nation is far more than a small country like Dominica can meet single-handedly.