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IMPACT Inception Workshop hosted in Kingston
Press Release – Belmopan, Belize; April 3, 2017 – The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) is organizing a regional climate change workshop at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica from April 3 – 5, 2017.
The IMPACT Regional Inception Workshop marks the launch of a four (4) year project in the Caribbean that will support Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Least Developed Countries (LDCs) around the world. IMPACT will strengthen the connections between the scientific assessments of climate impacts, vulnerability, adaptation and mitigation to help access the financial and technical resources required to implement concrete projects.
IMPACT is being implemented by Climate Analytics gGmbh. Collaborating institutions include Climate Analytics Lome (Togo), Charles and Associates (Grenada), the Secretariat of the Pacific Environment Programme (SPREP), the Potsdam Institute for Climate (PIK), and the CCCCC. The project is funded by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.
The project will also enhance the capacity of CARICOM Member States and other SIDS and LDCs to engage effectively in and contribute substantially to the international climate change negotiations under the United Nations and in particular to the elaboration of the mechanisms and processes established under the Paris Agreement. SIDS and LDCs played a pivotal role in the negotiation of the Paris Agreement in 2015 and ensured that the interests of the Caribbean were secured in the Agreement.
Participants in the IMPACT Regional Inception Workshop include representatives of the climate change offices of the CARICOM Member States, the Climate Studies Group of the University of the West Indies, Mona, the University of the Bahamas, Charles and Associates of Grenada, the CCCCC and Climate Analytics.
Peruse IMPACT_short description
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The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre coordinates the region’s response to climate change. Officially opened in August 2005, the Centre is the key node for information on climate change issues and the region’s response to managing and adapting to climate change. We maintain the Caribbean’s most extensive repository of information and data on climate change specific to the region, which in part enables us to provide climate change-related policy advice and guidelines to CARICOM member states through the CARICOM Secretariat. In this role, the Centre is recognized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Environment Programme, and other international agencies as the focal point for climate change issues in the Caribbean. The Centre is also a United Nations Institute for Training and Research recognised Centre of Excellence, one of an elite few. Learn more about how we’re working to make the Caribbean more climate resilient by perusing The Implementation Plan.
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Trinidad and Tobago: Who is going to pay the Climate Change piper?
Investing in the future is always a challenging decision, for example planning for retirement will often seem to be less urgent when we have pressing daily financial issues that have to be addressed now (unless you are near to retirement age of course). Not tomorrow, not in 10 years, but today. But the truth is that, in order to have a financially stable future, we need to know our risks, assess the potential losses and costs associated with them, and plan accordingly.
Governments face a similar challenge when it comes to thinking about climate change: they need to plan now to be able to manage the risks associated with the climate of today, tomorrow and the future.
In Trinidad and Tobago, being a small island state, you face very clear risks: you have fragile ecosystems, limited land space and a concentration of socio-economic activities within a narrow coastal belt including critical infrastructure (think power generation, ports, oil and gas facilities) which will certainly be adversely affected by rising sea levels and other climate related impacts. According to different studies, climate change will have a significant impact on the country, both on environmental and socio-economic levels, affecting primarily 4 key areas: agriculture, health, human settlements (particularly in coastal areas), and water resources. What do you do about addressing the cost of the impacts of climate change?
To help the Government address this challenging task of financially planning for the risks of adaptation to climate change (sorry but unfortunately there is a cost involved based on current greenhouse gas emissions), the IDB has supported the elaboration of a study on the economics of climate adaptation which aims at providing a tool to help design adaptation strategies to increase a county’s resilience against climate change-related hazards. In Trinidad and Tobago, investing in climate adaptation now will pay off in the future: it is estimated that investments in mangrove restoration and the national building code will have payback period of less than five years and positive benefit-cost ratios – those are smart investments!
Adaptation has to be a priority for Trinidad and Tobago, as well as for the rest of the CARICOM states, and this is why this methodology will be shared across the region in an effort to help Caribbean governments plan for the future: the wise decisions of today can certainly help us secure a climate-resilient future. The piper will have to be paid but it is wise to put aside the resources now and in the right place before the costs are too high.
Credit: Let's Talk Climate Change, Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
CARIWIG Workshop A Success
The Caribbean Weather Impacts Group (CARIWIG) held its inaugural workshop and technical meeting at the Knutsford Court Hotel in Kingston, Jamaica this week (February 4-8, 2013). The workshop is part of CARIWIG’s effort to initiate and sustain consultations to determine community needs for the generation of quantitative climate information for climate impact assessments and the broader decision-making process in the Caribbean.

*This article was updated to reflect the conclusion of the event and actual participation.