Climate Change Diplomacy and Small Island Developing States Climate Change Diplomacy and Small Island Developing States News Articles (3) Publications (69)

While multilateral environmental agreements like the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recognize the enormous global challenges posed by climatic changes, these agreements often fall short on pragmatic financial and other mechanisms to assist the most vulnerable countries in addressing these challenges.

Contemporary climate change diplomacy mirrors this phenomenon, as science and global politics interact and converge to confront the vulnerabilities of small island developing States (SIDS) where sustainable livelihoods are threatened by climate change-induced food, water, health and other insecurities.

Science (climate scientists) and politics (diplomats and Foreign Ministry officials) may not always speak the same language, but climate change diplomacy (inter-governmental negotiations on climate change issues) inevitably brings them together into a “marriage of convenience”. In order to address the special needs of vulnerable countries like SIDS, there is consensus between science and politics that the principle of “common but differentiated responsibility” offers the best paradigm and institutional framework to understand and confront the asymmetries in the international system. 

Paradoxically, within this consensus lies deep-rooted disagreements as to the best ways to finance mitigation and adaptation programs in SIDS — including, among other issues, how to diffuse the emerging climate-friendly technologies as widely and as fairly as possible. To effectively address these issues, the peculiar developmental and technological challenges facing SIDS must be assessed in the context of the gaps, failures and limitations of present and past global environmental funding facilities such as the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer. More

AOSIS Rejects Delay Until 2020 – Demands Urgency for climate agreement

Durban, South Africa – The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) says it will not accept outcomes at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) COP17 that propose to delay any new binding agreement or more ambitious emissions reductions until 2020, as these cannot safeguard the livelihoods and guarantee the survival of our nations.

On the eve of the opening of the Durban Climate Conference, Ambassador Dessima Williams, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations and Chair of AOSIS cautioned that
if Durban puts off a legally binding agreement and closes the door on raising mitigation ambition before 2020 many of our small island states will be severely threatened.

AOSIS is calling on the Durban conference to deliver agreement on a second five-year commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, a process to rapidly ramp up mitigation ambition, and a mandate to quickly conclude a new parallel legal agreement in 2012 to cover those not bound by the Kyoto Protocol,” she said.

“ After a year of record emissions growth and the hottest temperatures on record, the push by the world’s biggest carbon polluters to delay flies in the face of the overwhelming evidence in support of immediate action and represents a betrayal of the people most vulnerable to climate change and the world.

“To fulfill our moral and ethical obligation to protect our people, AOSIS will here in Durban reject any outcome that cannot ultimately safeguard our livelihoods and guarantee the survival of our nations. Why would we ever agree to a deal that has as its ultimate and inevitable consequence our own demise? If Durban puts off a legally binding agreement and closes the door on raising mitigation ambition before 2020 many of our small island states will be literally and figuratively doomed. More

Climate deal pushed by poorest nations

The world’s poorest countries have asked that talks on a new climate deal covering all nations begin immediately.

At the UN climate summit, the Least Developed Countries bloc and small island states tabled papers saying the deal should be finalised within a year. Many of them are vulnerable to climate impacts such as drought or inundation.

The move puts the blocs on a collision course not only with many rich nations, but also with developing world partners such as China, India and Brazil. These three developing world giants believe talks on a new mandate should not begin now because developed nations have yet to fulfil existing commitments.

But their smaller peers believe there is no time to lose.

“We put forward our mandate for a new legal agreement today to get things moving quickly in an effort to respond to the urgency of our challenge,” said Selwin Hart, lead negotiator for Barbados, speaking for the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis). More

UNFCCC Publishes Technical Paper on Water and Climate Change

UNFCCC Publishes Technical Paper on Water and Climate Change

22 November 2011: The UNFCCC Secretariat has published a technical paper (FCCC/TP/2011/5) on water and climate change impacts and adaptation strategies. The 34th session of the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technical Advice (SBSTA 34) requested that the Secretariat prepare a technical paper on water and climate change impacts and adaptation strategies under the Nairobi work programme (NWP) before SBSTA 35.

