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Statement by Edwin Carrington, Secretary General, CARICOM
On behalf of the the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) I wish to congratulate the World Meteorological
Organization for this timely meeting, which comes on the eve of the UN Copenhagen Climate Change
Conference (COP-15), in December 2009. As the global community is aware, adapting to and mitigating
the impacts of climate change are critical to the survival of the Caribbean.
Recently, the region has experienced extensive environmental and socioeconomic impacts from storms
and hurricanes that have significantly slowed development activities in several countries. This, coupled with
the conclusions of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change and
regional studies that indicate that climate change will lead to a future with higher sea levels, hotter climates
and more extreme weather events, justifies our fears about the impacts of climate change on our already
vulnerable climate-based economies, ecological systems and way of life.
In 2009 the World Bank noted that by approximately 2080 the cumulative annual impact of future
climate change on all CARICOM Member and Associate Member States will be around 11.3 per cent of
the projected cumulative gross domestic product. This ratio is too large and will slow future sustainable
development in the region.
With the assistance of the international community, the region is aggressively pursuing climate change
mitigation and adaptation strategies through existing, as well as new institutions, such as the Caribbean
Community Climate Change Centre and through collective regional policies. The region believes, however,
that the global architecture on climate change should be restructured and will assertively raise its concerns in
international fora such as COP-15.
Edwin Carrington
Secretary General, CARICOM