6th December 2020
Climate Change Adaptation Program ends
By GIS
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The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (5Cs) in partnership with the United States Agency for International Development's Eastern and Southern Caribbean (USAID-ESC) officially concluded the Climate Change Adaptation Program (CCAP) with strong resolve toward resilient development.
Saint Lucia and eight other states in the region benefited from CCAP as it strengthened the adaptive capacity of the region to climate variability with a focus on improved data capacity necessary for decision-making; modelling of adaptive approaches to water scarcity; and building the institutional capability of countries to develop sound proposals to access international climate financing.
In a closing ceremony held virtually on Nov. 18, Executive Director Dr. Colin Young lauded the efforts of all parties involved.
“I wish to use the opportunity to commend the sterling efforts of the team at USAID including the then mission Director Chris Cushing, our stalwart Mansfield Blackwood who so willingly and ably worked with us always with a calm demeanour and a smile to ensure that the project met its objectives; and of course the Regional Representative Mr. Clinton White. I must also acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of our many country focal points and colleagues and all of our regional and international partners such as CIMH, NOAA, SUTRON, Maya Island Air, CARICOM Secretariat and others who will continue to play vital roles in our ongoing resilience building efforts.”
Dr. Young further noted that CCAP was based on the premise that for climate change impacts to be sustainably addressed within the Caribbean, an integrated system able to produce climate change data must be incorporated into all levels of decision-making. “Utilizing climate data for decision-making is one of the core mandates of the 5Cs," he said.
Main achievements of CCAP include funding for climate information digitization and the establishment of six data nodes; expansion of the regional modelling and data capture network through the installation of five Coral Reef Early Warning Systems Stations; fifty Automatic Weather Stations; training in the use of the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool; and the acquisition of an airborne Light Detection and Ranging system.
CCAP was funded by USAID with a US$10 million grant. The program has helped the region access financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Bridgetown, Joaquin Monserrate recalled that "Barbados became the first country in the region in 2018 to receive funds from the GCF for programming.
“Barbados received over US$27 million to set up a photovoltaic system to back up current water generation systems and other systems to harvest and conserve water,” he said. “Since then, several other countries have successfully accessed GCF grants."
Other officials who addressed the closing ceremony included Mark Cullinane, Deputy Chief of Mission at US Embassy Georgetown; Her Excellency Karen Williams, US Ambassador to Suriname; and Assistant Secretary General of the CARICOM Secretariat, Dr. Douglas Slater. CCAP beneficiary member states are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname.
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