This technical paper attempts to synthesize previous work on freshwater resources and climate change impacts and adaptation strategies and to identify ways forward. The paper aims to raise the level of understanding among parties with regard to the links between climate change and freshwater resources, in a manner that would ultimately support informed decisions on practical adaptation action and measures on water resources. It especially explores links between climate change and hydrology, including impacts of climate change on: ecosystems and biodiversity, agriculture and food security, urbanization, land use and forestry, water supply and sanitation, health, infrastructure, and energy security which, in addition to climate, are strongly influenced by human interventions and actions. The paper also discusses the challenge of identifying and implementing appropriate adaptation responses by considering new approaches to adaptation planning and decision making.

The paper draws several conclusions including: findings from global assessments of climate and hydrological change are not directly usable by decision makers at regional, national and subnational levels; and new guidance on developing appropriate climate scenarios is needed. This might include efforts to develop scenarios downscaled to the level of managing water resources, but might also focus on methods to develop narrative climate scenarios based on perceptions of key climate vulnerabilities; and as climate change adaptation is a complex multi-faceted challenge, better analytical tools are needed to integrate the various dimensions of the problem. [Publication: Water and Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Strategies]

related categories:africa | agriculture & food security | asia | biodiversity | climate change |energy | forests & redd | freshwater | health | latin america & the caribbean | multilateral environmental agreement body | publication |science, assessment & monitoring | sids | unfccc

share with:

           

Atlantic Arc at heart of new macro-regional strategy

Maritime policy

Tuesday 22 November 2011 Like the Baltic, Mediterranean and Arctic regions, the Atlantic will soon also have its own specific macro-regional strategy. 

The strategy adopted by the European Commission, on 21 November, under the Integrated Maritime Policy (IMP) is expected to give the entire region a boost for growth and employment. The Commission's communication identifies problems and challenges, takes stock of measures and initiatives already implemented and provides for the development with stakeholders of an action plan to be implemented from 2013. The executive invites all stakeholders to propose projects for EU financial support.

The strategy will apply exclusively to coasts, territorial waters and waters under the jurisdiction of five EU member states (France, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom) and their overseas territories (Azores, Canaries, Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Madeira, Martinique, Saint-Barthélemy and Saint-Martin), as well as international waters. It will not apply to the North Sea or the Arctic Ocean, since the latter is already covered by a separate strategy.

To make good on the strategy and action plan, the Commission proposes to create an "Atlantic forum" organised in the form of workshops and working groups focused on the challenges and opportunities offered by the region and identified in its communication, as well as an online discussion platform. The forum will be launched in 2012 and discontinued in 2013, once it has made its contribution to the action plan. As with the other macro-regional strategies, the Atlantic strategy will not have its own financial allocation or any additional funds: the initiatives and projects it will support will be financed by existing EU funds and in the forms and availability established by the next multiannual financial framework.

The Atlantic Ocean represents considerable development potential for regions and communities on its rim, whether for energy (wave energy, tidal energy, offshore wind energy), mining of sea beds, fisheries or offshore aquaculture. These activities need a boost to ensure their development: the strategy will help provide that boost by building transnational synergy (underpinned by a sea basin approach) and ensuring rational and effective use of available funds. Among the initiatives and measures to be supported, which will constitute the strategy's cornerstone, the Commission mentions better maritime spatial planning and sharing, better knowledge of the marine environment (development of research activities), the development of a marine observation and data network (EMODNET) and the organisation of genuine surveillance of maritime space. More

OHRLLS Event Addresses Community Land Ownership in SIDS

News

10 November 2011: The UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and the Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) has convened a special event on the global significance of biodiversity in small island developing States (SIDS) and the importance of community-based partnerships.  

Held at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 10 November 2011, the event aimed to contribute both to the ongoing discussions in the UN General Assembly’s (UNGA) Second Committee on the sustainable development of SIDS, and to preparations for the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20).

According to OHRLLS, SIDS’ biodiversity is among the most threatened in the world, due to their small size and isolation, the fragility or island ecosystems, and the pressures of deforestation, coral reef deterioration, habitat degradation and loss, and non-indigenous species. The tradition of communal land and marine resource ownership in many island countries requires community support for conservation efforts, making it all the more important to increase awareness of the significance of biodiversity.

