Protection of the Cayman Islands Exclusive Economic Zone

As a Maritime Nation it is perhaps time that the Cayman Islands / Cayman Islands Government acquires a Marine Patrol Vessel capable of patrolling our Exclusive Economic Zone [EEZ] to ensure decimation of shark and over-fishing of Pelagic and other spicies is brought under control.

Preservation of the environment is crucial and funding could be available for this purpose, as was demonstrated by the Seychelles, who was given a debt writedown in return for protecting their EEZ in their i.4 million square kilometers of the Indian Ocean. The Western Indian Ocean Coastal Challenge (WIOCC)
Key Facts
More than 30 million people in the Western Indian Ocean (WIO) islands and East African coastal communities rely on the coastal environment for goods and services and as a source of livelihoods and income
* The economic value of ecosystem goods and services is estimated to be over US$25 billion annually
* Tourism is the largest source of income directly linked to the coastal and marine environment, the region attracts over 20 million tourists that inject US$6 billion+ into economies annually
* Fisheries play an important role in WIO national economies providing from 5.0% to 99.1% of national agricultural exports as well as sources of employment, income and animal protein
* The natural resources that fuel the WIO regions economic activity are under pressure from issues such as overfishing, overdevelopment, pollution and environmental degradation.
* Climate change is exacerbating these problems and present mounting challenges to the sustainable development of the region. In 1998, coral bleaching at an unprecedented scale caused widespread coral mortality across most of the western Indian Ocean, altering the goods and services provided by these reefs .
* There is urgent need for governments and stakeholders to come together and take action to combat climate change, conserve biodiversity and promote sustainable livelihoods to build resilience.

The natural resources that fuel the WIO regions economic activity are under pressure from issues such as overfishing, overdevelopment, pollution and environmental degradation. Climate change is exacerbating these problems and present mounting challenges to the sustainable development of the region. In 1998, coral bleaching at an unprecedented scale caused widespread coral mortality across most of the western Indian Ocean, altering the goods and services provided by these reefs . There is urgent need for governments and stakeholders to come together and take action to combat climate change, conserve biodiversity and promote sustainable livelihoods to build resilience. GLISPA.ORG

GLISPA and Earth Day Network

Marine plastic debris pollution is clogging waterways and beaches around the world. That’s why Earth Day Network is getting ready to announce in September the global theme for Earth Day 2018 (April 22) – eliminating single-use plastics worldwide.

As we prepare to launch this campaign we would love to connect to anyone in the GLISPA community working on this issue. We hope to find ways to coordinate and collaborate with existing campaigns. It’s our hope that the global community can see value in Earth Day as an organizing tool to push the needle forward on eliminating plastic pollution.

If you are working on eliminating plastic pollution on your island we would love to hear from you. Please see Earth Day Network at https://www.earthday.org/earthday/ for more information.

Thanks!
Earth Day Network

Our Oceans, Our Islands, Our Future

With the leadership of H.E. Tommy E. Remengesau Jr., President of Palau, H.E. Vincent Meriton, Vice-President of Seychelles, The Hon. Kedrick Pickering, Deputy Premier of the British Virgin Islands, Ambassador Spencer Thomas of Grenada, alongside Global Island Partnership members and friends, the Partnership coordinated a series of events that demonstrated the leadership of islands united in strong partnerships to implement Sustainable Development Goal 14 and support strong outcomes for the UN Oceans Conference held in New York at the United Nations.

Download the GLISPA Event Spotlight: Our Oceans, Our Islands, Our Future here.

Since its launch in 2006, the Global Island Partnership has engaged high-level leaders to catalyze US$150 million for island action and assisted 35+ countries to launch or strengthen major sustainable island commitments. The Partnership now has more than 25 members and 30 friends working together to build resilient and sustainable island communities. We welcome entities interested in supporting its mission to apply for membership. Learn more: http://www.glispa.org/participate

Our postal address: IUCN (GLISPA), 1630 Connecticut Ave NW #300, Washington, DC 20009, USA

Informal GLISPA Meeting in Bonn to Discuss COP21

GLISPA will be holding an informal face to face meeting for interested countries and organizations currently in Bonn at the UNFCCC inter-sessional meeting on either 10 or 11 June 2015. This meeting will be hosted by Ambassador Jumeau as Chair of the GLISPA Steering Committee. The meeting will focus on opportunities to showcase island leadership in adaptation and resilience as part of the upcoming UNFCCC COP21 in Paris, France in December 2015 and specifically the interest in GLISPA coordinating events to achieve this.

