International Strategy for Disaster Reduction
The Americas

The Caribbean

From HFA-PEDIA

Contents

What's New

World Bank, CIF Fund Climate Resilient Urban Improvements in the Caribbean; The World Bank, 23 June 2011.


CARICOM: Climate change, a clear and present danger

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) secretariat - press release 487/2009; 16 Dec 2009


Several areas at risk

The global phenomenon called Climate Change has been described by experts and politicians alike as inarguably “the greatest environmental phenomenon of our time,” and as for its implications for the economic and social landscape, it is perceived as “the most demanding challenge facing the world today.”


In essence, it can be concluded that only the global financial crisis parallels the climate change phenomenon in terms of threats to the world’s stability. Recognizing this, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at its 14th Conference of Parties (COP14) in Poznan, Poland deemed climate change as “not just an environmental issue but rather, one that has significant implications for sustainable development.”


The Caribbean in general and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in particular, owing to their limited size and proneness to natural hazards and external shocks, are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, despite the fact that they contribute very little to cause this catastrophe. This is underscored by the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) which highlighted the SIDS’ particular vulnerability in the areas of agriculture, biodiversity, human settlements, tourism, insurance and financial services, water resources and human health.


The Hon Stephenson King, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and lead CARICOM Head of Government for Sustainable Development has tersely worded the Caribbean’s reality as “any significant adverse effects on even one of the aforementioned sectors or resources, left unattended, will ultimately influence the extent to which we can successfully pursue the goal of sustainable development.”


CARICOM’S response

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM), conscious of the need to act quickly and decisively, from as early as 1994, initiated several steps to dealing with the pressing issues of Climate Change, fully recognizing the need to emphasise mitigation and adaptation measures.


Arising from the Global Small Island Developing States Conference held in Barbados in 1994, was the unanimous resolve to give priority treatment to the issue of climate change based on its potential to disrupt severely, the development efforts of SIDS and the low lying coastal states.


Subsequently, in that same year, Caribbean governments solicited and received support from the Organisation of American States (OAS) to develop a regional project aimed at building capacity for adaptation to Climate Change.


Those efforts gave expression to a series of capacity building projects including the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change (CPACC) project, funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF); the ensuing 2001-2004 Adapting to Climate Change in the Caribbean (ACCC) project, funded by Canadian Climate Change Development Fund and the 2004-2007 Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change project also funded by GEF.


According to Dr Ken Leslie, Director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), those projects enjoyed a significant measure of success and were, among other things, responsible for the establishment of a CARICOM wide network of monitoring stations; development of regional capacity for coral reef monitoring; vulnerability assessments; economic valuation of environmental services; the articulation of national climate change adaptation policies and implementation plans, and increased public awareness of climate change issues in the Region.


Notwithstanding the projects’ successes however, it was clear that a more permanent strategy was needed to respond more rapidly to the effects of Climate Change in the Caribbean.


The birth of the five C’s

Dr Ulric Trotz, then Project Manager for the MACC project noted that to facilitate the implementation of a programmatic strategy, “the Region would require to, as far as possible indigenise the institutional arrangements for the implementation of Climate Change activities and moreover, place these on a more sustainable footing.”


This realization germinated the idea of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre – a seed which bore fruit in 2004 when the CCCCC was officially opened with a clear mandate to coordinate the region’s response to Climate Change. The Centre, in tandem with the CARICOM Secretariat, took its mandate seriously and after five years, under the directorship of Dr Ken Leslie, has much to boast about regarding its work.


The battle for survival

Despite all the ground work done in the areas of mitigation and adaptation however, the Caribbean still faces a clear and present danger: In what seems like one of earth’s cruel ironies, the gases that make life possible on earth are the very ones which threaten to destroy our very existence as they continue to heat up the planet rapidly - the effects of what is described as global warming or the green house effect.


According to Mr Garfield Barnwell, CARICOM Secretariat’s Director of Sustainable Development, over the last 100 years, the average temperature of the air near the Earth’s surface has risen a little less than 1° Celsius, making the earth much warmer than it has been for at least a thousand years. The three hottest years he said, had occurred in the last eight years. Although from a layman’s point of view, 1° Celsius does not seem all that much, Mr Barnwell said, It is responsible for the conspicuous increase in storms, floods and raging forest fires we have seen in the last ten years.


Mr Barnwell has jolted us to the gravity of the situation by explaining that the “the constant rise in sea level, the dangerous impact on human lives from the emission of greenhouse gases, the erosion of natural beaches, and landslides due to deforestation all contribute to natural disasters compounded by the consequential negative effects on agriculture and food production, poverty and human suffering.”


1.5 to stay alive

The key therefore is to stabilise the earth’s temperature thus stabilising global warming. The critical question is: How do we do that…?


Princeton University scientists had identified 15 technologies — from wind, solar and nuclear energy to conservation techniques — that could stop the escalation of global warming for 50 years.


According to the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC, it will cost between 0.2% and 3.0% of global GDP by 2030 to stabilize greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. Climate scientists, economists and policy researchers are in agreement that limiting long-term global warming is achievable at a "negligible" cost, and the responsibility for action lies in the hands of politicians. It would appear therefore that what is needed here is the political will to accomplish what is perceived as ‘do-able.’ We walked on the moon therefore we should be able to solve this conundrum.


