St Kitts-Nevis PM makes impassioned plea at climate change conference
PARIS, France (CMC) – St Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr Timothy Harris has called on the international community to “negotiate and agree a legally-binding agreement with ambitious emission reduction targets”.
Addressing the 21st Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Harris reiterated the seriousness and urgency of the threat posed by climate change and the need for an ambitious agreement to be reached during the two week conference.
“My delegation calls on all parties here to negotiate and agree a legally-binding agreement with ambitious emission reduction targets. St Kitts and Nevis recommends that all parties subscribe to at least five-year commitment cycles with robust ex-ante review and ex-poste assessment processes.
“We also hope that developed country parties and other parties in a position to do so, would be encouraged to provide support to vulnerable countries, particularly to Small Island Developing States (SIDS).”
He told the conference which is being attended by more than 100 world leaders that his twin island Federation, like other SIDS “has been undergoing many climate related changes; namely sea level rise, extreme weather events, prolonged and severe droughts, and disruption to our reefs, coastlines and agriculture”
Harris said that the dangers of climate change are real and present and that the threat is also existential. He said greenhouse gas emissions from small island states like St Kitts and Nevis are negligible “yet our small island states continue to be adversely and disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change.
“Nonetheless, as responsible global citizens, we in St Kitts and Nevis are already acting locally to reduce our national carbon footprint even further. The pursuit of renewable energy solutions is now a critical and integral component of our national sustainable development strategy to transform St. Kitts and Nevis into a fully environmentally sustainable small island state.”
Harris said that hi new administration “is incentivizing behavioural changes through the facilitation of duty free concessions on renewable energy technologies.
“We are building strategic partnerships with countries and the private sector to develop geothermal, solar and wind energy solutions. Currently, we have solar farms operating on both St. Kitts and Nevis and are also exploring the potential geothermal capacity on the islands. These renewables will have a significant impact on our energy consumption patterns and reliance on fossil fuels.”
CASTRIES, St Lucia (CMC) — Caribbean Community (Caricom) ministers and climate change negotiators began a two-day meeting here yesterday to fine-tune the region`s negotiating position ahead of the 21st session of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) to be held in Paris later next month.
The November 30 to December 11 conference forms part of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change UNFCC).
The meeting here is a follow-up to a similar one held here in September and the organisers said the objective is to prepare the ministers to engage in the pre-COP meeting which will be organised by the COP Presidency in November.
“With just over one month before the start of COP 21 and on the heels of a climate negotiators preparatory meetings held earlier this month in Bonn, Germany, it is an opportune time for Caricom negotiators and ministers to be updated on the critical issues, especially those with implications for Small Island Developing States and to concretise position(s) going to Paris.”
The ministers will be apprised of the state of climate change negotiations under the UNFCC for a new climate change agreement to be finalised at the COP 21.
The meeting here is being organised by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology, the High Level Support Mechanism and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre.
EXTREME weather events associated with climate change have cost the country in excess of $128 billion in damage over the decade between 2002 and 2012.
Minister of Land, Water, Environment and Climate Change Robert Pickersgill made the startling revelation at the launch of the Adaptation Programme and Financing Mechanism at the Four Seasons Hotel in New Kingston recently.
“This covers a range of damage ranging from social dislocation and loss of property and lives, to which a dollar value could not be affixed,” said Pickersgill.
The adaptation programme, which falls under the Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), and which is funded by the InterAmerican Development Bank (IDB) to the tune of US$7.8 million under the global Climate Investment Funds (CIF), will increase the country’s resilience to climate change by enhancing the island’s adaptive capacity across priority sectors.
He said it was common knowledge that Jamaica is among the most vulnerable nations to the impacts of climate change. He noted, however, that with the relevant training, policies and national education, the phenomenon which threatens hotter temperatures, rising sea levels, longer, drier droughts and more extreme weather events, will become less of a challenge. The goal, Pickersgill said, is a Jamiaca that is climate change resilient and focused on its sustainability.
“We envision a future that is climate resilient; one where economic development and environmental sustainability are parallel outcomes, and one in which every Jamaican man, woman and child can enjoy the benefits of this,” the minister said.
“What the PPCR will provide, therefore, is an opportunity to build our capacity, and to look beyond weather and hydrological information to a focus on climate information for decision-making,” he continued.
The technical co-operation project valued at over US$19 million will include the mainstreaming of climate change adaptation in local sectorial and national plans.
IDB Country Reperesentative Therese Turner-Jones said Jamaica could access up to US$10 million as the facility allows for a concessional loan-financing window.
“The three-component programme will include mainstreaming climate change into development planning, supporting climate change resiliency efforts in the upper Rio Minho watershed area, and implementing innovative climate financing, particularly in the agribusiness and tourism sectors across island for SMES [small and medium-sized enterprises]. The lessons learned from these adaptation interventions will be disseminated throughout the island,” Turner-Jones said at the launch.
The Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), which is the national implementing organisation, reiterated the government’s pleasure that the island was selected among six Caribbean regional PPCR and pilot countries.
Deputy Director General Claire Bernard said the pilot programme could fulfil outcome 14 of Vision 2030, which speaks to effecting strategic objectives to addressing issues of climate change, adaptation and disaster risk production.
In terms of integrating climate change as a subject and policy objective across all ministries of government, minister Pickersgill pointed out that training for policy-makers and climate change focal points across all ministries has already begun.
THE EDITOR, Sir:
As many countries, including Jamaica, continue to baffle with extremely high energy costs, the debate continues to rage on to viable alternatives that will allow for a less costly and sustainable outcome that reduces dependence on fossil fuels.
As a youth advocate, this particular issue affects everyone, and especially our youth. I did some research to identify some tips that our Government and key stakeholders should take into consideration. These tips include:
Family planning:
Hundreds of jobs to be created as Canadian firm heads to Jamaica to construct solar-powered recycling plant
Sheena Gayle, Sunday Gleaner Writer
Western Bureau:Canadian-based recycling company Panther Corporation will build the first solar-powered recycling centre in Jamaica, representing a multibillon-dollar investment and the prospect of thousands of jobs being created.
The company will invest US$26 million to construct and outfit a 30,000 square foot modular facility in Retirement, St James, in proximity to the Retirement Dump, something the company’s president and director, Michael Mosgrove, is excited about.
“It was a perfect fit for Jamaica and for us because of the sunlight. In addition, the demand for recycling in Jamaica is huge right now,” the Canadian investor told