J’cans share climate change lessons in Samoa
FOUR Jamaicans, among them physicist Dr Michael Taylor, of the University of the West Indies, Mona, are among the more than 100 experts from the Pacific and the Caribbean, attending a four-day climate change conference in Apia, Samoa.
Claire Bernard of the Planning Institute of Jamaica, Indi Mclymont-Lafayette of Panos Caribbean and risk reduction specialist Franklin McDonald, round out the group.
The conference, titled ‘Lessons for future action’, focuses on lessons learnt that can inform future climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in small island developing states. It kicked off on Monday and will run until tomorrow.
Mclymont-Lafayette — who made a presentation on community-based responses to climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction — said the conference is a good opportunity for the mutual sharing of climate change adaptation strategies and best practice between the Caribbean and the Pacific.
McDonald made a presentation as part of a panel on national planning and policy frameworks towards the end of day one while Taylor, head of the Climate Change Studies Group, Mona, presented on underpinning science and modelling tools. Claire Bernard, for her part, presented on regional responses and needs of smallest countries.
The conference is organised by the Australian government and the secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme. It aims to share and synthesise lessons learned in climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction in Pacific, Caribbean and Indian Ocean countries, as well as draw on experience in Australia and elsewhere.
“A key challenge for development in small islands today is reducing poverty and building resilience in a current climate of considerable variability and all too frequent natural disasters. Climate change will increase the urgency of these challenges, making sustainable development more difficult,” organisers said in a release. “Effective adaptation and disaster risk reduction will help small islands meet these development challenges in a changing climate.”
The outcomes of the conference will help inform national and regional policies, increase donor support and identify how best to address the needs of small island developing states in terms of adaptation support and funding.
— Panos Caribbean