Seychelles Ambassador Ronny Jumeau

Anyone interested in showcasing island leadership in adaptation and resilience is welcomed to attend this meeting. Please email Susi Menazza at smenazza@tnc.org if you are interested in participating. She will confirm the date/time/venue with those that RSVP in the near future.

Please note, GLISPA will also host a global teleconference later in June along a similar lines. More information will be available shortly. Thank you to those of you that have reached out to indicate your interest in supporting such an event.

For the best newsfeed on island issues, check http://sids-l.iisd.org/>, http://www.sidsnet.org>, http://www.globalislands.net/>

 

 

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New IUCN publication: Making an Economic Case for EbA

"Knowledge Gaps in Making an Economic Case for Investing in Nature Based Solutions for Climate Change".

This report is available both in English and French on the IUCN EBA web page. This preliminary rapid assessment is now being followed up with an in-depth analysis in the Philippines and Peru. We aim to have this study available for the Paris COP 21.

Climate change is having increasingly adverse impacts on people and nature. It exacerbates existing environmental threats, poses new risks and impedes our ability to achieve global conservation and development objectives such as the Aichi Biodiversity Targets and the proposed Sustainable Development Goals. Across the globe, initiatives have been established to help communities implement approaches that enable them to adapt to climate change and mitigate its effects.

Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) is one such approach. EbA uses biodiversity and ecosystem services as part of a larger adaptation strategy – an excellent example of a viable nature-based solution. As well as providing climate change adaptation benefits, this approach also contributes to biodiversity conservation and enhances local economies. IUCN has been extensively involved in EbA work, strengthening community resilience and livelihoods in almost 60 countries. This work demonstrates our ongoing commitment to the implementation of nature- based solutions.

The conservation and sustainable development community considers EbA to be a strong method of addressing climate change and its associated challenges. However, there is still a tendency for policy makers to implement traditional engineering solutions for adaptation, rather than investing in EbA. The need for solid data on the cost-effectiveness of this nature-based approach was the driver behind an IUCN study identifying the economic costs and benefits associated with EbA. The lessons learned from this appraisal process will make it easier for policy makers to compare EbA options with engineered solutions. Download English / French

 

 

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The 1.5 degrees global warming call from the Pacific, still possible

 

Amidst the recent release of scientific reports on climate change, the key message has been for urgent action to limit global warming, before time runs out.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change released their Synthesis Report on the 5th Assessment Report in October, the World Bank released the "Turn down the heat, confronting the new climate normal" report in November and the United Nations Environment Program released their "Bridging the 2014 Emission Gap Report" also in November.

According to the "Turn down the heat" report and an accompanying press release - climate change impacts such as extreme heat events may now be unavoidable because the Earth’s atmospheric system is locked into warming close to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by mid-century, and even very ambitious mitigation action taken today will not change this.

This does not mean, however, that long-term warming of 1.5°C is locked in, or that achievement of the 1.5°C warming limit, as called for by vulnerable countries like Pacific Islands, is no longer possible.

"What we see from the scientific literature is that it's clear that we can indeed hold warming below 2 degrees in this century probably with the most aggressive mitigation emission reduction options. We can limit peak warming close to 1.5 degrees and slowly reduce that to below 1.5 degrees by 2100," said Prof. Bill Hare of the Climate Analytics Group, Potsdam Institute.

"This is going to involve fairly major changes in policy settings now but this is what we are negotiating for, to have the emissions go down in the 2020's and if we can do that fast enough then its technically and economically feasible to bring warming back to 1.5 degrees by the end of the century."

"Those that are arguing it's not possible are expressing a political judgment, not a scientific judgment."

There will be climate change impacts experienced by several regions including the Pacific islands, before warming is reduced as limiting peak warming close to 1.5°C by mid century will still result in significant damage.

At the present levels of warming (about 0.8°C above preindustrial) the impacts of climate change are already being felt in many regions of the world. Continued damage is forecast to the coral reefs in the Pacific and other tropical oceans, there is the huge risk of damage to water supply resources in dry regions and substantial drops in crop yield in regions such as sub Saharan Africa.

"On top of that we'll also be experiencing quite major increase in extreme heat events even for 1.5 degrees warming so whatever happens we're going to have to go through some very severe changes," explains Professor Hare.

