Transcript Presentation Part 2

Informal Thematic Debate of the
United Nations General Assembly
New York, NY
31 July 2007
Climate Change as a Global Challenge
Presented by
Kenrick R. Leslie
The Caribbean Community
Climate Change Centre
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Panel 1
Thematic Debate on Climate
Change: the Science, the Impact
and Adaptation Imperatives
Round 2
“Adaptation in the context of the
Caribbean region”
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Summary of the CARICOM Programme of
Adaptation (1997 – 2011)
2004-2008
2001-2004
1997-2001
ACCC
CPACC
Building awareness
and strengthening
knowledge base
2007-2011
SPACC
MACC
Creating an enabling
environment for
adaptation
Adaptation
Implementation
Public
Awareness
and Participation
Implementation
Institutions
Policy
Knowledge
Base
Public
Awareness
and Participation
Implementation
Institutions
Policy
• Policy framework for
Public
Awareness
and Participation
Institutions
Knowledge
Base
Policy
Knowledge
Base
• Building Awareness.
• Building monitoring and analysis
capability
• Building planning capacity in
institutions
• Developing national policy
framework for adaptation.
• Mainstreaming climate change issues
into key sector activities.
• Preparation of pilot adaptation
projects.
• Further strengthening of awareness
andparticipation.
• Further strengthening of knowledge
base
adaptation in place
• Projects being implemented.
• Awareness and participation
high.
• Monitoring, analysis and
planning integrated
throughout all national and
sectoral planning .
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A Significant CARICOM Climate Change
Adaptation Decision
• Recognizing the vulnerability to the impacts of climate change
and climate variability on the economic development and social
needs of the region:
– The Heads of Governments of CARICOM member states in
July 2002, endorsed the creation of a permanent capacity in
the region to address climate change issues. This decision
resulted in the Establishment of the Climate Change Centre.
– The Centre is mandated to coordinate the regional response
to climate change and its efforts to manage and adapt to its
likely impacts.
– Further, at the their bi-annual meeting in June 2007, they
approved a US$1 million for the establishment of a TRUST
Fund for the initiation of regional climate change-related
research by the Climate Change Centre.
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Adaptation:- the Caribbean perspective
•
A quote from Sir Nicholas Stern’s report states
… “The less mitigation we do now, the
greater the difficulty of continuing to adapt
in the future”.

Present day climate variability already poses a
serious developmental problem.
The proposed limit of 2oC rise in global
temperature will further aggravate the problems of
climate variability, thus posing greater challenges
to the region’s adaptation requirements.
The level of success of adaptation initiatives in
the Caribbean depends on the extent to which the
international community mitigation programme
can achieve the < 2oC rise in temperature.

•
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International Commitment
• The International Community should commit to:
– taking aggressive actions to reduce GHG emissions to
ensure a high success of achieving the global
temperature rise of < 2oC. This means more
mitigation;
– the promotion of
• prudent use of fossil fuel;
• renewable energy investments;
• Increase use of renewable forms of energy as a significant
portion of the energy budget;
– providing support of the development and
exploitation of Caribbean indigenous sources
of energy such as:
– Wind, solar, biomass, hydro, geothermal and oceanic 6
International Commitment
 Support fully the implementation of the Nairobi Plan of
Action noting the need to adequately address the special
circumstances of the Caribbean region:
 Being among the world’s most vulnerable region to the
envisaged impacts of climate change;
 The countries low capacity to adapt to the negative impacts of
climate change, since the costs for adaptation will be high
relative to GDP.
 Immediate support for implementation of no regrets
adaptation options as recommended in the Stern Report.
 Mobilization of the Adaptation Funds (UNFCCC and
Kyoto Protocol)
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For further information please contact us at:
THE CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY
CLIMATE CHANGE CENTRE
2nd Floor, Lawrence Nicholas Bldg.
P.O. Box 563
Bliss Parade,
Belmopan City, Belize
Tel: +501-822-1094/1104
Fax: +501-822-1365
Website: www.caribbeanclimate.bz
The best way to predict the future...is to create it ...
THANK YOU
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