Adapting to climate change an issue of survival for the Caribbean - Ambassador Applewhaite

Deputy Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ambassador Lolita Applewhaite says, “While the climate system may be global in nature, and many decisions related to it are best dealt with through international agreements and joint implementation efforts, it is imperative that nations also take decisions on a local and regional basis. Countries require specialized information on the climate in their regions to provide reliable services, such as early warning on potential disasters, as well as to assist in the formulation of policies with regard to sustainable development.”

Speaking to the media on April 6, 2007 after the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Fourth Assessment Report on climate change, Applewhaite noted that the report focused on the impacts, adaptation and vulnerability with regard to planet Earth. She noted the high level of confidence demonstrated in the methodology and in the quality of data used in the preparation of the report, which underscores the global concerns over the relationship between observed climate change and observed changes in the natural and human environments.

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Center was established to coordinate the Caribbean region’s response to climate change and is managing an on-going Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change project that seeks to build national and regional capacity to address the increasing vulnerabilities of our society to climate change outlined in the IPCC report.
In 2004 and 2005, the Caribbean region experienced hurricanes of greater intensity and frequency than ever before. Increased rainfall and floods are causing severe damage to food crops and livestock, thereby creating a heavier burden on, and further reducing the ability of CARICOM member states to cope with developmental challenges. For the Caribbean, adapting to climate change is an issue of survival.

“Despite the gloomy picture which comes to mind when we reflect on what is happening to our physical environment the world over, I do believe that there is reason for hope,” says Applewhaite. “We have signed numerous international agreements through the United Nations such as the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol, the Convention to Combat Desertification, and the Convention on Biological Diversity which provides the context for the protection of the world’s fragile ecosystems. The time is long past for the implementation of many of the provisions of these conventions and we therefore need to act with haste to make these conventions more effective,” she reiterated.

Applewhaite points out that the central task for the development of operational climate service in small developing coastal states, as those in the Caribbean, is capacity building. “International activities under this thrust should continue to contribute to the building of a stronger technical capability to provide past and real-time climate information at the national and local level in order to enhance CARICOM’s efforts towards sustainable development.”