The Caribbean is currently experiencing the biggest mass coral destruction ever recorded. This according to the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which confirmed that the bleaching of reefs in the Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific may affect over 38 percent of the world’s reefs, and kill over 12,000 square kilometer of them.

Reefs are the breeding ground for tropical fisheries and this reality endangers the livelihoods of 500 million people who rely on the seas and oceans, which also provide shelter from the waves for tropical islands and bring tourist revenues.

Scientists warn that coral reefs that are already under threat from human activities are unlikely to survive increase in temperatures by the end of this century.

The current worldwide bleaching is predicted to be the worst on record as the warming Pacific current, known as El Nino, increases in strength. Water temperatures are being further increased by…

Picture credit: Wikimedia Commons

Barbados submitted its new climate action plan to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

This Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) comes well in advance of a new universal climate change agreement which will be reached at the UN climate conference in Paris, in December this year.

This INDC and all others submitted by countries are available on the UNFCCC website here. Including Barbados, 93 parties to the UNFCCC have formally submitted their INDCs.

The Paris agreement will come into effect in 2020, empowering all countries to act to prevent average global temperatures rising above 2 degrees Celsius and to reap the many opportunities that arise from a necessary global transformation to clean and sustainable development.

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres is encouraging countries to come forward with their INDCs as soon as they are able, underlining their commitment and support towards this successful…

Fisherfolk leaders from five fishing communities in Suriname agreed to form a national fisherfolk association within the next year to strengthen their voices in fisheries governance.  The national fisherfolk association would seek to engage with the Fisheries Department and other key stakeholders in the development and implementation of fisheries and related policies, legislation and Draft Fisheries Management Plan that would enable sustainable development of the fishing industry.  The fishing industry is one of the top five contributors to the GDP in Suriname, but it has been plagued by high fishing pressure and illegal fishing in recent years.

“An association will help us to better help ourselves,” said one of the 12 fisherfolk leaders attending the final two-day national fisherfolk workshop in Suriname, that is part of the four-year project Strengthening Caribbean Fisherfolk to Participate in Governance.  “I am happy that the fisherfolk are finally coming out [to meetings] and…

The Sandals Foundation, the Guy Harvey Ocean Foundation, and CARIBSAVE (INSTASAVE Caribbean) have teamed up to launch an initiative called the Save Our Seas Program in Ocho Rios, Jamaica.

The project will be implemented in the curricula of 40 schools across the region and will work on developing marine awareness and environmental stewardship.

“The people of the Caribbean have relied on the ocean for centuries but have never necessarily grasped the impact they have on its wellbeing,” said Sandals Foundation Director Heidi Clarke. “By teaching the next generation to understand how their actions affect the marine ecosystem and give them ownership of its wellbeing we can hopefully make a much needed change.”

Some of the program’s features will include marine awareness videos, posters, lesson plans, activity books, and competitions.

The lesson plans, which will be directed at students in grades 6-8, have been designed to promote interactive and…

In a little over a month’s time negotiators from around the world will gather in Paris to try to reach a final and globally binding agreement on a new treaty on climate change.  It is no exaggeration to say that achieving this is of existential importance to the Caribbean.

The meeting, from November 30 to December 11, will be the largest since 2009 when a similar attempt in Copenhagen failed, only to be followed by recriminations between the developed world, advanced developing nations, and those countries most at risk, over who was to blame.

Since then the process has moved on and the positions of many nations, most notably the United States and China, have become closer. One general reason for this is that the two countries among many others have since the Copenhagen summit agreed to regulations, policies or laws that now enable them to make specific pledges on…

Flooding in Dominica during Tropical Storm Erika. Experts say the Caribbean is already reeling from more intense storms.

Negotiators and ministers with responsibility for climate change have ended their meeting in Saint Lucia determined to make their demands heard in Paris. Saint Lucia is responsible for climate change issues at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) level, and the island is bringing together climate change negotiators from the member states to cement its plan for addressing issues during negotiations in Paris in December.

Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer, Crispin D’Auvergne says the Caribbean has a lot at stake in the upcoming deliberations, as more and more developed countries are trying to sway the outcome in their favour.

“In view of how the negotiations are going right now, some countries are saying we don’t want ‘this’ in the new agreement, others are saying we want ‘that’ or we want it this way. What are…

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has received financing from the German Development Bank (KfW), toward the cost of implementing the Coastal Protection for Climate Change Adaptation in the Small Island States in the Caribbean Project and intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this financing to eligible payments under this Contract for three (3) Individual Consultants for the above-referenced Consultancy. The overall objective of the consultancy is to assist the CCCCC in the selection of the best proposals received under our Call for Proposals Local Adaptation Measures Grant Scheme to achieve a high-quality, complete and coherent selection process of projects in line with the criteria set out in the Guidelines for Applicants.

Interested eligible applicants may obtain further information from the CCCCC’s Office from September 25, 2015 to October 20, 2015 Mondays through Fridays from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. The Complete Terms of Reference…

PRESS RELEASE – The Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology in collaboration with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and the High Level Support Mechanism (HLSM) hosted a regional meeting for climate change negotiators and ministers with responsibility for climate change from Wednesday 16th September, 2015 to Friday 18th September, 2015 in Saint Lucia.

The meeting, which was requested by Prime Minister, Hon. Dr. Kenny D. Anthony, at the last meeting of CARICOM Heads in Barbados, had three objections:

1. Establish coherence among negotiators on the critical issues in the negotiations toward a new climate change agreement in Paris in December 2015;

2. Apprise of the areas of convergence and divergence in the ongoing climate change negotiations;

3. Prepare Ministers for a meeting of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) in New York today, Thursday ,24th September, 2015. The meetings is taking place on the eve of the Post…