Wednesday, December 9 – A delegation from the Virgin Islands will be present as world leaders meet to decide a new climate change policy at the fifteenth United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark.
National Focal Point for Climate Change in the Territory and Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour Mr. Clyde Lettsome, along with Fifth District Representative Hon. Elvis J. Harrigan left the Territory today to attend the conference and will join the BVI’s Climate Change Coordinator Ms. Angela Burnett Penn who is already at the conference being held from December 7-18.
The BVI was one of the overseas territories invited to attend on behalf of the Small Islands Developing States and will be attached to regional organisations, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (5C’s), the Overseas Countries and Territories Association (OCTA) and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).
At COP 15 world leaders will work together to find a global solution to climate change and decide on global actions to deal with the threat of climate change.
Speaking with the Department of Information and Public Relations prior to her departure, Ms. Burnett Penn said some of the major topics for debate will include the limit on the amount of carbon emissions produced by developed countries and how small island developing states and other countries most affected by climate change can be assisted.
COP 15 takes on even greater significance as Senior Science Advisor with the Belize-based 5C’s Dr. Ultric Trotz, who visited the Territory for the Virgin islands Climate Change Stakeholder Consultations explained in an October GIS Radio Report.
“The meeting in December takes on particular significance because we hope to have a successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol which will call for much more drastic action, not only by the developed countries but by the large emerging economies in China, India, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico to more or less commit to a regime of cutting down significantly the greenhouse gases that their activities generate,” Dr. Trotz said.
He further stated, “The Kyoto Protocol is an agreement that binds the developed countries, not the developing countries, to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by a certain amount. At this time it is by 5.8% of what is was in 1990 and the time frame by which they were to accomplish that was between 2008 and 2012.”
In preparation for the conference, the Virgin Islands delegation submitted a proposal on behalf of the Territory which voiced concerns for the United Kingdom to raise on the Territory’s behalf. Additionally, the Territory identified and forwarded a document to the UK delegation which spelt out the climatic and associated changes of primary concern and the perceived benefits needed.
Some of the predicted changes the Territory is likely to experience include sea level rise, increasing sea surface temperatures and extreme weather events, specifically hurricanes and floods, and decreasing overall precipitation and change in rainfall patterns.
Government has flagged climate change as a high priority issue as expressed in the 2008 Speech from the Throne and manifested by assigning climate change as a new subject under the portfolio of the Minister for Natural Resources and Labour.
Government is actively participating in the ongoing Enhancing Capacity for adaption to Climate Change in the UK Overseas Territories (ECACC) Project and has set aside an annual substantive budget to address the issue of climate change despite challenging economic times.
British Virgin Islands News