Port of Spain, January 29, 2019 – Government, civil society and private sector stakeholders from various economic sectors in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines participated in the first national consultation on December 11, 2018 to develop a Climate Change Policy to mainstream climate resilience into the country’s development agenda.

The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is providing technical assistance to the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, Sustainable Development and Information Technology in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to facilitate the series of national consultations and develop the new policy.  The aim of the first consultation was to gain input from stakeholders on their needs, priorities and relevant measures for adaptation and mitigation for key sectors to inform the new Climate Change Policy.

At the national consultation, the Director of Planning (Ag), Mr. Recardo Frederick, noted that “climate change is a real threat to Saint Vincent and the Grenadines with the islands facing more extreme hurricanes and weather, including droughts in 2005, 2010 and 2014 and flooding in 2011, 2013 and 2016, resulting in damages and losses in excess of a billion EC dollars”. He welcomed the collaboration between his Ministry and CANARI to develop a formal coordinating mechanism to streamline implementation of climate change measures across all sectors and enable mainstreaming of climate resilience into development planning.  He also highlighted the critical need for climate finance to support such implementation, including the support of the Green Climate Fund and other key donors.  

Stakeholders worked together at the national consultation to craft a shared vision and goals for the Climate Change Policy and to identify priority sectors and measures for adaptation and mitigation, including for the agriculture, energy and transport, health, tourism and water sectors. They also identified potential governance arrangements for effective implementation of the policy. 

CANARI and the Ministry of Finance, Economic Planning, Sustainable Development and Information Technology will continue to work over the next six months with stakeholders in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines to develop a Climate Change Policy and a Climate Change Strategy and Implementation Plan. This process is being supported under the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Regional Disaster Vulnerability Reduction Project funded by the World Bank and the Climate Investment Fund’s Pilot Program for Climate Resilience.

About CANARI: The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is a regional technical non-profit organisation which has been working in the islands of the Caribbean for 30 years. Our mission is to promote equitable participation and effective collaboration in managing natural resources critical to development. Our programmes focus on capacity building, policy planning and development, research, sharing and dissemination of lessons learned, and fostering regional partnerships. See here for more information on CANARI: http://www.canari.org/.

Caption: stakeholders identifying key needs and potential measures to address climate change in priority sectors