Road to Copenhagen

Faced with this severe threat to the Region’s survival and continued development, the Caribbean must now go to the upcoming 15th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP15) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2009 and place on the conference table a convincing case for, among other key issues, the reduction of GHG emissions to a minimum of 1.5˚C as an effective means of stabilising global warming.


This Conference is of particular significance as it seeks to forge a new climate change agreement to replace the 1997 Kyoto Protocol which had set legally binding targets for emissions of six major greenhouse gases in industrialised countries during the first commitment period which would see a five percent reduction at the end of 2012, when the Kyoto Protocol expires. Copenhagen is expected to produce a strong and ambitious policy framework that sets a clear overall direction for future global climate change action and to generate significant financial and technological support to enable meaningful actions by developing countries. For CARICOM countries, this conference must settle the perplexing questions of what should be the global target for greenhouse gas emission reductions after 2012 and, who should bear the burden for these reductions.


Leading up to this landmark conference, there is also a vigorous debate among Heads of Government as to what should the negotiations package for the Caribbean include; what should be the priority issues and whose interests should be protected; and while there are divergent views on some issues, there is a general agreement on five key issues also implicit in the July 2009 Liliendaal Declaration on Climate Change and Development.


This Declaration, issued by the 30th Conference of the Heads of Government, committed CARICOM Leaders to supporting the position of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) whose negotiations are based on five critical building blocks of Mitigation and Adaptation, Transfer of technology, Financing, a Shared Vision on climate change and most importantly, provisions for “long term stabilisation of atmospheric Green House Gas concentrations at levels which would ensure that global average surface temperature increases would be limited to well below 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels; Co2 reductions of at least 45 percent by 2020 and reducing green house gas emissions by more than 95 percent of 1990 Co2 levels by 2050.”


Ambitious targets they are, yet, according to Leon Charles, Lead AOSIS Negotiator, they are critical to the survival and development of the Caribbean. Consequently, CARICOM has thrown its 15-member weight behind the negotiating team and has repeatedly called for one voice on the negotiations.


Prime Minister King told a Ministerial Meeting in Saint Lucia in September that there would be no compromising; no give and take, no ‘horse-trading’ on the issue of reduction targets.


In giving weight to Prime Minister King’s statement, Chairman of CARICOM His Excellency Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana recently reminded CARICOM Leaders to use the Liliendaal Declaration as a sound basis in guiding the negotiations, ensuring that the Caribbean speak with one voice, and CARICOM Secretary-General His Excellency Edwin Carrington cautioned the region to be “resolute and vigilant in their positions for a New Climate Change Agreement.” It is a clarion call to which all policy makers and all peoples of the Caribbean should respond positively.


Make no mistake, the Caribbean’s negotiators are tough on their stance and while they are willing to be flexible on several issues, some things are non-negotiable. The call for 1.5 to stay alive is one of those ‘non-negotiables.’ As they make the pilgrimage to Copenhagen to secure a sustainable and environmentally secure future for our Caribbean peoples, we wait for the deal – so critical to our livelihood and sustainable development - to be sealed.


Additional information: http://www.caricom.org/jsp/pressreleases/pres487_09.jsp


CCRIF and CDERA on disasters in the region

CCRIF and CDERA sign MoU surrounding disasters in the region

August 19, 2009 - The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) formalising a partnership to facilitate capacity building and to develop strategies for mitigating the physical and socio-economic impacts of natural disasters, such as hurricanes and earthquakes, on countries in the region.

Nineteen Caribbean governments will benefit from this MOU: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos, all currently members of both the CCRIF and CDERA; as well as CCRIF members: Bermuda, Cayman Islands, and Haiti and CDERA members: the British Virgin Islands, Guyana, and Montserrat.

Caribbean profile

A number of Caribbean countries are Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and so must face the vulnerabilities associated with their small size, which limit their economies and people’s ability to earn a living in dignified ways. One harsh aspect of the Caribbean reality is that increasingly, its women, men and children must brace themselves to face the destructive force of hurricanes and floods year after year, while governments and communities struggle to acquire the capacity to adequately mitigate and manage these risks.


The Caribbean region comprises a large number of small states with developing economies prone to both of the two main global catastrophe hazards, earthquakes and tropical cyclones (known in the wider Atlantic Basin as hurricanes). In these small states, single catastrophes can have a disproportionate effect on both the national and regional economies. Development is largely concentrated in coastal areas which are generally flat; these areas have relatively high exposure to hydro-meteorological hazards (particularly flooding) and to earthquake shaking (due to the nature of the soil/rock in these areas.) This fact, and the increasing impact of global climate change and sea-level rise on the frequency, intensity and potential impact of hydro-meteorological hazards, makes the adequate consideration of catastrophe hazards an important priority for governments in their pursuit of sustainable development. (Source: CCRIF, 2009)


The vulnerability of the Caribbean region to hydro- meteorological hazards such as hurricanes, floods, drought, high magnitude rainfall and related hazards such landslides is underscored. The recurrent impacts of these events have wreaked havoc on environment, economy and society throughout the region.