The event was chaired by the High Representative for LDCs, LLDCs and SIDS, Chieck Sidi Diarra. It featured keynote presentations by Dr. Eleanor J. Sterling, Executive Director of the Centre for Biodiversity Conservation at the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) and Dr. Christopher Filardi, Pacific Director at the Centre, remarks by the chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Ambassador Dessima Williams of Grenada, and an exchange of views by participants. Participants discussed, inter alia: potential links between local and global processes, such as the UNCSD, and the need for global policies to influence national policies; the imminent destruction of coral reefs without serious attention to their protection; Pacific SIDS’ support for the concept of a “blue economy” in the lead-up to Rio+20; and the positive example of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) as a workable partnership. [Website of Event, including summary of statements and discussion]

Islands in an Expanding Sea

The following is the text of an address by Richard Heinberg to the Moana Nui Conference in Honolulu, November 12, 2011. Honolulu was concurrently hosting the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Conference; as a response to that secretive international trade meeting, the International Forum on Globalization and Pua Mohala Ka Po collaborated to organize Moana Nui.

Expansion of trade depends not just upon favorable trade rules, but financial and monetary integration between nations, as well as the availability of affordable transport fuels. I will argue that current APEC negotiations to increase trade within the Pacific region are a hollow exercise because the preconditions necessary for expanded commerce are disappearing. The peoples of this region therefore need to develop alternative economic plans and strategies.

 

1. The global economic context

The global economic context for the current APEC meetings is not being described publicly in plain, understandable terms by policy makers. That context consists of the slowing, ending, and reversal of the economic growth that was seen in most nations during the past few decades. This reversal of growth is happening due to the convergence of two factors: the deflation of history’s biggest credit bubble, and the depletion of the fuel that made the economic miracle of the 20^th century possible. That fuel, of course, is oil.

 

The world’s petroleum is not about to run out, as the oil industry never tires of reminding us. However, we are indeed seeing flat-lining of production of the cheaply produced, easily accessible crude that has heretofore enabled continuing growth in world economic activity. World crude oil production has failed to increase significantly for the past seven years, while prices have doubled and tripled. The cost to the industry to develop new oil production capacity has soared from $20 per barrel just a few years ago to roughly $85 today. More

Climate Vulnerable Forum

The Climate Vulnerable Forum is a global partnership of leaders of countries most vulnerable to climate change actively seeking a firm and urgent resolution to the growing climate crisis. The Climate Vulnerable Forum was founded by President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives and first met in November 2009. The Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum adopted then expressed alarm at the rate of changes and danger witnessed around the planet due to the effects of human-induced global warming and called for urgent most international cooperation to tackle the challenge.

Climate Vulnerability Forum Declaration

“Alarmed at the pace of change to our Earth caused by human-induced climate change, including accelerating melting and loss of ice from Antarctica, Greenland, the Himalayas, Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, acidification of the world’s oceans due to rising CO2 concentrations, increasingly intense tropical cyclones, more damaging and intense drought and floods, including Glacial Lakes Outburst Floods, in many regions and higher levels of sea-level rise than estimated just a few years ago, risks changing the face of the planet and threatening coastal cities, low lying areas, mountainous regions and vulnerable countries the world over…
“Climate change poses an existential threat to our nations, our cultures and to our way of life.”

Declaration of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (Male’, November 2009)

The Climate Vulnerable Forum convenes governments from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Pacific, committed to demonstrating leadership aimed at tackling what for some nations is becoming an existential challenge. At the Forum meeting on 19 September 2010 in New York, attendees endorsed DARA’s Climate Vulnerability Monitor. More

Pacific Nations Commit to Ensuring Food and Water Security in the Face of Climate Change

Pacific Island government leaders and ministers as well as their metropolitan counterparts attending the 7th Conference of the Pacific Community in New Caledonia this week recognised the importance of ensuring that food and water security can be maintained in the face of climate change now and in coming decades.
Heads of government, ministers and ambassadors from 22 Pacific Island countries and territories and Australia, France, New Zealand and the USA met over two days at the Noumea headquarters of the region's largest development agency, the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC). The theme of the meeting was 'Climate Change and Food Security - Managing the Risks for Sustainable Development'.
Delegates welcomed the timeliness of the theme, which highlighted the range of projected impacts that climate change poses, particularly to food and water security in the Pacific Islands region.

The Conference emphasised the importance of a paradigm shift in thinking and planning for climate change, that is, not necessarily 'doing different business but rather doing business differently' to determine the level of acceptable risk at all points and prepare to respond effectively.

