GEORGETOWN, Guyana – President Dr. Irfaan Ali Monday said Guyana is sacrificing billions of dollars (One Guyana dollar=US$0.004 cents) to protect its forests which are almost the size of England and Scotland combined.

LONDON, UK – The London-based Commonwealth Secretariat says it is supporting moves by the St. Lucia government to roll out fresh projects that aim to boost the flow of climate finance into the country.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana – Guyana and the European Union (EU) on Thursday, agreed on a detailed roadmap for implementing the Guyana-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which aims to improve forest governance and verify the trade in legal timber.

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) has urged people not to tamper or remove equipment used for monitoring the La Soufriere volcano that erupted in April last year, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people.

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent – The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, on the advice of scientists from the Seismic Research Centre, University of the West Indies, lowered the volcanic alert level at La Soufriere from yellow to green, effective Wednesday.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Barbados’ early warning capacity and its ability to alert the public about impending hazards has been significantly enhanced with the installation of a new radar system to the tune of approximately BDS$3.5 million (US$1.75 million) that will be ready in time for the July start of the Atlantic hurricane season.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica’s climate and disaster resilience capacities have been strengthened with the development of a Bush Fire Warning Index and Management System.

PARAMARIBO, Suriname – Heavy rains have caused widespread flooding in the interior of this Dutch-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) country, affecting thousands of people, disaster officials have said.

UNITED NATIONS – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries are maintaining their position of wanting more inclusive and participatory governance structures for ocean management under the new instrument, as negotiation resumed at the United Nations on an international legally binding instrument under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – The Barbados-based Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF) Wednesday said a persistent weak La Nina pattern is expected to continue during the next three months, which may drive increasing uncertainty into the seasonal rainfall forecast.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaicans will soon be held financially responsible for correcting activities that pollute the environment under the ‘Polluter Pays’ principle.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – The University of the West Indies (UWI) Mona campus says it intends to plant 2, 300 trees as part of the National Tree Planting Initiative.