THE University of the West Indies (UWI) and the Open Society University Network (OSUN) are on a mission to achieve climate justice in the Caribbean, which they say is pertinent to reduce the socio-economic and environmental effects of climate change in the region.

At a webinar hosted by the UWI Global TV on Wednesday, UWI Pro Vice-Chancellor for Global Affairs Stacey Richards Kennedy said climate justice is the development of strategies aimed to reduce the adverse impacts of climate change.

She added that countries that were economically exploited during colonisation, such as those in the Caribbean, are the ones facing the most adverse effects of climate change.

The UWI and OSUN, said Richards Kennedy, are committing to a global tech-teach project that will engage staff and students under the Solve Climate by 2030 Initiative.

“As an activist university, The UWI is committed to excellent teaching and research on critical development issues facing our region. We are also committed to the way in which knowledge can transform lives through better polices, improved practices critical thinking and through decisive action,” Richards-Kennedy said.

Meanwhile, managing director, Soloricon Limited, Dr James Fletcher, said climate change is a socio-economical problem as well as an environmental one.

“We do not have time; what we are faced with is a crisis – a catastrophe unfolding at a rapid rate, even more rapidly than what the scientist anticipated and we now have to adjust our response to suit the urgency of this crisis,” he said.

He added that the Paris Agreement, which was a treaty signed by 195 countries in 2015 to reduce world temperature from two degrees Celsius to 1.5 degrees Celsius, was a significant point in history, but said more needs to be done.

He added that the world has only experienced hotter temperatures since 1976 and said small island developing states are suffering the most, adding that they have limited resources to combat the effects of climate change.

He said poorer countries are expected to face up to euro $55 billion shortfall in climate change finance, and said this will only get worse if action is not taken.

Deputy principal of the UWI Open Campus Dr Emily Dick-Ford also spoke of the socio-economic effects of climate change on the region, noting that climate finance is an important area where Caribbean governments need to pay keen attention.

“Those who are in authority who are supposed to dispense climate justice are the ones who are not doing it; climate justice in all of its varied dimensions requires a variety of solutions and the government of nations and other institutions play a critical role to ensure the justice is in fact dispense” said Dick-Ford.

“Climate change is a matter of economic and social security. By destroying critical infrastructure affecting our food production access to fresh water…it exacerbates the risk of conflict,” she added.

Meanwhile, director of Worldwide Teach-in Bard College, New York, Dr Eban Goodstein, said climate change crises are also causing conflict among people.

“Global warming is profoundly unjust. People in low-income communities are already suffering the most as the planet heats up. In the last year tens of millions people have been forced to leave their homes because of climate change and there have been more refugees and violence combined,” he said.

Richards-Kennedy said The UWI and OSUN have recognised the ways in which climate change is affecting the region, and said they will continue to spread awareness about the crises, and actively participate to reduce the impact.

“We are committed to the way in which knowledge can transform lives through better polices, improved practices, critical thinking and decisive action. We are an SDG-engaged university and this means that we embrace and promote the integration of the sustainable development goals in all that we do,” she said