Here in Lima, Peru at the 20th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC COP20), the Pacific islands are calling for a 1.5 degree limit to global warming by 2100. The next two weeks of climate negotiations continue the work being done by the Pacific islands as members of the Alliance of Small Islands States, lobbying for the 1.5 degree limit to global warming to be agreed upon in Paris next year.

The new climate treaty is to be agreed upon by the end of December in 2015 in Paris.

"Strengthening the long-term temperature goal to 1.5 degrees is of critical importance for us. Even at the current temperatures, our small low lying islands are being battered by king tides, salt water intrusion, coastal erosion, coral bleaching, ocean acidification, loss of species and habitats," said Ms. Ana Tiraa, Head of the Cook Islands delegation at the UNFCCC COP 20.

"These will only be exacerbated at higher temperatures, with due respect to other parties, the Cook Islands calls for ambition levels that are high enough to keep temperature rise below 1.5 degrees. Temperature rises above 1.5 degrees cannot be an option for low lying small islands if we have a hope of surviving."

According to Prof. Hare, at present there is confidence that with aggressive mitigation action warming can be held to below 2 degrees yet another decade of inaction will most likely lead to warming at 2 degrees or above. The message is clear that the time for action is now.

"It is still feasible to bring global warming to below 1.5 degrees by 2100 but whether or not the world politics and major economies will take enough action in the coming five to 20 years is in question. We are entitled to be skeptical given the inaction that has characterised the last decade as to whether that looks happening but it's not a scientific judgment or statement, the option is well and truly open to bring warming back to below 1.5 degrees. More

 

 

 

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Commentary: Christopher Jorebon Loeak - President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

 

This is the transcript of a video "address to the world" released by President Loeak on 18 September 2014 ahead of the UN Secretary-General's Climate Summit. The full video can be viewed here.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8t7ElMPS_8

Out here in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, climate change has arrived.

In the last year alone, my country has suffered through unprecedented droughts in the north, and the biggest ever king tides in the south; and we have watched the most devastating typhoons in history leave a trail of death and destruction across the region.

Lying just two meters above sea level, my atoll nation stands at the frontline in the battle against climate change. The beaches of Buoj where I use to fish as a boy are already under water, and the fresh water we need to grow our food gets saltier every day. As scientists had predicted, some of our islands have already completely disappeared, gone forever under the ever-rising waves. For the Marshall Islands and our friends in the Pacific, this is already a full-blown climate emergency.

Some tell us that we should begin planning to leave. But how can we? And why should we? These islands are our home. They hold our history, our heritage and our hopes for the future. Are the world's polluters asking us to give up our language, our culture, and our national identity? We are not prepared to do that - we will stay and fight. If the water comes, it comes.

Brick by brick, I built the seawall behind me with my own hands. But even this is barely enough to protect my family from the encroaching waves. Last year, after returning from a visit to the United Nations in New York, I was so shocked by the damage from the rising tides that I added another foot of bricks to the wall.

In the Marshall Islands we have a saying - "Wa kuk wa jimer". It means that we are all in the same boat together. What is happening here is a mere preview of the havoc that awaits if we continue with our polluting ways. If my country goes, others will surely follow. We are the canary in the coalmine.

The climate crisis is forcing us to take matters into our own hands, both at home and on the international stage. Last year the Marshall Islands hosted the largest-ever Pacific Islands Forum Leaders' meeting in Majuro and it remains one of the proudest moments of my Presidency.

The big outcome was the Majuro Declaration for Climate Leadership, a powerful message from the world's most vulnerable countries to the big emitters that surround us that the time for talk is over, and the time for action is now. Our efforts had an impact with the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, Mexico and Japan all committing to be climate leaders, and to do more to tackle climate change. At this time last year, I presented the Declaration to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and promised to bring the spirit of Majuro to his Climate Change Leaders' Summit in New York, which is now less than a week away.

The Summit comes not a moment too soon. It is the first gathering of world leaders on climate change in nearly five years, and just over a year before our deadline to sign a new global treaty on climate change in Paris at the end of 2015.

Paris cannot be another Copenhagen. The world has changed too much. The science is more alarming, the impacts more severe, the economics more compelling, and the politics more potent. Even the world's two biggest polluters - China and the United States - are working together to find a pathway to a new global agreement.

But there are still some that seek to slow us down.