FAO initiative

Although the contribution of agriculture to Caribbean regional Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has steadily declined over the last two decades, this sector has remained a major employer of labour and as such a main player in the livelihood profile of the region. The extreme vulnerability of the agricultural sector to a variety of hazards/disaster has been a perpetual focus of hazard/disaster management and interventions in the Caribbean. Over the past decade, the FAO has regular responded to the relief/rehabilitation/reconstruction needs of the sector in the aftermath of hurricane-related disasters. While such response and rehabilitation interventions are important, the extent of devastation caused to the agricultural sector by the 2004-2005 hurricane seasons stresses the need to move from a reactive to a proactive mode in order to facilitate more long term and sustainable benefits form interventions. It is in recognition of the immense negative impact of the 2004 hurricane season on the agricultural landscape of the Caribbean region and in response to the urgent call for assistant from regional policy makers, that the FAO funded the regional project Assistance to improve local agricultural emergency preparedness in Caribbean countries highly prone to hydro-meteorological hazards/disasters.


Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and Grenada were among the worst affected countries by hurricane related disasters during 2004-2005, hence the urgent need to emphasize preparedness as a mitigation strategy for the impacts of these events. While the aforementioned countries, in particular Cuba, have advanced Disaster and Risk Management (DRM) frameworks that address preparedness and mitigation issues to different extent and involve a wide cross-section of stakeholders, there are still weaknesses in linking long-term development planning within the agricultural sector with the realities and projections of recurrent natural hazards/disasters and improving preparedness and mitigation measures. Over the last decade the Caribbean region has been experiencing a paradigm shift in this regard, with increased recognition of the importance and advantages of community-based disaster management planning.

Source: FAO, 2008


DRR in the Caribbean

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CDEMA (previously CDERA), is the main specialized body in the disaster risk management in the Caribbean, with 16 participating states and headquartered in Barbados. CDERA also assists in capacity building and formulation of policy in disaster risk reduction and it is the implementing agency for the Comprehensive Disaster Management Project (CDM).


The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) adopted (2001) a Strategy and Results Framework for the Comprehensive Disaster Management with the goal of linking the CDM to national development decision-making and planning. Five years after embracing the CDM against a background of recent global catastrophes, there is a recognized desire among disaster management stakeholders in the Caribbean to review the CDM achievements to date and revisit and sharpen its results focus, and to accelerate initiatives in promoting disaster risk and disaster loss reductions within the CDM in the Caribbean.


In the light of the outcomes of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction and the priorities identified by the Hyogo Framework for Action, and against the background of experiences in the region, CARICOM proposed to focus its programming around the critical actions needed to advance implementation of the five (5) Intermediate Results (IRs) of the 2001 CDM Strategy and Framework, which itself was also explicitly connected to the Bridgetown Programme of Action. Following review and participatory discussion the following thematic areas were selected for priority attention within CARICOM over the 2005-2015 periods.


Climate change

Although much work remains to be done to fully understand the impacts of climate change on the Caribbean, a consensus is emerging that severe events will likely become both more frequent and more severe; this may hold for hurricanes as well as non-cyclonic rainfall events. Evidence provided by the 2007 Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides overwhelming support of these changes occurring within the Caribbean. Similarly, predictions summarised in a position paper by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) released in 2008 indicate that by the end of the century temperatures within the region would have risen between +1.4° to +3.2°C with a greater than 66% probability of an increase in hurricane intensity. While these forecasts and predictions are useful, it is important to also recognise that the impact of climate change cannot be simply conceptualised or limited to being a possibility that might occur in the future. Its effects are already being directly felt within the Caribbean region. The rise in sea level and the increase in sea surface temperature already provide evidence of the increasing dangers being inflicted on these fragile environments and their economic and social landscape. The occurrence of sea level rise and the warming of oceans have a direct effect on wave and storm surge hazards independent of event frequency/severity changes and these are especially pronounced in the Caribbean where most of the population resides in close proximity to the coast.


Additionally, degradation of coral reefs as a result of coral bleaching due to higher sea temperatures has led to a reduction in the natural mitigation provided by reefs to coastal environments and in turn the surrounding coastal communities. The destructive impact of climate change on the coral reefs across the region has also resulted in irrevocable damage to the economic base of communities who rely heavily on the marine environment. The challenges created by climate change are therefore much more complex than simply changes in the physical environment within these islands. The challenges are intrinsically tied to physical, social and economic vulnerabilities which place a disproportionate burden on these small island developing states.


Although the islands of the Caribbean are marked by nuanced differences which define the social, economic and political fabric of each individual country, there are broad similarities which make the islands, as a collective, all vulnerable to the risks and impacts of climate change.


The fact that they all share similar economic and sustainable development challenges (consisting of low availability of resources, high debt, a small but rapidly growing population, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, excessive dependence on imports and vulnerability to global developments) enhances their vulnerabilities and reduces their resilience to climate change, particularly via the associated sea-level rise and enhanced climate variability and occurrence of extreme natural events.


The implication and impact of climate change on these predominantly island nations are therefore not simply physical but inherently tied to their economic and social viability. The deterioration in coastal environments, for example through beach erosion and coral bleaching, will significantly affect local resources such as the fishing industry as well as directly impacting on the value of the tourism industry.


