KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Sept 17, CMC – St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said the region needed to take “more seriously” the impact of climate change on its socio-economic development.
“We need to adapt, strengthen our resilience to mitigate, we need to reduce risk to human and natural assets resulting from climate change,” Gonsalves said while addressing the Fourth Climate Change seminar organised by the St. Lucia-based OECS Commission
“This is an issue however which we alone cannot address. The world is a small place and we contribute very little to global warming but yet we are on the front lines of continuing disasters,” he said, telling delegates at Tuesday night’s formal opening “we must build on existing work which has been done and not treat the matter as an academic exercise to traverse the terrain which has already been traversed”.
The two-day seminar is being held as part of the OECS/USAID RRACC Project – a five-year developmental project that was launched in 2011 to assist OECS governments with building resilience through the implementation of climate change adaptation measures.
Gonsalves said there were existing studies done by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) as they relate to the impact of climate change as well as seeking funds and accessing technologies required to undertake “needed mitigation actions and to adapt to adverse impacts of climate change”.
“Cleary within the OECS and the terms of the funding which we have we have to make the most of the money,” he said, adding that despite the generosity of the United States, “we are all aware there is a scarcity of funds for mitigation and adaptation promised by the global community.”
The seminar here will focus on a number of issues including the vulnerability of the region, the economic, social and psychological impacts of extreme events and mainstreaming climate change into national planning.
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