
Project overview
The Challenge
Climate change is recognized as one of the challenges which compounds inherent vulnerabilities in the Caribbean; it could significantly increase the risk of hurricanes and storms and threaten the region’s development. Increasing coastal erosion and severe coral reef bleaching events in 2005 and 2010 bear witness to this. Tourism and agriculture will be among the sectors most negatively impacted by these climatic changes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that small islands are highly vulnerable to climatic and non-climatic stressors, with sea level rise and temperature rise among the most insidious threats for coastal flooding and erosion, ecosystem degradation and loss of livelihoods. Further, inadequate awareness, information, technical and policy capacity, and limited funding availability for informing and formulating a low-emissions development strategy are among the reasons that it has been difficult to direct and guide climate change mitigation investments in the Caribbean. In sum, climate change threatens to undermine decades of progress and effort. As a result, it is a focal area for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), being explicitly identied in goal 13 but also encompassing other goals.
The Solution
Recognising that persistent climate-related liabilities will continue to undermine their potential for sustainable development, Caribbean countries are focusing their post-2015 long-term sustainable development strategies on the principles of climate risk management and resilience building – understood as market transformations based on “adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their eects or impacts.” Studies have shown that cost-effective adaptation and risk mitigation solutions can help to avoid up to 90% of expected losses. The Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) brings together policy makers, experts and representatives of communities to encourage policy innovation for climate technology incubation and diffusion. By doing so, the initiative aims to ensure that barriers to the implementation of climate-resilient technologies are addressed and overcome in a participatory and efficient manner. Policy instruments such as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) provide tailored frameworks to expand access to clean energy and to prioritise adaptation measures. As a result, concrete mitigation and adaptation will be implemented on the ground, in line with countries' long-term strategies.
Building upon and supported by the NAMAs and NAPs, the partnership will support the incubation of climate technology into targeted public sectors, private industries, and community groups and enterprises so that green, low-emission climate-resilient technologies can be tested, refined, adopted, and sustained as a practical measure to enhance national, sub-national and community level resilience. These technologies will help reduce the dependence on fossil fuel imports, setting the region on a low emission development path; as well as improve the region’s ability to respond to climate risks and opportunities in the long-run, through resilient development approaches that go beyond disaster response to extreme events. The Partnership will include the following eight Caribbean countries: the Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, the republic of Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Republic of Suriname. The Government of Japan has provided financial and technical support for this project, with UNDP acting in the capacity of implementing partner.
Expected outcomes
Project Details
Levels of Intervention
Key Implementers
Project Partners
Introduction
The Challenge
Climate change is recognized as one of the challenges which compounds inherent vulnerabilities in the Caribbean; it could significantly increase the risk of hurricanes and storms and threaten the region’s development. Increasing coastal erosion and severe coral reef bleaching events in 2005 and 2010 bear witness to this. Tourism and agriculture will be among the sectors most negatively impacted by these climatic changes. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirms that small islands are highly vulnerable to climatic and non-climatic stressors, with sea level rise and temperature rise among the most insidious threats for coastal flooding and erosion, ecosystem degradation and loss of livelihoods. Further, inadequate awareness, information, technical and policy capacity, and limited funding availability for informing and formulating a low-emissions development strategy are among the reasons that it has been difficult to direct and guide climate change mitigation investments in the Caribbean. In sum, climate change threatens to undermine decades of progress and effort. As a result, it is a focal area for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), being explicitly identied in goal 13 but also encompassing other goals.
The Solution
Recognising that persistent climate-related liabilities will continue to undermine their potential for sustainable development, Caribbean countries are focusing their post-2015 long-term sustainable development strategies on the principles of climate risk management and resilience building – understood as market transformations based on “adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their eects or impacts.” Studies have shown that cost-effective adaptation and risk mitigation solutions can help to avoid up to 90% of expected losses. The Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP) brings together policy makers, experts and representatives of communities to encourage policy innovation for climate technology incubation and diffusion. By doing so, the initiative aims to ensure that barriers to the implementation of climate-resilient technologies are addressed and overcome in a participatory and efficient manner. Policy instruments such as Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) and National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) provide tailored frameworks to expand access to clean energy and to prioritise adaptation measures. As a result, concrete mitigation and adaptation will be implemented on the ground, in line with countries' long-term strategies.
Building upon and supported by the NAMAs and NAPs, the partnership will support the incubation of climate technology into targeted public sectors, private industries, and community groups and enterprises so that green, low-emission climate-resilient technologies can be tested, refined, adopted, and sustained as a practical measure to enhance national, sub-national and community level resilience. These technologies will help reduce the dependence on fossil fuel imports, setting the region on a low emission development path; as well as improve the region’s ability to respond to climate risks and opportunities in the long-run, through resilient development approaches that go beyond disaster response to extreme events. The Partnership will include the following eight Caribbean countries: the Belize, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, the republic of Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Republic of Suriname. The Government of Japan has provided financial and technical support for this project, with UNDP acting in the capacity of implementing partner.
News
Project Wrap-Up
Belize & Guyana Initiate NAP Process
J-CCCP Pilot Project Launched in The Grenadines
J-CCCP Partners with the Belize National Climate Change Office to Launch Feel the Change Campaign
J-CCCP Supports Study on Biogas and Renewable Energy from Biomass and Organic Waste in Belize
November, 2016
J-CCCP Supports COP 21 & 22 Panel Discussion at the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum 2016
June, 2016
UNDP and UNFCCC Initiates Training Seminars for Climate Mitigation Actions in the Caribbean
January, 2016
Japan and UNDP kick start US$15 million Caribbean Climate Change Project
Programme meetings and workshops
Over the course of three days, J-CCCP mounted a multi-media gallery to showcase the impact of J-CCCP's work over the project lifetime. The day prior, the project visited J-CCCP pilot projects in Saint Lucia where technology or knowledge from Japan has been transfered.