Sea-level rise will result in an increase in storm surge inundation area, flood water height and wave damage, in turn resulting in enhanced levels of erosion and specific event impacts which threaten vital infrastructure, settlements and facilities that support the livelihood of most Caribbean communities. The increasing devastation and losses caused by natural disasters in the Caribbean is similarly reflected on a global scale, therefore highlight the increasing risk being created by climate change.


The reduction of potable water resources within small islands is yet another example of a threat that is not simply physical but could have potentially far reaching social, economic and political implications.


The 4th Assessment Report of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) concludes that small islands, including those in the Caribbean, face some of the highest levels of threats and risks from climate change and hence should focus on enhancing their resilience and implementing appropriate adaptation measures as a matter of urgency (UN-IPCC 2007; Chapter 16, page 4).


The utilisation of risk management as a tool to aid decision-making in an uncertain environment has the potential to greatly help the islands of the Caribbean to effectively adapt to the risks associated with climate change.


Investing in adaptation initiatives that reduce the impact of climate change is absolutely essential for the future viability and sustainability of the economies of the Caribbean. Risk management and by extension the utilisation of risk management tools and mechanisms will be critical in ensuring that effective adaptation measures against climate change are made even within the context of constrained resources and budgetary pressures.

(Source: CCRIF, 2009)

ISDR partner agencies in the Caribbean

CARICOM

The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)

In 1972, Commonwealth Caribbean leaders at the Seventh Heads of Government Conference decided to transform the Caribbean Free Trade Association (CARIFTA) into a Common Market and establish the Caribbean Community, of which the Common Market would be an integral part.


The signing of the Treaty establishing the Caribbean Community, Chaguaramas, 4th July 1973, was a defining moment in the history of the Commonwealth Caribbean. Although a free-trade area had been established, CARIFTA did not provide for the free movement of labour and capital, or the coordination of agricultural, industrial and foreign policies.


The objectives of the Community are:

i) to improve standards of living and work;
ii) the full employment of labour and other factors of production;
iii) accelerated, coordinated and sustained economic development and convergence;
iv) expansion of trade and economic relations with third States;
v) enhanced levels of international competitiveness;
vi) organisation for increased production and productivity;
vii) achievement of a greater measure of economic leverage and effectiveness of Member States in dealing with third States, groups of States and entities of any description and the enhanced co-ordination of Member States’ foreign and foreign economic policies and enhanced functional co-operation.


The Revised Treaty

In 1989, when the Heads of Government made the decision to transform the Common Market into a single market and economy in which factors move freely as a basis for internationally competitive production of goods and provision of services, it was also decided that for the transformation to take place, the Treaty would have to be revised.


In 1992, following the adoption of the report of the West Indian Commission, an Inter-governmental Task Force was established, to work on the revision of the Treaty.


Between 1993 and 2000, the Inter-Governmental Task Force (IGTF) which was composed of representatives of all Member States, produced nine Protocols, for the purpose of amending the Treaty. These nine Protocols were later combined to create a new version of the Treaty, called formally, The Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas Establishing the Caribbean Community, including the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.


Allowances have been made for the subsequent inclusion in the Revised Treaty, by way of additional Protocols, new issues such as e-commerce, government procurement, trade in goods from free zones, free circulation of goods, and the rights contingent on the free movement of persons.

See Revised Treaty (PDF)


CARICOM Secretariat

The CARICOM Secretariat is the principal administrative organ of the Community and is headed by a Secretary General who is the Chief Executive Officer of the Community. The current Secretary-General is Edwin W. Carrington (Trinidad and Tobago) who was appointed in 1992.


The main functions of the Secretariat are:

  • Initiate or develop proposals for consideration and decision by the relevant Organs
  • Initiate, organise and conduct studies
  • Provide, on request, services to Member States on Community-related matters
  • Service meetings of the Organs and Bodies of the Community and take appropriate follow-up action on decisions taken
  • Collect, store and disseminate relevant information to Member States
  • Assist Community Organs in the development and implementation of proposals and programmes
  • Mobilise resources from donor agencies to assist in the implementation of Community Programmes
  • Prepare the draft Work Programme and Budget of the Secretariat for examination by the Budget Committee
  • Provide, on request, technical assistance to national authorities to facilitate implementation of Community decisions; and
  • Conduct, as mandated, fact-finding assignments in Member States


Contact info:

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat

P.O. Box 10827, Georgetown, Guyana

Tel: (592) 222 0001-75 Fax: (592) 222 0171

E-mail: info@caricom.org

URL: http://www.caricom.org


Good practice: Environmental governance

The broad area of environmental governance involves creating policy and regulatory frameworks and institutional structures to promote environmental sustainability. Often these frameworks specify levels of environmental protection and call for means to monitor and enforce that protection. One of the best known and most widely applied tools is the use of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in project and investment planning and approval. Disaster risk considerations are now increasingly factored into EIAs. For example, the Caribbean Development Bank has integrated disaster risk into its EIAs and several Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) member countries, such as Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago, have already formalized these changes in the EIA process.

