BELIZE – 5Cs announces its international conference on climate change

More than 100 climate scientists, researchers and negotiators from across the Caribbean and the world will gather at the Hilton Hotel in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad from October 9 to 12, 2017, to highlight the region’s climate change adaptation successes at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) International Conference on Climate Change for the Caribbean.

“Adaptation in Action” is the theme for the conference, which aims to build awareness and demonstrate the work being done across the region and among other Small Island Developing States to build resilience, mitigate and develop low carbon economies that will help them survive the adverse effects of climate variability and change.

“We, at the Centre, aim to give visibility to the range of scientific data and documentation, and the work that is being carried out in the Region. These issues become more important in an increasingly vulnerable world. This conference presents the opportunity to build on our own home-grown solutions and integrate these into processes like the IPCC,” said executive director Dr. Kenrick Leslie.

The Conference provides a platform for interaction and knowledge sharing among natural and social scientists, policy makers and development partners; and serves to garner feedback that will help to refine the region’s research focus, while developing programmes and projects that are specific to the region’s needs.

One major presentation will include some of the key findings of the 1.5 to Stay Alive research project for the Caribbean region, and provide opportunities for discussions of the climate change impacts, vulnerability, mitigation and adaptation activities of regional and international organisations.

Discussions on the main sources of climate financing and how to access the funds will be led by regional institutions like the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), CCCCC and international institutions like the European Union (EU) funded Global Climate Change Alliance plus Initiative (GCCA+).

The Centre’s Deputy Executive Director Dr. Ulric Trotz noted that the Conference aims to ensure that policymakers and the general public have a better understanding of how Climate Change scientific findings can be integrated into national and regional development policies and strategies, to influence behaviours. It is also expected that the dialogue will help regional negotiators by providing relevant and up-to-date information going into the 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

The conference is funded by the CCCCC, the GCCA+, the CDB, the European Union Directorate General for International Development Cooperation (DEVCO), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Development Programme Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (UNDP J-CCCP).