To my fellow world leaders I say "next week's Summit is a chance for all of us to be the leaders we were elected to be". We must send a strong and united message to the world - and to the people that we represent - that we are ready to do a deal next year. And to avoid the worst impacts of a warmer world, this new deal must capture a vision for a carbon-free world by the middle of the century. Without it, no seawall will be high enough to save my country. Together, we must find the courage to rise to this challenge. It is time to build the greatest climate change alliance the world has ever seen.

My people are counting on it, as is all of humanity.

Christopher J. Loeak is the President of the Republic of the Marshall Islands

 

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Small island developing states summit aims for alliances

The UN’s Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS), in Apia, Samoa, on 1-4 September, will aim to identify the unique needs andvulnerabilities of island nations and opportunities for international support.

“The challenges facing SIDS are interlinked and cannot be tackled in silo or by one country alone,” says conference secretary-general Wu Hongbo. “This calls for collaboration and partnerships, with active engagement by all stakeholders, governmental and non-governmental.”

The conference will focus on critical areas where new global partnerships are needed, including climate change, oceans, waste, sustainable tourism and disaster risk reduction. Various voluntary commitments have already been announced. These include the creation of a Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, which is intended to tackle the challenges of access to affordable energy, energy security and climate change mitigation and adaptation. Once fully operational, which is due to happen by 2018, the centre will fall under the remit of the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). “The centre will assist energy industries in developing countries in taking advantage of growing sustainable energy market opportunities and provide a platform to promote South-South and North-South knowledge and technology transfer,” says UNIDO renewable energy expert, Martin Lugmayr.

Other new collaborative projects include the University Consortium of Small Island States, which, with the Spanish government and the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, announced plans to develop a degree in sustainable development delivered internationally through an online portal. In addition, six countries and various organisations have announced support for the Coral Triangle Initiative that will protect the region, which is home to the highest coral diversity in the world.Maintaining ocean health will be a centrepiece of the conference, according to Milan Meetarbhan, Mauritius’ ambassador to the UN, who says this should lead to the development of a global strategy for a healthy ocean economy. “Given [the ocean’s] crucial importance to the international community and to SIDS in particular, the Samoa summit should consider making a clear recommendation in favour of a stand-alone Sustainable Development Goal on the oceans,” Meetarbhan says. The conference will echo and reinforce targets likely to be outlined in the forthcoming Sustainable Development Goals (a draft of which was released this week), as many of the topics addressed have global significance, says Wu. It will also contribute to an elaboration of the post-2015 UN development agenda, he adds. “In particular, [this will be] through discussions on climate change, where SIDS’ experiences are providing both an example of the devastating impacts and the outcomes of efforts to fight the phenomenon,” he says.

This will be the first SIDS conference in the Pacific. The inaugural conference was held in Barbados in 1994 and resulted in the Declaration of Barbados. This officially recognised the sustainable development needs of SIDS and called for regional and international support to deliver these. The second conference, held in Mauritius in 2005, concluded with the Mauritius Strategy, a further implementation of the Barbados plan with emphasis on the vulnerability of island nations. Wu said the outcome document for this year’s conference will outline priorities for all SIDS and provide a road map for future action to address sustainability priorities. > Link to the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States More

DESA News: Renewing Focus on Sustainable Islands

Published on Apr 30, 201 4 • "Many of the challenges facing Small Island Developing States are shared by the international community, such as climate change, biodiversity loss, oceans and seas, disasters [...]," said UN DESA's Under-Secretary-General and Conference Secretary-General Wu Hongbo, as preparations accelerate ahead of the UN Conference on Small Island Developing States in Samoa on 1 -4 September. DESA News also spoke with some of the conference bureau members who shared their hopes for this major event.

In the video [in order of appearance]: - Ali'ioaiga Feturi Alisaia, Permanent Representative of Samoa to the United Nations - Milan J N Meetarghan, Permanent Representative of Mauritius - Ronald Jumeau, the Roving Ambassador of Seychelles for Climate Change and Small Island Developing States - Karen Tan, Permanent Representative of Singapore - Phillip Taula, Deputy Permanent Representative of New Zealand

Read the DESA News feature article: http://bit.ly/1 hTrCki

For information on the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States: http://www.sids2014.org/

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Islands in the spotlight - Seychelles Climate Change Ambassador speaks at UN biodiversity event

(Seychelles News Agency) - Seychelles Ambassador for Climate Change and Small Island Developing States issues, Ronald Jumeau, who is based in New York, has warned that traditional donor-recipient financing mechanisms are no longer enough to help island nations achieve and secure sustainability for themselves, especially in such an uncertain global economic climate.