The Conference agreed that clearly no one organisation can address climate change related challenges in the Pacific region and that partnerships between development organisations such as SPC and the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP) were key. SPC and SPREP signed an agreement to collaborate closely on climate change issues at the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat (PIFS) Leaders Meeting in Auckland in September. More

Caribbean Risk Management Tools Featured at UNFCCC Workshop

October 2011: The Secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) recently held a workshop to identify challenges and gaps in the implementation of risk management approaches to the adverse effects of climate change. The workshop included presentations on regional and national experiences on approaches to, and tools for, risk management, such as the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility.

The workshop, which was held from 10-12 October 2011 in Lima, Peru, was organized in response to the request by the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI) for the Secretariat to organize the workshop, building on the lessons learned and practical experience of international, regional and national organizations and the private sector. Its aim was to provide an opportunity for representatives from Parties, relevant organizations, regional centres and networks, academia, civil society and the private sector to: share information on the current practices, approaches and institutional frameworks for managing climate-related risks at different levels, sectors and regions; and identify region-specific gaps and challenges. The workshop also aimed to enhance participants’ understanding of a possible range of options to address climate-related risks facing countries.

The workshop included a presentation by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) on the Caribbean Risk Management Guidelines for Climate Change Adaptation Decision Making, which were developed to assist risk management practitioners in Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries in the selection and implementation of feasible options for climate change adaptation.

Other presentations included: the intent and practice of integrating climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction (DRR) in the Caribbean region, by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA); Pacific regional and international frameworks for mainstreaming climate change adaptation and disaster risk management, by the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP); and sovereign climate risk management in practice, by the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF). More

EBRD Backs Marine Bio-Safety Initiative

An innovative programme to protect marine biodiversity, backed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, is about to enter a new phase. The project aims to tackle one of the greatest threats to the health of the world’s oceans – the global spread of invasive species and pathogens in the ballast tanks of international cargo vessels.

Ninety per cent of global trade still depends on goods carried by sea. The ships that transport them take   on significant amounts of ballast water to remain stable when their holds are empty. Discharging that water far from the port of origin can seriously damage the local marine ecosystem.

The Black Sea offers many examples: among them, the introduction of a jellyfish from North America which has depleted plankton stocks to the extent of causing the collapse of local fisheries.

Working with the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the EBRD's Shareholder Special Fund has made available €320,000 to fund training and awareness programmes and support the development of the technical and infrastructural capacity required to cope with the problem.

Introductory training sessions were successfully conducted in Russia and Ukraine earlier this year. The second phase, targeting private sector companies, will begin in December.

The project is also aimed at readying the shipping and port sectors to comply with a 2004 IMO convention on ballast water, widely expected to come into full force soon.

“There is, of course, a very good environmental reason why vessel operators, ports and other actors should tackle this problem,” said Craig Davies, a Senior Environmental Adviser in the EBRD’s Environment and Sustainability department.

“However, there is also an important business reason: it will soon become mandatory for the shipping industry to comply with the relevant convention on ships’ ballast water. Those who don’t will face serious operational constraints, as they may not be allowed to call at ports of countries that have ratified the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships Ballast Water and Sediments.” More

UNESCO Youth Forum Focuses on Green Societies and Sustainable Development

19 October 2011: The seventh UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Youth Forum provided a platform for youth to identify priority issues they think should be highlighted at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, or Rio+20). Youth delegates from all over the world voiced their opinions on UNESCO’s role in the promotion of "green societies" and sustainable development.

The session took place at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France, on 19 October 2011, and featured two panels: the first consisting of Young Professionals from the natural sciences sector; the second including mostly UNESCO partners. Participants highlighted a number of issues they considered priorities in the preparations for Rio+20, including: green jobs; desertification in Africa; climate change and water resources management in small island developing States (SIDS); disaster risk reduction (DRR) and mitigation; and science governance and science education. Some delegates also shared local experiences in the promotion of green societies in their countries.

The recommendations from the session will be presented to the 36th session of the UNESCO General Conference, in November 2011. More

Achieving sustainable development for small islands

Seychelles President James Michel has said that Commonwealth leaders have recognized the inherent vulnerabilities of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and their need for specific developmental mechanisms to address core challenges such as food security and climate change.

The President attended the Executive Retreat of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting this morning.
“As we approach Rio 2012, it is a simple truth that SIDS are more in debt, more vulnerable, and with less finance than in 1992. Sustainable development is still a dream. If we cannot sustain islands, if we cannot achieve sustainable development in these societies that are simply microcosms of our global society, then we may as well agree that sustainable development is not possible,” said President Michel following the meeting.