(Source: UNISDR; GAR, p. 164)

CDEMA

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA, formerly CDERA) is a regional inter-governmental agency established in September 1991 by an Agreement of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM to be responsible for disaster management. CDEMA's 18 Participating States: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos Islands. CDEMA is also the lead agency that is driving the agenda for Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) in the Caribbean.


Contact info:

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency

Bldg #1 Manor Lodge Complex

Lodge Hill, St. Michael

Barbados

Tel. No. (246)-425-0386, Fax No. (246)-425-8854

URL: http://www.cdema.org

ACS

The Association of Caribbean States (ACS) facilitates consultation, co-operation and concerted action among its Member States and Associate Members.

ACS Secretary General (2008): Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla

The Convention establishing the ACS was signed on 24 July 1994 in Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, with the aim of promoting consultation, cooperation and concerted action among all the countries of the Caribbean, comprising 25 Member States and three Associate Members. Eight other non-independent Caribbean countries are eligible for associate membership.


Member States: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela.


Associate Members: Aruba , France (on behalf of French Guiana , Guadeloupe and Martinique ), the Netherlands Antilles and Turks and Caicos


Observer Countries: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, Egypt, Finland, India, Italy, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Korea, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.


The objectives of the ACS are outlined in the Convention and are based on: 1) strengthening of the regional co-operation and integration process, with a view to creating an enhanced economic space in the region; 2) preserving the environmental integrity of the Caribbean Sea which is regarded as the common patrimony of the peoples of the region; and 3) promoting the sustainable development of the Greater Caribbean.

See: Full text of the ACS Convention


URL: http://www.acs-aec.org/


Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC)

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre coordinates the Caribbean region’s response to climate change. Officially opened in August 2005, the Centre is the key node for information on climate change issues and on the region’s response to managing and adapting to climate change in the Caribbean.

It is the official repository and clearing house for regional climate change data, providing climate change-related policy advice and guidelines to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States through the CARICOM Secretariat. In this role, the Centre is recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and other international agencies as the focal point for climate change issues in the Caribbean. It has also been recognised by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as a Centre of Excellence, one of an elite few. This reputation is a major honour for the Centre, and it should be a great source of pride for the people of the Caribbean as well.


Mission

Through its role as a Centre of Excellence, the Centre will support the people of the Caribbean as they address the impact of climate variability and change on all aspects of economic development through the provision of timely forecasts and analyses of potentially hazardous impacts of both natural and man-induced climatic changes on the environment, and the development of special programmes with create opportunities for sustainable development.

Initiatives

Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM)

In 2001, against the significant impacts, losses and dislocation, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), through broad based Stakeholder Consultations, adopted a Strategy and Results Framework for Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM). The goal was to link CDM to development decision-making. This moves away from the traditional “response and relief” mode to a comprehensive mode to include all hazards, all phases of the disaster management continuum, and all sectors of society. CDM has been accepted by CDERA member Governments as the new direction for the 21st century and is recognized as the appropriate infrastructure for engaging stakeholder coordination in disaster management.


Five (5) years after the embracing of CDM by the region and against a background of recent global catastrophes, there was an intense desire among disaster management Stakeholders in the Caribbean to accelerate initiatives in promoting disaster loss reduction. The revised and reengineered CDM Strategy presented and endorsed at the inaugural CDM Conference 2007 uses a results-based management approach with a focus on national and regional outcomes that will contribute to the implementation of the Hyogo Framework of Action and the Caribbean Community Regional Programming Framework 2005-2015. The overall goal of the CDM Strategy is Sustainable Development in the Caribbean.


The implementation of the CDM Strategy is structured around four regional outcomes, promoting a regional programming approach with stakeholder leadership and collaboration on thematic implementation areas.


The Enhanced CDM Framework which proposes four priority outcomes is based on three underpinning pillars: The Review and Assessment of the 2001 CDM Strategy and Framework; the global and regional disaster management agenda including the Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015; and the CARICOM Regional Programming Framework. The Intermediate Results of the 2001 Framework have been incorporated in the relevant places so as to ensure continuity and deepening of the CDM process which began in 2001. The Enhanced Framework is designed toward achieving the overarching Goal of Sustainable Development in the Caribbean.


The outcomes have been informed by the need for a strategic shift toward a programming framework which will foster collaboration among development partners and other key players as well as harmonization among the many projects, programs and initiatives in DRM within the Region. The draft revised CDM Framework was presented for feedback and endorsement in principle from the key stakeholders at the inaugural CDM conference held December 11th-14th, 2006 in Barbados.


The revised CDRM framework will be presented to the Board of CDERA, to national stakeholders at the country level, and to COTED in CARICOM. National Disaster Management Policies are needed in all countries with the exception of BVI and St Lucia, and prioritization at the highest levels within each state is an essential step. Development partners have undertaken to assess how the respective agencies can contribute to/support the CDRM process. Roles will need to be defined and institutional capacity for implementing/supporting CDRM within the respective agencies assessed.


See also:

Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF)

Grand Cayman, 1 July 2010 – All sixteen members of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have renewed their policies for hurricane and earthquake coverage for the 2010/11 year beginning on 1 June – the start of the hurricane season. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration forecast estimates an 85% chance of an above normal hurricane season this year. This could have serious implications for Caribbean islands and potential losses, especially given the poor economic conditions still affecting the region. This therefore makes the need for CCRIF even stronger.