The warning features in his foreward message, featured in the official publication of the Convention on Biological Diversity for the International Day for Biological Diversity.

Today, May 22, is the day chosen by the UN to increase understanding and awareness of the importance of biodiversity. This year, the theme chosen by the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is Island Biodiversity, in recognition of 2014 as the International Year of Small Island Developing States.

“It is consequently increasingly recognized that one of the most effective ways to protect and sustainably manage and use biodiversity for sustainable livelihoods is through genuine and durable partnerships for action,” Jumeau, who chairs the steering committee of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA),writes in his foreward.

The Seychellois ambassador was invited to deliver a speech at a special event at the United Nations in New York to mark the International Day for Biological Diversity, an event co-hosted by GLISPA and the CBD as well as the permanent missions of Grenada, Samoa, Palau, Papua New Guinea and Mauritius.

In addition to the launch of the island biodiversity publication, the message of the UN’s Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon, is also to be delivered at the event. The event will focus on the importance of biodiversity in the pursuit of sustainable development for small island states and to showcase examples of best practices in island biodiversity.

600 million islanders depend on biodiversity for livelihood

The biodiversity of the world’s islands is considered the key to the livelihood, economy, wellbeing and cultural identity of 600 million islanders, equal to one tenth of the world’s population.

GLISPA helps to promote public-private partnerships among island nations to find homegrown solutions to their own challenges where big donations fall short. The global partnership has already brought together more than $130 million for island conservation and sustainable livelihoods in small island states.

2014 being the International Year of Small Island Developing States, says Jumeau, the opportunities will present themselves, both at the on UN SIDS summit in Samoa in September and CBD COP12 in South Korea in October, to create partnerships that actually deliver on their commitments to implement island solutions.

Seychelles , a leader in conservation

The Seychelles Minister for Environment and Energy Prof Rolph Payet has also added his voice to calls for the protection of biodiversity saying this year’s theme chosen for the day ‘Island Biodiversity’ is especially relevant to the Seychelles, as a leader in conservation.

“Seychelles would not be the island paradise without its unique and spectacular beauty. We owe our tourism industry to its environment. We also owe our livelihood, our fisheries to its abundance in tropical food and fish. Our health, our water is all possible through the extensive forests we have preserved for this and future generations. Sadly with the pressure of development and climate change we need to strive for more sustainability in our actions. It is the moral duty of every Seychellois, every business and every tourism developer to respect and care for our unique biodiversity” says Payet in a message for the occasion.

“While islands constitute less than 5% of the Earth’s landmass they provide habitat for 40% of all listed critically endangered and endangered species. In Seychelles we have the highest density of endemic lizards per square meter than anywhere in the world, and the largest population of wild giant tortoises in the world. These credentials, together with the millions of birds and marine mammals that thrive freely in our territory, make Seychelles a very unique place on earth.”

Seychelles has 52 percent of its land territory protected under law as nature reserves, making it the most conservation-minded country in the world. Second after Seychelles is New Zealand, which has 30 percent of its territory protected as nature reserves. More

 

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GLISPA's The Year of Leadership, Commitment & Action by Ambassador Ronny Jumeau

Dear GLISPA friends,

It gives me great pleasure to announce that H.E. Dr. The Right Honorable Keith Mitchell, Prime Minister Grenada, has accepted the invitation from my President, H.E. James Michel of the Republic of Seychelles, and H.E. Tommy Remengesau Jr., President of the Republic of Palau, to be a Co-Chair of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA).

Ambassador Ronald Jumeau

In early 2013, Prime Minister Mitchell co-hosted the Caribbean Summit of Political and Business Leaders alongside The Right Honorable Orlando Smith, Premier of the British Virgin Islands, and Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Virgin Group. This Summit brought visionary political leaders of Caribbean governments and territories together with responsible business leaders to take action to protect at least 20% of the Caribbean’s marine and coastal environment by 2020 (“20 by 20”).

Prime Minister Mitchell was sworn in as PM for the fourth time in February 2013, having held the position from 1995 to 2008. In 2006, at the same event that launched GLISPA, Grenada, under the decisive leadership of Prime Minister Mitchell, committed to conserve 25% of its marine and 25% of its terrestrial areas by 2020[i]. This commitment then inspired the Caribbean Challenge Initiative which has since resulted in “20 by 20” commitments from the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. I continue to be inspired by the leadership of Prime Minister Mitchell as he works with the leaders of the Caribbean to achieve this goal.

