Dominica PM Urges CARICOM to Collaborate More on Climate Change

ROSEAU, Dominica –Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit is calling on CARICOM countries to learn from the experiences of other regional blocs like Asia and the Pacific particularly as it relates to dealing with the impact of climate change.

Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit (Center) at the High Level Conference on Building a Science and Data Based Agenda for Decision-making on Resilience in the Caribbean (CMC Photo)“Dominica is fully prepared to share the lessons and experiences from its efforts at becoming the first climate resilient nation in the world,” Skerrit told the opening of the two-day High Level Conference on Building a Science and Data Based Agenda for Decision-making on Resilience in the Caribbean on Thursday night.

Skerrit told the event organized by the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD), the Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research and the Organization of American States (OAS) that it is his country’s firm desire to see the Caribbean become the first climate resilient region in the world.

“And so, I’m putting out a challenge to our regional organizations like CARICOM, CANARI, CIMH, CDEMA, the 5 C’s, and others like the OAS and NOAA to set up a climate-resilient action learning program around the activities of CREAD ,”  Skerrit said.

“So serious am I about this that I intend to table resolutions on this, first in my Cabinet and Parliament and thereafter in the OECS and CARICOM. We must learn together, or we will stagnate apart,” he added.

Skerrit told the ceremony that the reality is that climate change is already upon the region and while “we are already dealing with its impacts, not only are we seeing stronger, larger, more frequent storms, but more intense droughts, record heat waves, invasive species, among others.

“The fact that the world’s major polluters are not taking sufficient action to halt global warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius, makes it imperative that we accelerate action and our own efforts towards building resilience.”

He said next month, the world will gather in Egypt for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 27) to discuss these issues.

“We hope that the data that is continuously being generated, will provide the impetus to countries to significantly cut their emissions. We in the Caribbean are doing our part, but our contribution to global warming is negligible, compared to the corresponding impact on us.

“I hope that the recommendations that will come forth from your discussions over these two days, will provide valuable insight and a pathway for ensuring that the actions that we take to build our collective resilience in the region, is informed by the best science available.”

Skerrit said that consistent with the resilience building agenda of his country, he is fully committing himself and the government to the outcomes of the conference here.

“I am mindful that it has benefitted from the input of expertise from national, regional and international agencies. We will intercede where necessary and required with intergovernmental organizations and international financial institutions, to mobilize support for this initiative.”

He said that the latest Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) observed that human induced climate change, including more frequent and intense extreme climate events have caused widespread adverse impacts, and related losses and damage to the natural environment and people. “Dominica has had more than its share from these disastrous climate events. Within the past seven years we have had two major destructive cyclones. Tropical Storm Erika in 2015, and Hurricane Maria in 2017. Together, these two weather systems erased more than 300 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).”

He said in the aftermath of Erika, nine communities were declared disaster areas, with two of these communities requiring immediate evacuation and resettlement.

“We were still in the process of rebuilding post Erika when Category 5 Hurricane Maria struck. The lives lost from these two weather systems was approximately 100 people. Our beautiful island has suffered from cascading natural disasters and to compound this, we are still navigating through the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. “

Skerrit said that as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS) with an open economy, Dominica is vulnerable both to the devastation of climate change, and the disruption brought about by external shocks.

“Perhaps conversely, as a result of our small size, we are perhaps best placed to develop an all of society approach and devise workable solutions. Confronted by these challenges and their negative consequences, we have expressed a bold vision to build our country as the first climate resilient nation in the world.

“We have established the policy, strategic and planning framework, to give meaning and life to this vision. We have also established the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica to guide our resilience journey. Much has been achieved in the five years since Maria.”

Skerrit said that the experience from successive weather systems has demonstrated the vulnerability of the island’s critical assets to floods and landslide damage.

“We have carefully studied the characteristics of these occurrences, and have incorporated into our rebuilding process, resilience measures to mitigate losses. The protection of our people and their livelihoods is paramount.

“As you deliberate on the various challenges that we face in making our region more resilient, you must bear in mind the issues of citizen resiliency, and how we can provide relevant and timely information to them, that will help them make decisions to build their own resilience, and that of their communities.

Ladies and gentlemen, there are substantial issues that must be addressed to make Dominica, and indeed our Caribbean region more resilient, particularly to the impacts of climate change. I am therefore extremely pleased that these conversations are taking place now. Science and data must drive both our mitigation and adaptation actions. We must act not only on what we know now, but what the science tells us that we must prepare for in the future, as our planet continues to warm.”

He said he is encouraged to know that one of the topics of discussion at this conference is “Building Resilience with Geospatial Intelligence”.

“It is of vital importance that we are able to adequately assess our risk, and have access to credible and accurate data sources, that will inform actions to minimize and mitigate the impacts of disasters, and improve our resilience, particularly to extreme weather events.

“Ultimately, how well we weather and bounce back from extreme events will depend on how prepared we are, and having the right data that informs our actions, is critical to that process,” Skerrit added.

Among the aims of the conference here is to identify critical gaps in the availability and use of science-based data to support decision making on vulnerability reduction and resilience building in the Caribbean.

It is also intended to assess good practice and lessons learned from national, regional, and global resilience building as well as develop an agenda of collaboration among Caribbean governments and regional and international agencies to address these critical data gaps in the short, medium, and long term.