2015 is shaping up to be a landmark year for global action on Climate Change. The future of the world, in particular the Caribbean, depends on a binding and ambitious global agreement at COP 21 to be held in Paris later this year.
A bold agreement that curbs Greenhouse Gas (GhG) emissions to limit the global rise in temperature to below 2°C is needed to safeguard our survival, food, water, critical industries such as tourism, infrastructure and promote renewable energy.
The bloody and painful reality of war depicted in Darren Cullen’s
“Battlefield Casualties: Action Man”
If you have ever seen a video of the Taliban targeting NATO forces in Afghanistan it is not a pretty sight. It usually involves an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) and an RPG (Rocket Propelled Grenade) and shows soldiers catapulted several feet into the air, limbs blown from bodies or burnt alive in a vehicle death trap. The sounds of “Allahu Akbar” (God is Great) rises with every kill and why wouldn’t they cheer, the Taliban are after all defending their home territory from an occupying force… wouldn’t Britain do the same? Occasional close-ups gleefully filmed by the militants show blood-drenched soldiers cowering in terror, some so afraid they have urinated on themselves, others crying like babies being comforted by fellow recruits. That is the reality of war.
This is the side that artist Darren Cullen aims to…
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It still waves, but for how long?
By Graciela Huth. Introduction by Michael Murry.
Graciela (Grace) Huth calls herself “an old woman.” She says that she writes as a form of therapy, “to unload my anger and avoid having a stroke due to what is going on today in the USA.” Yet her long life of good citizenship and community activism testify to a youthful spirit that cannot rest content with mere complaint but must somehow find a way to change the world for the better. Her long years of down-to-earth experience infuse her writing with directness and simplicity. If this is “old,” then, indeed, “youth is wasted on the young.” Michael Murry
America Has Lost Its Way
Graciela Huth
I am an old woman. Nowadays I feel that all my life I have been not a citizen but a serf of the USA. I worked all my…
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Inter-American Development Bank
The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says Caribbean countries will increase their resilience to climate change by enhancing the adaptive capacity across the region through a US$10.39-million grant.
The IDB said the funds were approved with support from the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR) of the Climate Investment Funds.
The project is to be executed by the Mona Office of Research and Innovation (MORI) of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica and will be co-implemented by regional organisations working on climate change in the region, including the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre; Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Climate Change Studies Group of UWI, Caribbean Public Health Agency, Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, and the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism.
“The project is the implementation of the PPCR…and it will help the Caribbean region improve regional processes of climate-relevant data acquisition, storage, analysis, access…
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The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) received the 2015 Energy Globe Award for its renewable energy and potable water work in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Energy Globe, an internationally recognized trademark for sustainability, is one of the most important environmental prizes today with 177 participating countries. The award, which is made from a cross-section of over 1, 500 entries annually, is given in recognition of outstanding performance in terms of energy efficiency, renewable energy and resource conservation.
The CCCCC won the 2015 Energy Globe National Award for the project “Special Programme for Adaptation to Climate Change”. The project was executed on the island of Bequia in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and focuses on the production and provision of clean drinking water for more than 1,000 people. This is being done through the acquisition and installation of a reverse osmosis desalination plant. The project is deemed highly sustainable as the water input is…
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Deputy Director and Science Advisor of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, Dr. Ulric Trotz, and other representatives of leading regional agencies focused on climate change issues met with His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations, last week at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) in Barbados.
Reflecting on the challenges posed by climate change and the way forward for the Caribbean, Dr Trotz noted that:
“Building climate resilient, low carbon economies in the Caribbean will require a transformational change by national governments, regional organisations, NGOs, the private sector and civil society supported by an unprecedented level of financial and technical assistance.”
The Secretary General applauded the Caribbean for its contribution and engagement on climate change and affirmed the importance of regional institutions in keeping on the front burner the concerns about the impact on the Caribbean.
“Regional organizations are critical to moving this agenda forward – and…
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The Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) says it is working towards ensuring that the region benefits significantly from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as well as the Adaptation Fund (AF) established to help countries worldwide deal with the impact of climate change.
Executive director Dr. Kenrick Leslie says the Centre, under a directive from CARICOM leaders, has been “working with national governments to put together programmes that would help them develop bankable projects that can be funded under the various mechanisms under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
“The Centre is putting maximum effort to ensure CARICOM Member States get their fair share of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), Adaptation Fund (AF) and other funds to help them in their adaptation efforts. That is our primary thrust— to meet the mandate given to us by the regional heads,” he said,
He said the CCCCC has applied…
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Freedom Flotilla III’s Marianne av Göteborg on its way to Gaza.
By Jack Khoury and Gili Cohen, Haaretz (Israeli daily newspaper), 29 June 2015
Israeli forces intercepted the Gaza-bound boat Marianne late Sunday night, in what the Israeli Defense Forces said was a short operation free of any casualties. The boat is currently en route to Ashdod port.
Fighters from the Shayetet 13 unit searched the boat after the successful takeover. According to military sources, the ship is expected to dock in Ashdod within the next 12-24 hours, depending on weather and sea conditions.
After arriving in Ashdod, they will be interrogated before being escorted to Ben-Gurion Airport and flown out of Israel.
The Swedish boat, which on Sunday afternoon was 150 nautical miles from the Gaza Coast, is carrying 20 activists, among them MK Basel Ghattas (Joint Arab List) and former Tunisian president Moncef Marzouki.
According to the army’s…
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Democracy & Good Governance 