CARICOM Heads of Government, at their 25th Inter-Sessional Meeting, have acknowledged the ongoing challenges to the Region posed by climate change and sea level rise.
As result, they emphasised the need to enhance the Region’s engagement in the negotiation process and to increase its access to available related financial resources.

To this end, the high-level group agreed on the establishment of a Task Force on Climate Change and Small Island Developing States (SIDS), to provide guidance to Caribbean Climate Change Negotiators, their ministers and political leaders, in order to ensure the strategic positioning of the Region in the negotiating.
In an interview with the Guyana Chronicle, Presidential Advisor on Climate Change, Mr. Shyam Nokta maintained that the Task Force must reaffirm the 2009 Liliendaal Declaration on Climate Change and Development.
He said, “The Region crafted this agreement, which outlined the Region’s position to guide technical negotiators’ efforts, which are underway through the United Nations (UN), to have a global climate change agreement by the end of 2015. We need this effort to pick up momentum.”
Several concerns
The CARICOM Heads, at their 30th Conference in Liliendaal, Guyana, from July 2 to 9, 2009, referenced the objective, principles and commitments of the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol and expressed several concerns.
The declaration said the group was “gravely concerned that our efforts to promote sustainable development and achieve the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), are under severe threat from the devastating effects of climate change and sea level rise, which have led to increasingly frequent and intense extreme weather events, damage to bio-diversity, coral bleaching, coastal erosion and changing precipitation patterns.”
“And emphasising that dangerous climate change is already occurring in all SIDS (Small Islands and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS) Regions, including the Caribbean and that many SIDS will cease to exist without urgent, ambitious and decisive action by the international community to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions, significantly, and to support SIDS in their efforts to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change, including through the provision of increased levels of financial and technical resources.
“We are very concerned that the estimated total annual impact of potential climate change on all CARICOM countries is estimated at US$9.9 billion in the total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2007 US$ prices or about 11.3% of the total annual GDP of all 20 CARICOM countries (Member States and Associate Member States) according to the World Bank estimates,” they said.
The CARICOM group affirmed that the global response to climate change should be undertaken on the basis of common but differentiated as well as historical responsibility and that it should not compromise the ability of SIDS to pursue sustainable development and the sharing of the cost of addressing climate change should be equitable and not perpetuate poverty.
It also emphasised the importance of a common regional approach to address the threats and challenges of climate change.
Additionally, the decision to establish the task force was part of a position paper, presented at the March meeting by President Donald Ramotar, which was unanimously adopted.
Bankable projects
The other major part of the document was the decision to have the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) develop, in partnership with CARICOM Member States, a portfolio of bankable projects eligible for climate financing and present it to the donor community for support.
Nokta also lauded the adoption of a position paper and said the commitment of Caribbean leaders is “useful” in that it is a move in the right direction to ensure that CARICOM countries are prepared to address the critically important issue of climate change.
He said the difficulties faced with climate financing and support for the adaptation and resilience will be addressed by this effort.
The Presidential Advisor posited that the Caribbean Region needs to, aggressively, tap into opportunities that exist now and prepare itself to benefit from future possibilities.
He said Guyana, itself, has been working closely with the CCCCC since its establishment and closer ties are being developed as part of the Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) implementation.
Commenting on the CARICOM focus on the issue of climate change, Nokta said the deliberations of the Heads of Government were both timely and important, as they will make the Region more visible in the fight, as well as give the Caribbean a united voice.
He referred to recent disasters in Dominica, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in December 2013 and said: “The effects of this global phenomenon are being felt. It is a critical issue that we must address.”
CARICOM Heads of Government are expected to participate and engage in important meetings and fora, including the UN Climate Change Summit in September 2014 and the Third UN SIDS International Meeting in Samoa, also in September.