For 2010/2011, policy pricing was again reduced as part of CCRIF’s planned strategy to minimise premium costs to its participating countries. Another change to the new policies is that they are now based on CCRIF’s second generation model which represents the levels of hurricane and earthquake risks faced in the Caribbean region at higher resolution than the initial model. For example, the hurricane model now explicitly includes losses due to storm surge. Completion of the new modelling platform will also enable CCRIF to more easily develop and implement additional products beyond hurricane and earthquake coverage, for example the excess rainfall product, which is expected to be available by year-end.


These two factors contributed to some changes in coverage characteristics selected by governments and also led to a general increase in coverage limits for the 2010/11 policies. Most countries maintained premiums at the same level as last year. As a result of increased appreciation of seismic risk following the Haiti earthquake in January, twelve countries increased their coverage limit for earthquakes.


In recognition of the exceptional fiscal challenges which the region continues to face this year due to the global economic crisis, CCRIF explored a number of channels to ease the premium burden on participants. This included internal mechanisms as well as engagement with the donor community. A number of countries were able to take advantage of these channels, and CCRIF will continue to pursue opportunities for providing assistance and attracting funding to build disaster resilience within its member governments and the broader Caribbean region.


Recognising that current policies provide a cost-effective solution for just one part of the larger comprehensive disaster management process, CCRIF continues to develop partnerships throughout the region and around the world to assist in better understanding and implementing a broad range of disaster risk management tools to support sustainable development in the face of growing natural catastrophe risk. CCRIF Corporate Communications


  • About CCRIF:

CCRIF is a risk pooling facility, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean for Caribbean governments. It is designed to limit the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes to Caribbean governments by quickly providing short term liquidity when a policy is triggered. It is the world’s first and, to date, only regional fund utilising parametric insurance, giving Caribbean governments the unique opportunity to purchase earthquake and hurricane catastrophe coverage with lowest-possible pricing. CCRIF represents a paradigm shift in the way governments treat risk, with Caribbean governments leading the way in pre-disaster planning. CCRIF was developed through funding from the Japanese Government, and was capitalised through contributions to a multi-donor Trust Fund by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the UK and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments.


Sixteen governments are currently members of CCRIF: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Trinidad & Tobago and the Turks & Caicos Islands.


The CCRIF is a regional insurance facility owned and operated by 16 Caribbean governments: Anguilla (UK), Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda (UK), Cayman Islands (UK), Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Turks and Caicos (UK).


The facility insures the governments against the impacts of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes and allows them to access liquidity at short notice using parametric triggers. For earthquakes the triggers are based on USGS data on the location, intensity and likelihood of damage to the member countries. For hurricanes the triggers are based on data from the US National Hurricane Center on hurricane paths and wind intensity.


CCRIF has three main aims:

  • To cover the post-disaster liquidity gap faced by governments between immediate emergency aid and long-term redevelopment assistance
  • To enable governments to receive money quickly, with the payout calculated completely objectively
  • To minimise the burden of governments to provide exposure information prior to coverage being initiated and loss information after a disaster


Start-up activities have been supported by the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank and the Governments of Canada, France and the UK. By pooling their risk the governments have man¬aged to reduce their individual insurance premium by up to 40%.


To date the CCRIF has made payouts in response to two events – US$ 418,976 to the St Lucian Government and US$ 528,021 to the Dominican Government as a result of the magnitude 7.4 earthquake close to Martinique in November 2007, and US$ 6.3 million to the Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands after Hurricane Ike in September 2008.

(Source: UNISDR; GAR, Box 6.10, p. 161)

Caribbean Risk Management Initiative (CRMI)

The Caribbean Risk Management Initiative (CRMI) was launched by the UNDP’s Bureau of Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) and Regional Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean (RBLAC) in 2004 as an umbrella programme designed to build capacity across the Caribbean region for the management of climate-related risk. The CRMI is led by the Cuba and Barbados/OECS UNDP Country Offices, in close collaboration with partners and other UNDP Country Offices in the region.


As part of the UNDP strategy for knowledge management, the CRMI provides a platform for coordinating and sharing knowledge and experiences on risk management throughout the Caribbean, across language groups and cultures. Our premise is that the most sustainable way forward involves finding and sharing the lessons learned here in the region.

URL: www.undp.org.cu/crmi/

Caribbean Platform Programme (CPP)

A proposal, “The Caribbean Platform Programme” (CPP) was presented by UN/ISDR Americas during the 12th Meeting of the Special Committee on Natural Disasters of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), in August 2006. Building from the foundational work of the CDM, and sharing two of its main goals, the CPP directly targets to alleviate some of the regions long standing challenges hindering the realization of the most effective national and regional Disaster Risk Reduction.


