BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – IN an effort to plan the region’s climate change agenda, a workshop review on the economics of climate change in the Caribbean was held at the Ocean Terrace Inn on Friday, March 6.
Facilitated by the Economic Commission for Latin American and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the Department for International Development (DFID), the public awareness initiative drew representatives from key government departments and civil society.
A press conference was held immediately before the commencement of the workshop with a panel consisting of Conservation Officer June Hughes, Director of Physical Planning Randolph Edmeade and ECLAC Sustainable Development Officer Charmaine Gomes.
Deeming climate change “a serious global threat that demands an urgent response”, Gomes stressed that the workshop would feature discussion aimed at responsible investment in initiatives to mitigate and adapt to the effects of the phenomenon.
“We will be doing an examination of the cost of the environmental impact. That is, what will this investment cost the region and what will be the price if these adaptive and mitigating measures are not implemented,” Gomes said.
According to Edmeade, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis has undertaken several projects to address climate change and its effects. He revealed that these projects, which include the ongoing geothermal energy project in Nevis and the utilisation of wind turbines for energy, were aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the country’s dependence on fossil fuels.
“The government has also conducted an energy audit and has established a Renewable Energy Committee whose mandate is to develop a national Renewable Energy Policy.
“Additionally, sea defences have been installed in some of the island’s vital coastal areas and the government has begun to consider the relocation of vulnerable coastal communities. It is also examining changes to the building code in order to make structures more hurricane-resistant,” Edmeade said.
He further stated that the country had signed on to the United Nations framework on Climate Change, as well as the Kyoto Protocol. He reinforced the government’s commitment to meeting the requirements under these documents, even in the face of “serious capacity and resource constraints”.
