THE JAMAICA Institute for Environmental Professionals (JIEP) will next month host its fourth biennial conference, this time to explore the Caribbean’s strategy to deal with the fallout from a changing climate.

The conference, which will run from May 26 to May 27, is to be hosted under the theme: “Climate Change: Caribbean Response”.

It will cost an estimated $4.3 million to host, with organisers collecting $3.6 million so far, according to president of JIEP, Marcia Creary.

The conference, meanwhile, is intended to achieve a raft of objectives, including:

. to increase public awareness of the causes and potential impacts of climate change and the potential for adaptation strategies; and

. to highlight specific initiatives that have been undertaken globally, regionally and locally to address climate change.

To that end, the two-day event will look at:

. international, regional and local perspectives on the phenomenon;

. climate change research in the region;

. alternative energy and energy conservation;

. risk management, adaptation and mitigation;

. water, agriculture and forests;

. health and tourism;

. community ecosystems and vulnerability; as well as

. climate change policy and communication.

“It is really a conference for anyone who is interested, “noted Creary at the launch on Monday.

JIEP has over the years hosted conferences on a variety of subjects, among them:

. advancing environmental knowledge towards decision-making in sustainable development (2003);

. sustainable development – rights and realities (2005); and

. business and sound environmental management in the Caribbean – what makes it work? (2007)

Climate change is seen, certainly by a majority of scientists, as one of the gravest challenges facing Jamaica and the Caribbean, which is among those developing countries of the world that stand to be worse affected by it.

The changing climate is expected to bring with it:

. rising sea levels;

. an increased number of droughts; as well as

. warmer global temperatures and the attendant increase in the incidents of disease like dengue.

The results, among other things, will include massive coastal erosion and the attendant loss of lives and livelihoods, certainly for people who live in coastal towns.

There is also concern over displacement of people, whose homes may be reclaimed by the sea and the implications for migration. The island of Tuvalu in the Pacific is already sinking and closer to home, the projection is that within another 50 years, Barbuda is likely to be swallowed by the sea.

It is for this reason that sponsors the Environmental Foundation of Jamaica, the University of the West Indies Centre for Marine Sciences, the United Nations Development Programme and Red Stripe have urged full support for the conference.

Dale Webber of the Centre for Marine Sciences, for his part, urged Jamaicans, if only for a single session, to turn out for the event.

“The conference will run over two days. Take one day or take a particular session that you think may be pivotal to your organisation,” he urged.