His Excellency, Richard Brown, is a Jamaican career Diplomat and international trade specialist with extensive leadership experience in foreign trade policy and diplomacy. Prior to his appointment in December 2023 as Ambassador/Permanent Representative of Jamaica, he was Acting Under-Secretary of the Foreign Trade Division at Jamaica’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, after serving as Senior Director (2021–2023) and Director of Research and Services Sector Development (2020–2021). Previously, he held key regional and international roles, including Director of the Caribbean Community’s Single Market and Sectoral Programmes (2017–2020), Director of Trade at Jamaica’s Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries (2016–2017), and First Secretary/Counsellor at Jamaica’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva (2008–2013).

In this interview, he reveals more about his journey to becoming a Diplomat and how he intends to lead Jamaica forward as a trailblazing island nation of the Caribbean.

What led you to starting your career in diplomacy?

From a very young age, I always had a keen interest in international affairs, particularly the developments within as well as the interrelations between states, which were spurred by both popular culture and the international media – which for children of my generation, growing up in the 1980s into the early 1990s, was mainly the BBC World Service on radio.

Despite my global outlook back then, however, I would concede that I was an accidental Diplomat. I became deeply interested in economics, which captured my imagination and exposed me to a world beyond my island shores. From there, I went on to pursue both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in the discipline at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, where I developed a strong affinity and appreciation for international trade and undertook a specialization in this area of the field of economics.

My Academic Supervisor, Professor Michael Witter, then Head of the Department of Economics at UWI Mona, guided me to both the Private Sector Organization of Jamaica (PSOJ) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, as the only two viable options to make trade a career.

I subsequently interviewed for and was successful in landing jobs at both organizations, but I ultimately made the decision to join the Jamaica Foreign Service. And the rest, as they say, is history.

How does Jamaica advocate for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) on the international stage?

Being a small state, itself buffeted by a plethora of vulnerabilities and constraints, Jamaica is acutely aware of the challenges facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and the existential consequences of decisions that are made well outside of our purview, from the man-made triple planetary crisis to de-risking and correspondent banking issues that threaten our very economic survival in a globally interconnected world.

Jamaica recognizes, however, that persistent action and consistent advocacy, much like in the biblical story of the wall of Jericho, is crucial to achieving change in any circumstance and is a fundamental part of our statecraft and diplomatic DNA. As a nation, we understand that any issue, regardless of its size and complexity, can, through concerted and coordinated action and advocacy, particularly through the medium of diplomacy, bring about meaningful and lasting change.

Our main medium of advocacy on SIDS related issues, particularly that of climate and environmental matters, remains the New York based Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), and the various SIDS groupings in Geneva and other multilateral contexts. Other strategically important vehicles for our advocacy on thematic issues that affect us as SIDS include the Group of Structurally Weak and Vulnerable Economies (SWVEs) in UNCTAD and the Small and Vulnerable Economies (SVEs) Group in the WTO, where the twin issues of trade and development commonly intersect.

What are the biggest diplomatic challenges that Jamaica faces at the multilateral level?

Beyond the issue of small size and limited human and financial resources for effective engagement across the various multilateral fora, I would say that the main diplomatic challenge facing Jamaica at the multilateral level would be working to resolve the triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. These three factors threaten our very existence, create and extenuate the conditions of food and livelihood insecurity through the loss of habitat, organisms and wildlife, and place human, animal and plant health at great risk. 

Having just recently witnessed the breakdown of the negotiations on plastics pollution in August here in Geneva and observed the tactics and power dynamics at play, it would appear that the pathway towards a solution on plastics must be one that meaningfully arrests the problem caused by their production and illicit use. Such solutions must also preserve much of the economic benefit for those reliant on their production, particularly through technological innovation.

The failure of COP29 last November to agree on a meaningful and transformative climate financing package, as a last-ditch effort to save the planet, was a further signal that money matters and should not be discounted in the calculus surrounding the outcome of decisions and negotiations.

The perceived resistance to effective disciplines that control and/or eliminate harmful fisheries subsidies, which contribute to overcapacity and overfishing, is felt to be largely driven by economic interests that favour less regulation in order to maintain market competitiveness. 

The question facing multilateralism, therefore, is whether we will save the planet at all costs or destroy the planet for maximum profit?

Where do you see Jamaica being able to contribute best regarding the climate crisis?

As one of the countries that stands at the epicenter of the global climate crisis, and which has played a leadership role in the global advocacy on climate action and solutions, Jamaica represents a prime use case for both the impact of the climate crisis and what governments and citizens are required to do to effectively address it in the 21st century.

In June 2024, Jamaica experienced the devastating impact of hurricane Beryl, from which the country has not fully recovered, destroying critical and newly built infrastructure and decimating our productive capacity in major agricultural areas, setting back our developmental progress by several years.

Jamaica has been forced to respond to these pernicious threats by developing increasingly sophisticated and strategic interventions to address the growing challenge, within the remit of its limited human and financial capabilities. This has included forward-thinking, leading-edge policies that have led to Jamaica becoming the first country in the Caribbean region and first small state in the world to spearhead the introduction of a catastrophe bond. With the assistance of the World Bank, Jamaica has also pursued greater public, private partnerships to effectively strengthen its resilience to natural disasters in the built environment through critical investments in infrastructure.

The story of Jamaica and the climate crisis is, therefore, one of resilience and determination in the face of insurmountable challenges. It is also a story of strong advocacy and leadership for SIDS, underlined by a commitment to making the world safer, greener and cleaner. This is not just for SIDS but for the whole of humanity, led by a firm resolve to “play our part in advancing the welfare of the whole human race,” as declared in our National Pledge. 

What are the key priorities for the country in Geneva at the moment?

The key priorities of the Permanent Mission of Jamaica in Geneva at the moment involve a mix of issues related to the environment, health, human rights, trade and development, digital transformation, as well as diaspora engagement, the latter of which we execute via our Embassy function.

Currently, negotiators in Geneva are engaged in intense preparations for the UNCTAD XVI Conference this month, which will touch on several of these dimensions. Jamaica will be paying keen attention to the development of the outcome document that will drive the work of the organization on these and other matters over the next four years.

We are also actively preparing for the upcoming 4th Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in the Human Rights Council, which will take place in November, and where Jamaica will defend its human rights record over the past four and a half years. 

Jamaica is, furthermore, committed to the sustainable use of the oceans and preservation of the health of marine life ecosystems, as we work to secure the food and livelihood security of our people. As host country for the International Seabed Authority (ISA), we will continue to support and play a leadership role in multilateral environmental negotiations.