(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Saint Lucia Prime Minister, the Hon Stephenson King is urging Caribbean governments as a matter of priority to develop, strengthen and apply national and regional adaptation policies that will address Climate Change concerns within the Region.
He also called on the governments to pursue vigorously mitigation, adaptation and resource mobilisation strategies to combat Climate Change.
The Prime Minister pointed out that his country had already set the example in developing adaptation strategies and policies to reduce its vulnerabilities to the impact of Climate Change. He also urged other Caribbean governments to incorporate Climate Change considerations into their budgetary exercises and to ensure that their country’s projects and programmes were “climate friendly.”
Prime Minister King who has lead responsibility for Sustainable Development, including Disaster Management and Water in the quasi Cabinet of CARICOM Conference of Heads of Government was delivering the keynote address at the official opening ceremony of the Second Caribbean Community Climate Change Conference held in Castries Saint Lucia at the Garden Bay Hotel on 23-24 March.
Noting that Climate Change affected every aspect of human existence and development, the Prime Minister warned the conference: “do not sit and wait for the rising seas to engulf us but… work actively to explore ways that we can respond to Climate Change while pursuing a broader development agenda.”
He pointed to several other critical actions that the Region must adopt in order to meet its sustainable development objectives: exploring renewable energy technologies such as wind, solar, geothermal and hydro-electric power as a mitigation strategy to counter both the effects of climate change and the global economic crisis; adopting a ‘no regrets” approach to adaptation which include improving water management and health systems; prudent management of rain forests; increased public awareness and empowering relevant regional institutions such as the CCCCC and our tertiary education institutions to support the Climate Change agenda.
The Prime Minister was convinced that if the Region adopted the measures he outlined, it would help to build resilience to the effects of Climate Change. He warned however, that to undertake those measures would require concerted work in identifying and procuring appropriate technologies and finances and to engage aggressively in research and innovation.
Prime Minister King then encouraged the conference to endeavour to transform the threats of Climate Change into opportunities
“Climate Change presents a major challenge to our survival. However, we must not despair but rather look for the silver lining whenever and wherever it may appear. Where it is not visible we must be innovative and create our own opportunities,” the Saint Lucia Prime Minister concluded.
Organised by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre under the theme, Mainstreaming Climate Change for Sustainable Development of the Caribbean, the two-day conference on Monday discussed the outcomes of the Centre’s Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) Project which expires on March 31 and on Tuesday received and discussed technical presentations on varying aspects of the theme.