President Michel said that islands can be the true laboratories for sustainable development and urged other leaders to consider green economy and blue economy projects to be targeted in SIDS. He also emphasized the need for climate change mitigation to be a priority for future consideration. More

Seychelles featured in prominent Business Beijing Magazine

The Seychelles Ambassador accredited to China, HE Mr. Philippe Le Gall, has been prominently featured in the latest issue of the highly popular and respected Business Beijing Magazine.

The four-page article shows a portrait of Ambassador Le Gall holding the island’s unique “coco de mer” nut. The article says that Ambassador Le Gall of the Seychelles brings a unique point of view to Sino-African relations. “Representing a small African country, but also a country active in the Small Island Developing States movement, Le Gall is also accredited to Japan, the Philippines, the Koreas, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Cambodia. Much of his effort is spent promoting tourism to the Seychelles, but the country’s political importance should not be underestimated,” said Charles J. Dukes in his feature article in Business Beijing Magazine.

Ambassador Philippe Le Gall is not shy to say in his interview, “This year we opened a tourism office in our embassy, and a Seychellois tourism attaché has been appointed.” The Business Beijing Magazine says that this shows clearly the commitment of the Seychelles Ambassador to China for the economy of his country. More

That sinking feeling

Is Australia playing big brother to Pacific nations, or the school-yard bully?

As the leaders of Commonwealth nations prepare to meet in Perth this week, The Conversation is examining the role of the biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) Meeting.

In our second piece, Keely Boom and Aleta Lederwasch from the University of Technology ask whether CHOGM’s smaller nation members’ concerns about climate change will be drowned out.

Climate change promises to be a hot topic at this year’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Perth, Australia.

The biennial gathering brings together the heads of government of all 54 Commonwealth countries.

CHOGM 2011 will be the largest gathering of world leaders everhosted by Australia. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will chair the event. More >>>

Expert group meeting: Addressing the vulnerabilities of small island developing States more effectively

Date: 5–6 December 2011

Description: The expert group meeting is an opportunity for UNCTAD and the Indian Ocean Commission to contribute to enriching the international debate on possible steps and measures, within and outside the UN system, to support the resilience-building efforts of small island developing States (SIDS) more effectively.

 Concrete avenues for a possible special treatment of SIDS in the framework of international cooperation will be explored. Vulnerability problems have often been identified and described, but rarely answered in terms of international support on grounds of SIDS status. A set of recommendations is expected to result from the meeting, and will be brought to the attention of the preparatory committee for UNCTAD XIII, toward possible further UNCTAD action to alleviate the vulnerabilities of SIDS. The meeting, which will bring together about 12 presenters and an audience of relevant national, regional and international officials, is organized around four sessions, with a sequencing of issues involving three principal questions: Is vulnerability an obstacle to structural progress for SIDS? Could special international support measures for SIDS make resilience-building efforts more effective? What steps could the UN system be enticed to take to make the SIDS agenda an avenue for addressing vulnerability more effectively?

 Co-organized with: UNCTAD and the Indian Ocean Commission
 Language(s): English, French
Contact: Mr. Pierre Encontre Chief, Special Programmes Section Division for Africa, Least Developed Countries and Special Programmes UNCTAD

E.: pierre.encontre@unctad.org

Facing droughts, Pacific islands need urgent risk mitigation steps, UN warns

10 October 2011 – Amid growing concerns about drought crises in some small island States of the Pacific, the United Nations today called for comprehensive risk reduction steps to be put in place to protect vulnerable populations living in delicate ecosystems. “It really is time to assist Tuvalu and Tokelau to increase storage capacities and manage their resources sustainably, including more effective warnings for drier spells,” UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR) head of policy John Harding said, referring to two of the region’s island States and territories. “With climate change predictions pointing to more acute La Niñas in the futures, plans must also include assistance for communities that will be displaced if existing freshwater is not sufficient,” he added, referring to the weather pattern characterized by unusually cool ocean temperatures in the central and eastern tropical Pacific that can bring abnormal conditions to widely separate areas of the world, from floods to droughts to below- or above-normal temperatures. On the positive side Mr. Harding noted that the strong correlation between drought and La Niña could be a blessing in disguise, since the phenomenon is increasingly predictable and climate experts can inform decision-makers weeks and even months in advance, allowing for increased storage or stockpiling of emergency supplies in advance of a crisis. More >>>

Water emergencies grip Tuvalu & Tokelau

As governments and aid agencies scramble to deliver desalination plants and bottled water to drought stricken Pacific Island nations of Tuvalu and Tokelau, other Pacific Island nations - Samoa and the Cook Islands - are preparing for a similar fate.
Is this band-aid approach to solving this problem going to be enough?


