The Right Hon. Barry Gardiner of the UK House of Commons met with the Speaker and Members of the Committee on Environment, Fisheries & Tourism (CEFT) on Thursday 28th May 2026, ahead of the Seychelles’ Green Investment Dialogue and Capacity Building Workshop on ‘Powering the Green Transition: Parliamentary Action for Resilient, Responsible and Investment-Ready Solutions’ which was held at the Savoy Resort on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th May 2026.
Hon. Gardiner was accompanied by Executive Director of Climate Parliament Ms. Lucy Pearson, Climate Parliament Network Manager Mrs. Eliza Cocksworth-Rylands, UNIDO Climate Finance and Energy Expert Dr. Laurent Sam, and Climate Parliament Policy Coordinator Ms. Shannon Surman. Members present during the meeting were CEFT Vice-Chairperson Hon. John Hoareau, Hon. Gervais Henrie, Hon. Valdana Sultan, and Hon. Robert David. Accompanying the Committee were the CEFT Committee Clerks, Deputy Clerk Ms. Alexandria Faure and Ms. Samia Lebon, as well as Committee Clerk Assistant Ms. Petra Tirant.
Hon. Gardiner and the Hon. Speaker discussed the importance of climate legislation in Seychelles and the crucial role of environmental projects bringing tangible results for vulnerable communities in the different districts. Discussions also included the areas of collaboration with the Climate Parliament, under the Parliamentarians for Climate Finance project, and potential future iterations of the initiative with a focus on Green Energy Constituencies and regulatory preparedness. There were also discussions on the need to feed more renewable energy into communities, as well as finding pathways to diversifying projects that address the myriad of needs across Mahe, Praslin, and La Digue.
Hon. Gardiner further highlighted that the Climate Change Act 2008 made the United Kingdom the first country globally to establish a long-term, legally binding framework to cut carbon emissions, and brought forward examples of other countries implementing similar legislation often modelled after the UK climate law.
The Committee Members put forward their appreciation for the ongoing support and highlighted the green dialogue as an imperative mechanism to bringing parliamentarians, together with other experts and stakeholders, to discuss real ideas and actionable solutions.
