Confronting climate change: a shared and global responsibility.

AuthorMiller, Portia Simpson

Climate change is recognized as a most serious threat facing humanity. No one is immune to its effects. The impact of climate variability and climate change on human and natural systems poses serious challenges to our objective of reducing poverty and achieving sustainable development.

As stated in the preamble to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), "the global nature of climate change calls for the widest possible cooperation by all countries and their participation in an effective and appropriate international response, in accordance with their common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and their social and economic conditions".

In recent times, natural disasters and severe weather conditions have taken centre stage, touching lives and disrupting economic activities in both developed and developing countries. We can recall the Indian Ocean tsunami that affected Southeast Asia, floods and droughts of unimaginable magnitude in all parts of the world, the increased intensity of hurricanes in the North Atlantic and the Caribbean, and earthquakes in northern Pakistan and India. We are all at risk, although the vulnerability indices show that small island developing States like Jamaica are three times more susceptible than developed countries to the negative impacts of climate change.

Jamaica's economy and its social and physical infrastructure have, on numerous occasions, been impacted negatively by natural disasters, including storms of increased frequency and intensity. Furthermore, adapting to climate change and climate variability is a costly undertaking, which often goes beyond the financial capacity and resources of many Governments. Therefore, it is important that the various commitments from the international community become a reality.

Like many other countries in the Caribbean, Jamaica has embarked on a number of projects, with a view to building capacity to cope with the effects of climate change. Our limited individual efforts, however, can only take us so far. The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) has already pooled its efforts to establish the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre. Located in Belize, the Centre assists in "mainstreaming" climate change issues in the development planning of countries in the region. It also provides expert forecasts and analysis of the potentially hazardous impacts of climate change and promotes special programmes that create opportunities...

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