Redina Auina, spokeswoman for the Tuvalu Faith Based Youth network, who partner with 350.org, is in Tuvalu and describes the feelings of people as they face the reality of less than 5 days of drinkable water in the nations capital, Funafuti --
Experts say the past 12 months have been the second driest in Funafuti's 78 years of records. While we do not make any claims to it being solely a climate change related event, the reality is that the line between what is normal climatic variation and what might be extremes resulting from accelerated climate change is being blurred. This is particularly true for the hydrological cycle, which is sensitive to even subtle variations in the global climate and often results in either too much water, or in our case at the moment, too little. With an intense La Nina weather pattern over much of the Pacific, we’re not likely to see rain for months to come. It’s these kind of extremes that we are told will become our new reality for Tuvalu and the Pacific region as a whole. More >>>

Location: Cayman Islands

World Food Day, 16 October 2011

Food prices - from crisis to stability

Price swings, upswings in particular, represent a major threat to food security in developing countries. Hardest-hit are the poor. According to the


World Bank, in 2010-2011 rising food costs pushed nearly 70 million people into extreme poverty.

“FOOD PRICES – FROM CRISIS TO STABILITY” has been chosen as this year’s World Food Day theme to shed some light on this trend and what can be done to mitigate its impact on the most vulnerable.

On World Food Day 2011, let us look seriously at what causes swings in food prices, and do what needs to be done to reduce their impact on the weakest members of global society. More >>>

Location: Cayman Islands

Bahamas at centre stage in UNESCO experts' meeting on climate change

THE Bahamas played a prominent role in a high-level climate change conference organised by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and


Cultural Organisation.
The conference, to be held in Nassau at the Sheraton Resort from September 21 to 23, will focus on the dangers to Small Island Developing States (SIDS) from sustained changes in global climate patterns.
Local scientist Philip Weech, director of the BEST Commission and internationally renowned environmental scientist, will be among the experts participating in the conference.
He will also conduct a public lecture on the Bahamas' perspective on climate change on Thursday, September, 22, at 6.30pm at the College of the Bahamas' performing arts centre.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Elma Garraway, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, said the Bahamas was honoured to be chosen by UNESCO to host the conference, which is expected to attract nearly 100 delegates from around the world, including several heads of state.
"Besides the economic impact that this conference will have on the Bahamas and the international spotlight that it will place on us for the duration of the conference, it will be an opportune time for us to learn how we can protect ourselves from the increasing threat of global warming which has precipitated a serious shift in weather patterns across the world and indeed the Bahamas," Mrs Garraway said. More >>>

Location: Cayman Islands

Film on Climate Refugees Strikes a Chord

During the shooting of his 2010 documentary “Climate Refugees,” the Irish-American filmmaker Michael Nash visited nearly 50 countries in about


18 months, interviewing politicians, scientists, health workers and victims of floods, cyclones, hurricanes and droughts.

Click here for film trailer

His conclusion was that short- and longer-term changes in climate are causing vast numbers of people to abandon their jobs, homes and countries to seek better lives elsewhere, or to simply survive. (Jeffrey Gettleman’s recent coverage of the Somali refugee crisis in The Times has offered some vivid and disturbing examples, although Somalia’s troubles are also inextricably linked to political turmoil.)

Mr. Nash poses a basic question: what will become of the millions of people whose lack of access to food and clean water leads them to take increasingly desperate measures? What type of strains will huge migration put on resources in more developed countries?

Will this dislocation eventually, as the retired Navy vice admiral Lee Gunn told Mr. Nash, pose a threat to Americans’ national security, too?

By focusing on the consequences of climate change rather than its scientific causes, some experts suggest that Mr. Nash succeeded in circumventing a divisive political debate over global warming and the extent to which human activity contributes to it. More >>>

Location: Cayman Islands