We also welcome H.E. Dr. Denis Antoine, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations for Grenada as the representative of Prime Minister Mitchell on the GLISPA Steering Committee. The Steering Committee will also continue to benefit from the guidance of Dr. Spencer Thomas, Grenada’s Ambassador and Special Envoy for Multilateral Environmental Agreements who has been an integral participant of this Committee since the Partnership was launched. As Chair of the Steering Committee I can affirm that the full Committee will look forward to the ongoing contributions and strategic direction from Grenada as we move forward into an exciting year for islands globally.

As a result of the GLISPA Steering Committee meeting held in Washington D.C. last week, I am honored to also announce that H.E. Dr. Caleb Otto, Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations for the Republic of Palau, has, as representative of the President of Palau to the Steering Committee, also accepted the new role of Vice-Chair of GLISPA Steering Committee. Ambassador Otto and I will represent the GLISPA Steering Committee at relevant events to ensure our vision for island conservation and sustainable livelihoods is achieved.

This year, the International Year of Small Island Developing States, presents a unique opportunity to celebrate our rich cultures, diversity and heritage of islands. The 22 May International Day of Biological Diversity: Island Biodiversity provides a unique opportunity to showcase the bright spots emerging from islands globally that can be scaled and replicated to achieve global conservation and sustainable development targets. 2014 is a year to recognize our own successes as a Global Island Partnership that has already catalyzed more than $130 million for island conservation and sustainable livelihoods. Let us continue to work together to inspire new leadership from island countries and countries with islands and to catalyze significant new commitments to building resilient island communities towards the Third International Meeting of Small Island Developing States (UNSIDS) in Samoa in September.

The time for action is now:

· Demonstrate your leadership by making, promoting or supporting to implement visionary high-level island commitments

· Invest in What Works: invest in scaling and replicating island bright spots

· Celebrate the International Day of Biological Diversity: Island Biodiversity, 22 May 2014

· Get involved and support the Global Island Partnership http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/connecting-island-leaders-glispa/

www.glispa.org

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International Year of SIDS Launched

 

The International Year of SIDS was launched this morning by PM of Samoa, President of General Assembly, UN Secretary General, President of Nauru and USG of UNSIDS Conference. The event was emceed by Ambassador Jumeau of Seychelles. A great start to build momentum towards UNSIDS Conference in August 2014 focused on genuine and durable partnerships.

 

Jakarta will be underwater by 2030: National Council on Climate Change

The National Council on Climate Change (DNPI) predicts that half of Jakarta will be under water by 2030 due to global warming.

DNPI executive chairman Rachmat Witoelar said on Thursday that global warming could cause sea levels to increase significantly.

"If we allow this situation to continue, then by around 2030, half of Jakarta, specifically areas such as Ancol, will be under water," he said in Jakarta on Thursday, as quoted by Antara news agency.

Rachmat said that certain measures had to be taken in order to contain and anticipate the impacts of climate change.

He said big cities such as Jakarta contributed significantly to environmental damage, caused by garbage, air pollution from vehicles, tree-cutting activities and decline in open green spaces due to land conversion.

"Health Minister Nafsiah Mboi has asked people to become more aware of environmental problems and climate change because all these issues will negatively impact people's health," said Rachmat.

He added that people had to increase awareness on the need to protect themselves from the impact of global warming by keeping the environment green, maintaining cleanliness, and reducing air pollution.

Rachmat said that the government through the DNPI has continued to tackle the multiple impacts of climate change.

Recently, the DNPI launched a book titled "Climate Change and Challenges of the Nation's Civilization".

Rachmat said Indonesia has discussed efforts on how to improve the global environment, which was also related to the state of domestic environment.

"Indonesia ratified the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on Aug.23, 1994. As an active UN member country, Indonesia has played an active role in tackling environment crisis," he said. More

 

Caribbean Challenge Initiative (CCI) GLISPA

Caribbean Challenge Initiative so far involves eight island nations — The Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia, Grenada, Antigua and Barbuda as well as Saint Kitts and Nevis. Five countries have made formal commitments to protect at least 20% of the near-shore marine and coastal habitats by 2020. All eight countries are participating in the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund that will provide sustainable financing for their national protected areas. More