Climate Exchange

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Climate services and disaster risk

reduction in the Caribbean

David A. Farrell, Ph.D, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology, Husbands, St. James, Barbados

ong term climate change and increasing climate variabil-

ity globally are presenting unprecedented challenges to

societies worldwide. These new challenges threaten the

sustainable development of all nations, but more so, the devel-

opment of developing and least developed countries by reversing

gains made towards achieving the Millennium Development

Goals. It is generally accepted that sustaining development in all

countries will require a focused effort to integrate the best climate

information available into national, regional and global activities.

The Global Framework for Climate Services (GFCS) is one of

the several lasting legacies of the 3rd World Climate Conference

(WCC-3) held in 2009 and represents a paradigm shift in the way

climate information is developed, distributed and integrated into

planning activities. The Framework aims to be transformational as

it is expected to transform the operations of National Meteorological

and Hydrological Services and affiliated institutions by strengthening

their ability to generate and distribute targeted climate products and

services through greater interaction with users of such information.

The factors driving the development of the GFCS are well docu-

mented in this publicaton. The GFCS conceptualization outlined the

following prerequisites for the delivery of effective climate services

(i) the services must be provided at time and space scales that the

user needs, (ii) services must be delivered regularly and on time, (iii)

products and services must be readily usable by the user commu-

nity, (iv) products and services must be credible and authentic so that

user community will embrace them in decision making processes, (v)

services should be responsive and flexible to accommodate changing

needs and (vi) the development of products and services must be

sustainable. Meeting these prerequisites and sustaining such efforts

requires a range of commitments including foremost long term finan-

cial, policy and political commitments as well as the establishment

of new and innovative interactions between various actors and new

models for doing business.

The GFCS offers many new opportunities for local, national,

regional and global communities with many of these opportunities

being focused in the least developed countries and developing coun-

tries whose socioeconomic development are strongly influenced by

weather and climatic factors. A significant challenge will be the

ability of many countries and regions to adapt and integrate many

of the opportunities that will be made available through the GFCS

into their national activities.

The Caribbean region is expected to derive significant benefits from

the implementation of the GFCS as all countries fall within the catego-

ries of developing countries and least developing countries with climate

sensitive economies. The region is recognized as being extremely prone

to natural disasters. The World Bank estimates that from

1979-2008, aggregate economic losses due to storms were

estimated at US$16.6 billion, or US$613 million annually.

The relationship between climate services and disaster

risk reduction in the English-speaking Caribbean is criti-

cal and strengthening this relationship by implementing

and sustaining actions consistent with the GFCS is

essential for the long term socioeconomic development

of the English-speaking Caribbean. Recognizing this

relationship, the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology &

Hydrology (CIMH) works with partners to develop suites

of climate products and services to support disaster risk

reduction.

The English-speaking Caribbean

The English-speaking Caribbean consists of Belize,

Trinidad and Tobago, Grenada, St. Vincent and the

Grenadines, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Antigua

and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, Anguilla, the Virgin

Islands, Montserrat, Turks and Caicos Islands, Jamaica,

the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas. Guyana is often

consider part of the English-speaking Caribbean,

because of its shared history of colonization and post

colonization development.

Most countries of the English-speaking Caribbean

are small islands developing states with the majority

having achieved their political independence from the

UK within the last 50 years. All countries are either

full Members or Associate Members of the Caribbean

Community

(www.caricom.org

). Political independ-

ence has meant that countries are responsible for

financing their socio-economic development. Difficult

choices are made annually with regards to the alloca-

tion of budgetary resources to various activities based

on identified national priorities. Although disaster risk

reduction is often cited by national governments in the

English-speaking Caribbean as important, those local

and regional institutions that support disaster risk

reduction associated with climate and weather hazards

are often under-funded. Such institutions are expected

to derive benefits from the GFCS in the areas of training

and equipment procurement among others. However,

acquiring the level of human resources essential to

transform these institutions to sustain the delivery of

the products and services required to support the GFCS

is expected to be a challenge if appropriate levels of

isaster

isk

eduction