The small island nations of the Caribbean are among those most vulnerable to extreme weather events and sea level rise. Their economies are also heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels. That’s why climate compatible development features high on the political agenda, and why the Caribbean Community Secretariat of 18 nations (CARICOM) produced a climate change strategy and roadmap for action.

CDKN and DFID partnered with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) to develop the strategy and roadmap into a detailed Implementation Plan for the Regional Framework for Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change. The implementation plan was developed through a process of consultation that extended over a period starting 1st September 2010 and ending 30th June 2011, with national governments, regional institutions, the private sector, civil societies and international donor agencies.

The Implementation Plan defines the regional strategy for coping with climate change and it is intended to:

1) Be a one-stop roadmap supporting the region’s efforts in its Low Carbon Development (LCD) and climate change resilience initiatives.

2) Be a living document subject to revision as necessary to meet the needs of individual Member States.

3) Provide the basis for developing a set of bankable projects, a request from the Heads of government, for funding under the various funding mechanisms of the UNFCCC.

The Implementation Plan was endorsed by the CARICOM Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on September 2011, and approved by Heads of State on the Twenty Third Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community, held in Paramaribo, Suriname 8 - 9 March 2012.

Key elements of the implementation plan include:

1) The ‘three-ones’ approach to resource mobilisation that has been used successfully by the Pan Caribbean Partnership (PANCAP) on HIV/AIDS to deliver transformational change with limited resources has been adapted to guide the development of the implementation plan.

2) The institutional and governance building blocks have been elaborated in the document which calls for the establishment of the Liliendaal Bureau to coordinate the implementation of the Plan. The Bureau was chaired by the Head of Government with responsibility for sustainable and disaster risk reduction.

3) Identification of specific roles for national governments, regional institutions, the private sector and financial institutions.

4) Recommendations for the adoption of a risk management approach for building climate resilience in national development plans and actions.

Beyond the implementation plan as a strategic output, the process for its creation was valuable in itself. The country visits allowed the CCCCC to engage with key decision-makers in all CARICOM member countries, enabling them to raise awareness about the relationship between climate change and development goals. Kenrick Leslie, Executive Director for CCCCC, emphasised that “country visits helped to increase the “audience” for climate compatible development issues and reinforces the idea that climate change is not exclusively an environmental problem”.

CDKN was involved in both regional and national levels, supporting implementation of certain activities in selected countries in the following months.

CDKN also supported the CCCCC to improve knowledge management on climate and development issues in the Caribbean by consolidating information to be dispersed and fragmented. The database and online tool provides decision-makers with useful information and has established CCCCC as an important regional knowledge hub.

To learn more about the process and lessons learned, see the Knowledge Brief: ‘Delivering transformational change: A plan to achieve development resilient to climate change in the Caribbean’.

Project Updates

December 2011: The Caribbean Community Climate Change Center developed the Knowledge Brief: ‘Delivering transformational change: A plan to achieve development resilient to climate change in the Caribbean’, which they brought to COP 17 in Durban, South Africa.

January 2012: Caribbean Regional Research Diagnostic  - Climate change and development research capacities and regional priorities in the Caribbean

June 2012:

- Implementation Plan for the Regional Framework for Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change

- Executive summary on the Implementation Plan

- CCCCC introduces 'A risk management approach to decision-making in the Caribbean' knowledge brief. The document describes how decision-making processes based on risk management will help Caribbean leaders rise to the challenge. The authors argue that decision-making always has subjective and political elements. The only way to build true climate resilience, the authors say, is to address climate change within the broader context of the Caribbean’s aspirations for growth and sustainable development.

Project funding: £650,000