Additionally, it focuses on strengthening the structures and processes towards more integrative risk reduction, and furthering the mainstreaming of DRR into sustainable development planning and policies. Towards the realization of the most recent regional DRR declarations (Kingston 2005, Havana 2005,) as well as internationally accepted DRR and broader sustainable development frameworks, CPP is a highly practical and product oriented effort in affecting real and sustainable positive change in the Caribbean. Including participation with all countries in the Wider Caribbean, and operating in English, French and Spanish, this four-year programme in region-wide collaboration, builds directly upon past and on-going relevant initiatives, working in association with international and regional organizations and directly with national communities in multi-stakeholder and multi-sector –oriented activities in the areas of national assessments and capacity building, regional harmonization and collaboration, information standardization and information management, partnerships and networking, education training and knowledge development and exchange.


Programme partners are ACS, CDERA, UNDP, and UN/ISDR.

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Regional profile 2008

Hydrometeorological hazards & hurricane season 2008

As of early October, the Caribbean region experienced, during the 2008 hurricane season, intense hurricane activity associated with three hurricanes in twelve days that resulted in multiple impacts to several islands. The Bahamas, Cuba, Haiti, Jamaica and the Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) were all affected between August 26 and September 9, 2008 by more than one tropical system which caused severe damage to property and infrastructure and in Haiti also claimed the lives of hundreds of persons. Torrential rains in Trinidad and Tobago caused flooding and the death of one person. Rains also caused landslides in Saint Vincent and Grenadines and took the life of one person.


2008 Hurricane Season Map (as of Nov. 10); ReliefWeb:

Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Hanna, Hurricane Ike, Intense hurricane Paloma, Tropical Storm Fay.


Geological hazards & recent events

The Soufriere Hills Volcano in Montserrat is active. An earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 on the Richter scale occurred off the coast of Martinique in November 2007, shaking countries from Guyana in the south to Puerto in the North.

Again this year the extent of the impact of these hazards on the economies and society in the Caribbean is strongly felt. Significant damage has been reported to the built environment, including schools, hospitals, roads and bridges. Over 90% of houses were damaged in Grand Turk and South Caicos in the Turks and Caicos Islands by Hurricane Ike, while 25% of the houses in Great Inagua in the Bahamas sustained damage. In Haiti, an estimated 30,000 houses were damaged from the impacts of Hurricanes Hanna and Gustav; while in Cuba an estimated 100,000 homes sustained damage from Gustav. Flooding from Hurricane Gustav in Jamaica caused the collapse of the Harbour View Bridge which spans the Hope River. There was also very significant damage to hospitals, schools and other public buildings, roads and the electricity system in Turks and Caicos.

The repeated devastation to critical infrastructure resulting from the impacts of such events has consistently setback regional development. Protection of the Caribbean's critical infrastructure must therefore become a pillar of efforts to build a culture of resilience.

Source: Message from CDERA Coordinator, Jeremy Collymore - International Day for Disaster Reduction; October 8, 2008


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Related documents and links

UWI's Disaster Risk Reduction Centre strives to be a multi disciplinary Centre of Excellence in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Management in the Caribbean and globally, especially in Small Island States. It's objectives are as follows:
1. Provide the leadership that drives the rationalization, integration, and development of all initiatives in disaster risk reduction and disaster management within the University of the West Indies;
2. Mobilize resources, to supplement those provided by the University of the West Indies, to advance the university’s disaster management programme; and
3. Develop partnerships and other collaborative mechanisms that allow the University, its students and staff to maximize the effectiveness of their interventions in disaster management to advance sustainable development in the Caribbean region.


The Seismic Research Centre is the official source of information for earthquakes and volcanoes in the English-speaking Eastern Caribbean.


The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) was established by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government in July 2002 to coordinate the Caribbean region’s response to climate change. The center is located in Belmopan, Belize1, where it works to help establish greater of climate resilience within the Caribbean region.
The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre coordinates the Caribbean region’s response to climate change. Officially opened in August 2005, the Centre is the key node for information on climate change issues and on the region’s response to managing and adapting to climate change in the Caribbean. It is the official repository and clearing house for regional climate change data, providing climate change-related policy advice and guidelines to the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States through the CARICOM Secretariat. In this role, the Centre is recognised by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and other international agencies as the focal point for climate change issues in the Caribbean. It has also been recognised by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) as a Centre of Excellence.


The Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) is a training and research organisation formed by the amalgamation of the Caribbean Meteorological Institute (CMI) and Caribbean Operational Hydrological Institute (COHI). Responsibility for the operation of the Institute rests with the sixteen (16) Commonwealth Governments which comprise the CMO.
The role and mission of the CIMH is to improve the meteorological and hydrological services and to assist in promoting the awareness of the benefits of these services for the economic well-being of the CMO countries. This is achieved through training, research and investigations, and the provision of specialised services and advice.


