TCI TO ADAPT CLIMATE CHNAGE ADAPTATION STRATEGIES. THE TURKS and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG) is seeking to include climate change adaptation strategies into the disaster management system of the Turks and Caicos Islands in a region-wide collaborative effort that is expected to prepare vulnerable Caribbean nations for the effects of climate change. And as part of the climate change response, the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies (DDME) in collaboration with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) hosted two days of consultation from July 24 to 25 on ‘Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation into Comprehensive Disaster Management Phase II (CCDM-II)’ and ‘Climate Smarting of the Country Work Programme (CS-CWP)’ in the Turks and Caicos Islands. A number of Government officials were present at the very important two-day workshop on at the Disaster Management headquarters on Providenciales. During the workshop, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Turks and Caicos Islands Government (TCIG), the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA), Messenger Baptist Church, All Saints Baptist Church and the Gustarvus Lightbourne Sports Complex, as stakeholder groups took advanced action in the area of climate change. Director of the Department of Disaster and Emergency Management (DDME), Dr. Virginia Clerveaux, commenting on the renewed focus on climate change, said: "This two day workshop focuses on mainstreaming climate change adaptation into comprehensive disaster management and in ensuring that our country work programme is climate smart. "Today [Wednesday] we participate in a workshop that focuses on one of the defining challenges of part time climate change. "While it might be true that small island developing states such as the TCI might not be significantly contributing to global warming, we are certainly amongst the first that will suffer the impact of this phenomenon. "If we continue with business as usual, death rise could be 5.3 degrees Celsius with potentially disastrous implication in terms of extreme weather events, rising sea levels and the huge economic and social cause that these can bring. "Amidst concerns over global economic pressures, climate change has quite frankly slipped to the bed burner of policy priorities but the problem is not going away, in fact it is quite the opposite, the evidence of climate change due to human behaviour is quite literally undeniable and the evidence leads to models and predictions which are becoming clearer about the extent of the impact that we are likely to experience.” The Director noted that flood and drought will continue to become more common and storms more intense, as well as more rain and floods, heat waves and tidal surges. With the knowledge gained from the workshop, officials are hoping that the different Government sectors present can educate others on the impact and dangers, and safety measures can be put in place. The consultation aimed to, among other things identify existing, alternative and viable options for disaster risk reduction and will examine the TCIG draft Country Work Plan which charts a course of action for 2013-2020. It is also intended that the consultation will help the TCI to integrate climate change considerations into a draft climate smart CDM country plan. Specifically the consultation focused on developing an awareness of climate change and climate change impacts at the national level including existing development challenges, vulnerabilities and future risks focusing on hydro-meteorological hazards and events; identifying existing and alternative adaptation options for disaster risk reduction nationally sectorally and gaps in current capacities; and prioritising and sequence viable adaptation options into entry points and actions that build on the current comprehensive disaster management country work programme framework for disaster risk reduction. tcweeklynews/tci-to-adopt-climate-change-adaptation-strategies-p4186-1.htm
Posted on: Mon, 29 Jul 2013 18:56:43 +0000
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