Small Islands, Big Impact:

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Small Islands, Big Impact Climate Change in the
Caribbean Strategies for getting the message
out 4 December 2008
Based on a presentation prepared by CANARI for
the Joint Nature Conservation Committee, UK for
the UK Overseas Territories
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Presentation outline

• The CANARI climate change programme and its
  partners
• What are the key messages?
• How will we be affected?
• How can we respond to the changes?
• How can we disseminate the messages?

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CANARI Climate change programme

• Climate change and biodiversity in the insular
  Caribbean project (MacArthur Foundation)
• Series of guidebooks, leaflets and videos on
  Climate change in the UK Overseas Territories
  (Joint Nature Conservation Committee, UK)
• Capacity building of civil society (Commonwealth
  Foundation)
• Workshop engaging civil society organisations,
  the media and performance artists/drama-in-educati
  on practitioners
• Development of a Climate change communications
  toolkit for community-based organisations
• Design of a public education and outreach project
  to address key elements of the Caribbean
  Regional Climate Change Adaptation
  Public Education and Outreach (PEO)
  Strategy

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Key messagesClimate change is a pressing issue

• There have been natural and cyclical variations
  in the Earths climate in the past, but the
  current rate of change is faster than anything
  the planet has experienced before.

Photo courtesy NASA USGS
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Key messages Climate change will have profound
effects on our lives

• For the Caribbean region in the 21st century,
  there is a fairly high level of certainty that
• Air and sea temperatures will increase
• Rainfall will change, with some regions becoming
  drier and others wetter
• Sea level rise will accelerate and be between 0.2
  to 0.5m
• Hurricanes are likely to become more powerful.

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Key message Caribbean islands have much to lose

• The economies of Caribbean islands depend on a
  narrow range of goods or services
• They have high communication and transportation
  costs and are vulnerable to natural hazards
• Certain Caribbean ecosystems that are important
  to human well-being are identified as most
  vulnerable
• Inherent vulnerabilities climate change
  increased risk

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Climate change impacts in the Caribbean

• 1. Livelihoods - Tourism
• Impacts on marine and coastal environments will
  affect seaside tourism in Caribbean islands
• New carbon taxes and charges will increase air
  travel costs
• Greater awareness of the impacts of air travel
  may affect tourists willingness to come to the
  Caribbean
• Milder temperatures elsewhere may create
  attractive alternative destinations

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Climate change impacts in the Caribbean

• 2. Food Security
• Increased sea temperature and salt water
  intrusion into rivers may substantially affect
  fisheries in Caribbean islands.
• Agriculture will be affected by changing growing
  seasons, drought and water shortages, and
  increased storm intensity
• Northern buy local campaigns are altering
  patterns of supply and demand.

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Climate change impacts in the Caribbean

• 3. Infrastructure
• Sea level rise and storms will directly affect
  critical infrastructure in the coastal zone such
  as ports, airports, houses and businesses.
• Disruption from flooding and infrastructural
  damage also affects communications and economic
  and social sectors (e.g. tourism, agriculture,
  health care delivery)

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Climate change impacts in the Caribbean

• 4. Economic and financial impacts
• Direct costs from damage to infrastructure, human
  settlements, crops etc.
• Indirect costs from lost earnings from tourism,
  fisheries or loss of ecosystem services.
• Hurricanes can be particularly costly the damage
  from Ivan in Grenada was estimated at 200 of GDP
  (EC2.4 billion).

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Climate Change Impacts in the Caribbean
5. Coastal and marine resources
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Climate Change Impacts in the Caribbean

• 5. Coastal and marine resources
• Sea level rise will mean
• coastal flooding
• saltwater contamination of groundwater
• coastal erosion compounded by intensifying
  hurricanes
• potential loss of wetlands and mangroves -
  coastal squeeze

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Climate Change Impacts in the Caribbean
5. Coastal and marine resources (cont.)

• High temperatures are causing mass coral
  mortality from bleaching events and diseases
  outbreaks.
• This can be reduced by better management and
  protected areas.

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Other Climate Change Impacts in the Caribbean

• 6. Water Resources
• Changes in rainfall will affect water supplies in
  many countries
• Ground water supplies face possible threats from
  contamination by salt water
• 7. Health
• Increased risk of vector-borne diseases, such as
  dengue

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Local management and climate change adaptation

• Management of natural resources and biodiversity
  at the regional, national and community level can
  reduce the impacts of climate change.
• Reforestation and forest conservation
• Watershed management
• Treatment of waste water
• Control of mosquito habitats
• Coastal buffer zones
• Protected area management

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Local management and climate change adaptation
Rupert McKenna
Clem McPherson
Speyside Marine Area Community-Based Management
Project
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Key message Adaptation is a no regrets
strategy with immediate benefits

• Adaptation is an opportunity to improve
• natural resource management and physical planning
  
• ability to deal with the natural hazards as well
  as the growing human-induced stresses on the
  environment.
• Adaptive responses can be
• Technological (e.g. improving coastal defences)
• Managerial (e.g. introducing crop rotation)
• Policy-based (e.g. strengthening planning
  regulations)
• Behavioural (e.g. preparing ones home for a
  hurricane)

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Meeting Multiple Objectives though Adaptation
Disaster Management
Triple Dividend
Climate Adaptation
Biodiversity Sustainable Development
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Key message Good climate policy should adapt and
mitigate.

• Although Caribbean islands make a small
  contribution to global emissions of greenhouse
  gases, they can play their part in mitigation by
• enhancing energy efficiency
• diversifying their energy sources
• increasing reliance on non fossil fuel sources of
  energy
• promoting climate friendly technologies
• advocating collectively for the mitigation
  measures needed in the major industrialised
  countries

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Collectively small efforts can make a big
difference

• You can make a difference by
• Reducing personal vulnerability to natural
  hazards
• Reducing energy use in transportation and in the
  home
• Practicing good environmental habits e.g.
  recycling, conservation
• Improving business practices e.g. clean energy,
  waste reduction/recycling
• Advocating for implementation of national
  adaptation plans and sustainable development
  policies
• Advocating for a stronger Caribbean voice in
  international negotiations
• Informing others about climate change and what
  they can do

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Creating the ripple effect building on Caribbean
talent and culture for public education and
outreach
I DONT WANNA WASH AWAY I dont wanna wash away
I dont wanna lose another day You cant make me
float away Lose my land and all my say Seas are
rising, try to reach the moon Beaches splicing,
dicing, disappearing Political goons acted just
like fools My land is gone so soon Temperature is
rising, competing with the sun I itch, I burn, I
thirst.
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(No Transcript)
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Using key change agents and champions as
channels of information

• media
• youth
• NGOs and CBOs
• Artists and theatre-in-education professionals
• sportspersons
• UNFCC National Focal Points
• communities that are particularly vulnerable to
  climate change
• extension officers (e.g. agriculture, fisheries)
• school teachers

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Core public education and awareness strategies

• Building the cadre of champions via facilitated
  dialogue with scientists
• Developing a community of Artistes Weathering
  Climate Change
• Region-wide concerts by conscious performance
  artists
• Developing drama-in-education materials
• National climate change workshops
• Providing relevant information to the media
• Building partnerships between NGOs and the media
• Conducting local research, (e.g. Sandwatch)
• Collecting traditional knowledge (e.g. Panos)
• Video, television, YouTube etc.