The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) is a risk pooling facility, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean for Caribbean governments. It is designed to limit the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes and earthquakes to Caribbean governments by quickly providing short term liquidity when a policy is triggered. It is the world’s first and, to date, only regional fund utilising parametric insurance, giving Caribbean governments the unique opportunity to purchase earthquake and hurricane catastrophe coverage with lowest-possible pricing.
CCRIF came about as the direct result of Caribbean governments’ consideration of their exposure to catastrophe hazards, as vividly demonstrated in the summer of 2004 when Hurricane Ivan crossed the Caribbean Sea, causing major damage in Grenada, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands. At a special meeting of the heads of government of the members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM),to consider actions after Ivan, a formal request was made to the World Bank to assist in development of a government insurance programme.
Sixteen governments are currently members of CCRIF: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and the Turks and Caicos Islands.
On 19 August, 2009, CCRIF and CDEMA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which formalised a partnership between the two agencies aimed at strengthening the region’s resilience to disasters. Under the agreement, CDEMA and CCRIF will promote and introduce new initiatives to assist regional governments in understanding and financing catastrophe risk exposure and to promote the sharing of information on the hazards.
See also CCRIF's Strategic Plan 2009 - 2012


Deadly western North Atlantic Ocean tsunami events in the last centuries have occurred along the east coast of Canada, the United States, most Caribbean islands, and the North Atlantic Coast of South America. The catastrophic Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 reminded natural hazards managers that tsunami risk is endemic to all oceans. Total Risk is defined as hazard (frequency of tsunami events) times measures of elements at risk (human exposure) times measures of vulnerability (preparedness) in a given epoch (Nott, 2006). While the tsunami hazard in the Caribbean (averaging 19 ± 22 years between deadly events) is lower than Pacific coastal areas, the total risk to life and property is at least as high as the USA West Coast, Hawaii, or Alaska, because of the higher Caribbean population density and beach tourism so attractive to more than 35 million visitors a year. Viewed in this light, the allocation of resources by governments, industry, and insurers needs to be adjusted for the better protection of life, for coastal engineering, and for infrastructure.
Source: X. William Proenza and George A. Maul; Science of Tsunami Hazards, Vol. 29, No. 2, page 70 (2010)


With the acceleration of global climate change, and given the vulnerability of Caribbean countries, the increasing risk posed by a range of natural, environmental and technological hazards remains one of the region’s most critical unresolved development problems. The integration of risk reduction into the human development framework is essential. The Hyogo Framework for Action, approved in January 2005 as an outcome of the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, guides the UNDP’s collaboration in this area and is a decisive step forward in putting disaster risk reduction on the international agenda.
The UNDP dedicates resources to working with national partners to integrate disaster risk assessments into national development plans and coordination mechanisms for managing and reducing risk. In the Caribbean region, UNDP supports such objectives through the Bureau for Crisis Prevention and Recovery (BCPR) and the Caribbean Risk Management Initiative (CRMI).
CRMI actively facilitates the integration of a gender perspective in the field and is pleased to present the findings of the project ‘Enhancing Gender Visibility in Caribbean Risk Management’ conducted in six different Caribbean countries. The study provides an analysis of gender considerations in national disaster management institutions and mechanisms as well as assesses the relationship between gender, climate change factors and subsequent implications for risk management. The main findings of this research provide concrete recommendations to move forward with the incorporation of a gender perspective in national risk management policies.


The UNDP Human Development Report 2007/2008 notes that ‘climate change is not just a future scenario. Increased exposure to droughts, floods and storms is already destroying opportunities and reinforcing inequalities’. It is people living in poverty who are disproportionately affected by climate change, as they struggle to survive day to day. Worldwide, the majority of these poor are women, and the children and elderly dependent on them for sustenance. Such climate change impacts are magnified in the Caribbean, as a number of Caribbean countries are Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and thus face vulnerabilities associated with their size and geography, fragile resource base and limited development options.
The main objective of this publication is to make visible the inherent gender issues in the experience, management and adaptation to risk in the Caribbean region. The development dilemma posed by climate change cannot be addressed adequately without analyzing and responding to how these risks impact women and men differently. Each have distinct socially prescribed roles with corresponding activities, resulting in a differentiated lived experience. In order for risk management polices and practices to be effective, these differences – as well as the varied coping and adaptation strategies - must be taken into account. We can learn lessons on how best to undertake this necessary adaptation if we examine these practices and understand better their relation to each gender.
Objective 3 of the Millennium Development Goals – a framework of paramount importance for the United Nations and the entire international community – is ‘to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment’.






Origins of CDM - In the English speaking Caribbean, UNDP supported a highly successful cost sharing initiative with the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (USAID/OFDA), the UNDP Office for the Eastern Caribbean located in Barbados and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), to develop a for the Caribbean region and to strengthen the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) to spearhead the implementation and promotion of this strategy at the national level.
This joint initiative aimed at integrating the CDM into the Development Process of CDERA member states, within the overall goal of furthering “Sustainable Development in the Caribbean”. The strategy was developed through interactive dialogue among key stakeholders in the public and private sectors, donor and multilateral organizations, civil society and multilevel financial institutions. It provided an important standard for stakeholder cooperation and a useful platform for pro-actively addressing disaster reduction issues within the context of development planning. The CDM strategy development process in itself was a significant step towards developing national agendas for disaster management in the region.
Since its adoption at a regional conference in June 2001, the CDM Strategy has been presented to at least nine national consultations for adoption at the national level. These consultations have been characterized by high-level participation of political leaders, including Heads of Government and in some cases with the participation of senior decision makers from public and private sectors. In the British Virgin Islands (BVI) the Government has already integrated the CDM process into its National Integrated Development Strategy and national legislation has been enhanced to support the intersectoral dialogue Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy (CDM).


Hurricane forecasts:


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