Business View Caribbean - August/September 2018

14 15 OPENING LINES Program and co-executed by UN Environment’s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (UN Envi- ronment CAR RCU), which is the Secretariat to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbe- an Region (the Cartagena Convention). All OECS countries are signatories to the Cartagena Con- vention, a comprehensive, umbrella agreement for the protection and development of the marine environment. Fresh and coastal water resources manage- ment, sustainable land management, and sus- tainable forest management are all challenges to Caribbean SIDS, and more so as the region’s economies face numerous demands and, inevita- bly, another hurricane season. Addressing these challenges, while improving social and ecological resilience to the impacts of climate change, are objectives of the IWEco Project. Stating that storms and hurricanes do not have to result in catastrophic disasters, Mitchell said in too many instances in the region this has been the case because of the prevailing susceptibilities of communities. “We have seen first-hand how poverty and social weaknesses magnify natural disasters. This need not be the case,” he said. “We must redouble our efforts to improve the condi- tions for the most vulnerable in our societies so that they are empowered and supported to man- age disasters and climate risks.” Grenada, along with all participating countries, will benefit from regional project activities aimed at strengthening policy, legislative and institu- tional frameworks, strengthening monitoring and evaluation, and public awareness. At a recent meeting in Montserrat, the region- al coordinator of the Cartagena Convention, Dr. Lorna Inniss, noted that since the particularly de- structive hurricane season of 2017, perhaps even as a consequence of it, the trend in the region towards consolidating several related areas of responsibility into single ministries seems to have grown. Grenada, for instance, now has the combined Ministry of Climate Resilience, the Environment, Forestry, Fisheries, Disaster Management and Information. Dominica now has the Ministry of Environment, Climate Resilience, Disaster Man- agement and Urban Renewal. The most recent projections in climate re- search all anticipate a significant increase in the frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events, as well as slow onset climate-related changes, such as sea-level rise, less rainfall, and increased sea surface temperatures. These im- pacts can disrupt Grenada’s economy and critical economic sectors like agriculture and tourism, and damage critical infrastructure and personal property. The findings of a regional study concluded that climate change has the potential to increase the overall cost to local economies by one to three percent of GDP by 2030 in the Caribbean. It also alters the risk profile of the islands by impacting local sea levels, hurricane intensity, precipitation patterns and temperature patterns. According to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), in absolute terms, expected losses may triple between 2010 and 2030. Climate change adaptation is therefore critical for the economic stability of the tri-island state. “Charting a course to 2030 is even more an urgent requirement as the impacts of climate change are increasingly affecting CCRIF’s Carib- bean and Central American member countries,” CCRIF CEO, Isaac Anthony said.