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

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• Industrialised countries need to commit to providing money and other resources to help developing countries adapt to unavoidable climate change and adopt clean technology to reduce their emissions while pursuing their development strategies. 16 What is important for the Caribbean to get out of these talks The main concerns of the Caribbean as it looks towards the 2009 talks are: • Securing global agreement to stabilise the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at 350 parts per million (or less). If levels are allowed to exceed this, the impacts will be devastating for vulnerable countries like those in the Caribbean. This is still above preindustrial levels and some people believe we should be agreeing to an even lower target in order to assure our future. • International cooperation between developed and developing countries to ensure the latter get the financial and technological assistance they need. This requires new commitments of resources beyond the existing commitments of aid targeted towards poverty reduction. • Technical and financial support from the international community to strengthen regional and national systems to respond to climate change. Support will help us to collect data about climate change in the region and study the vulnerability of our countries and communities to climate change. This will help us develop and implement plans to adapt to climate change. The Caribbean has joined other small island developing states (SIDS) in calling for stabilisation targets at a 45% reduction of 1990 greenhouse gas levels by 2020 in the first instance, and then a 95% reduction of 1990 levels by 2050, with a stabilisation target of 350 parts per million. 1.2.3 Civil society organisations and the climate change response Climate change is a threat to our economies, our health, our way of life, our culture, and our physical security. It will affect our development at all levels – regional, national and local – and require responses from all actors – government, private sector, civil society and individuals. Civil society organisations (non-governmental and community-based organisations), have always played a critical role in addressing the development issues affecting those we work with. It is now critical that we understand the facts about and implications of climate change, assess its impact on our development objectives, and develop the skills we need to respond to the challenges it brings. We must learn what actions we can take and how to take these actions effectively. Policy makers, scientists and technocrats are working hard to conduct the relevant research and develop appropriate policy responses. We in turn must make sure that the information reaches communities and that they are empowered to act to protect themselves and their livelihoods. This is a part of our role as civil society organisations. 16 Tulloch, J. (ed). 2009. Op. Cit. 14 Climate Change Community Toolkit/Christian Aid (Caribbean)
2What Communities Can Do About Climate Change Climate change affects everyone and everyone has a role to play in addressing its impacts. Communities can do a lot to reduce their vulnerability, adapt to changing climate conditions and make a contribution towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Much of what needs to be done, especially to build resilience, is in line with good sustainable development practices. These include things like good environmental management, soil conservation methods and putting disaster preparedness measures in place. There are many things that communities already do, or used to do, to cope with natural climate conditions and variability. In some instances climate change adaptation or mitigation may be just a matter of scaling up these things or bringing back old practices. Many of the steps to be taken are in a community’s control and some things can even be done without large investment or expenditure. Communities can identify how they are affected by climate change and put measures in place to increase resilience of livelihoods and infrastructure to extreme weather events and other climate change impacts. Community organisations can play a role in raising awareness about climate change and in advocating for policies and programmes that take climate change into account. A community climate strategy might include one, some, or all of the four components listed below: 1. Understanding and reducing community risk and vulnerability 2. Public awareness and education 3. Engagement and networking 4. Lobbying and advocacy How to develop these components is explained in the following sections. In addition, there are practical measures (many of them small things) that individuals and households can take to be better prepared for more extreme weather and to reduce their impact on the environment and climate system. Some of these are listed at the end of this section. Climate Change Community Toolkit/Christian Aid (Caribbean) 15
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