Agricultural Knowledge-sharing Event
J-CCCP invited farmers, agricultural practitioners, regional agencies and NGOs who work in agriculture to join nature farming and research experts from Japan to knowledge share. This event builds on the 19 agriculture-focused pilot projects implemented by J-CCCP and the study tour to Japan, completed in 2018.
UNDP's J-CCCP is supporting the attendance of 11 youth who have played key roles in advancing climate action in the region. Their participation builds on the 2017 Youth Climate Change Conference. Now, many of these youth have come together to create a NGO - Youth Climate Change Activists where they actively advocate for increased action among peers and decision makers.
Over thirty representatives from nine Caribbean countries met in Kingstown, St. Vincent and the Grenadines to better position themselves to access funding for climate change mitigation.
NAP Workshops in Belize and Guyana
Stakeholders, government representatives and development partners recently gathered to take Belize and Guyana one step closer to the finalization of their National Adaptation Plans (NAPs).
NAP Donor Symposium and Peer Learning
Representatives of the Governments of Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines gathered at UN House in Barbados to present their National Adaption Plans (NAPs) and priorities to members of the donor community who are active in the Caribbean. The following day, they were joined by colleagues from Jamaica and Grenada where they had the opportunity to share ideas, experiences and lessons learned surrounding their NAP process.
More than 100 climate scientists, researchers and negotiators from across the Caribbean and the world gathered 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.
Youth Climate Change Conference 2017
Caribbean and Japanese youth have put forward their recommendations for climate-smart actions for the region following two days of intense dialogue between October 10-11, 2017 at the third staging of the Youth Climate Change Conference at the Jamaica Conference Centre.
National Adaptation Plan Workshop for Latin America and the Caribbean
Representatives from twenty-six countries in the Latin America and Caribbean countries attended the regional workshop on national adaptation plans (NAPs), held in San Jose, Costa Rica, from 4 to 7 September, 2017.
Capacity Development for Media Practitioners
J-CCCP provided climate change training to more than 30 journalists from across the region. The two-day training seminar enabled media practitioners to learn and share best practices on climate change issues including, climate change science, economics and policy as well as the role of media entities in communicating on climate change.
Consultation for the Development of a Transportation NAMA in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
As St. Vincent and the Grenadines pursues the development of a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA) in the transportation sector, stakeholders gathered to consult on the process.
Presentation of KAP Study Results and Campaign Brainstorming in St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Stakeholders, some of whom took part in data collection for the study, gathered to hear the results of a knowledge, attitudes and practices study conducted in St. Vincent and the Grenadines in December, 2016. Participants also assisted with the development of campaign approaches and committed to supporting campaign implementation.
Development of Belize's National Communication Strategy for Climate Change
J-CCCP supported the National Climate Change Office of Belize in the development of a national communications plan for climate change. This support was in the form of a workshop where stakeholders from key sectors across the country fed into the development of the plan.
Caribbean Climate Change Coordination Seminar
In April 2016, representatives from regional organisations gathered in St. Lucia to map synergies and actions between development partners and the Project relating to NAPs, NAMAs and knowledge management and communications. Organisations in attendance included: CARDI, CARICOM, CEDMA, CCCCC, CYEN, CIMH, CARPHA, and PANOS, among others. For NAP and NAMA development and pilot projects, organisations were asked to identify stages at which each organisation may be able to lend support based on their expertise, the specific nature of the assistance and how additional funding could be leveraged. Participants also contributed to plans under outcome 3, including policy events, study tours and campaigns and noted that the exercise was useful in order to break a trend of working in silos.-NAMA training
Training Seminar on the Development and Implementation of Climate Mitigation Actions
J-CCCP partnered with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Regional Collaboration Centre (UNFCCC RCC), the UNDP Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Programme and local Ministries in the months of June and September to conduct two-day training seminars in Belize, Grenada, Guyana, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname. The seminars were designed to support the development of climate mitigation actions, including Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs). Approximately two hundred persons were trained in total.
National Adaptation Plans Regional Workshop for the Caribbean
Representatives from 10 Caribbean countries, including J-CCCP’s 8 beneficiary countries, met in Grenada’s capital of St. Georges to discuss strategies to prepare for the impact of climate change. Following Grenada’s final consultation on its National Adaptation Plan (NAP), they were able to share lessons from their experience of national adaptation planning, including some key topics such as political buy-in, coordination, integration of the sectoral plan, climate finance with peers through this two-day event. The NAP Assembly was co-hosted by Grenada’s Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development and the Environment; the UNDP Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (J-CCCP); and the NAP Global Network.
National Communication Strategy Development Workshop - Belize
J-CCCP supported the National Climate Change Office of Belize in the development of a country-wide communications strategy. This workshop saw Communications Professionals from Belizean Ministries, CBOs, NGOs and the media gather to have inputs into the strategy. The Project will focus its efforts on implementing the initial stage of the strategy with support from other local stakeholders.
Reports and publications
Manual
Reports
Case Study
Quarterly Updates
Training & Tools
Plans and policies of relevance to NAPs for Non-Least Developed Countries (non-LDCs)
Presentation
Assessments and Background Documents
Project Brief / Fact Sheet
Communications Products
ProDocs
Multimedia
Monitoring and evaluation
|
|
Please also view the Project's Mid-term Evaluation Report.