Addressing Climate Change in the Caribbean: A Toolkit ... - CANARI

1.2 Responding to climate change
Climate change and its effects may seem overwhelming, but we can do something about it. The
time to act is now. We owe it to ourselves to reduce the level of risk we face now and to our
children and grandchildren to ensure we do not leave them a world full of catastrophe and disaster.
Climate change and its adverse effects are mainly the result of poor decisions and failure to act. We
need commitment and action by everyone - individuals, communities, businesses and governments -
to deal with it.
Everyone is affected, everyone must act
Climate change affects each of us, whether we know it or not. But although everyone is affected, all
have not contributed equally to the problem. Some of the places that have contributed least to the
problem, such as small islands, will be affected the most. This is the injustice of climate change.
Larger industrialised countries have built their economies and industries over the past 200 years
using fossil fuels, often polluting the air and water. Their emissions and those of larger, newlyindustrialising
countries like Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) are driving global warming and
climate change.
In order to halt the current rate of warming, we urgently need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
But no single nation acting on its own can reduce global emissions to the levels needed for the
climate to stabilise. Actions to deal with climate change have to be taken at international, national
and local levels.
• At the global level, we need agreement on how to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and
how quickly this will happen. Richer countries must take responsibility for controlling the
bulk of their emissions and helping poorer countries cope with climate change.
• At the national level, our countries must put measures in place to reduce emissions and
prepare for climate change impacts. Even small greenhouse gas producers can make their
contribution to bringing down overall global emissions.
• At the local level, as individuals, households, communities and businesses, we can play our
part by building up our resilience to climate change impacts and reducing our carbon
emissions. Even though our countries do not produce large amounts of CO2, we need to
contribute to the global effort to reduce greenhouse gases. Every small contribution adds
up. Reducing carbon emissions also makes good economic sense. Rising fuel prices means
it is more expensive to put gas in our cars and generate electricity for our homes and
businesses. Conservation is good for the environment and for our pockets.
Approaches
There are two main approaches to dealing with climate change:
Mitigation – This means that as a global community we need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
and remove them from the atmosphere.
Climate Change Community Toolkit/Christian Aid (Caribbean) 9