Over a dozen regional journalists gathered at the Royalton Antigua on Monday for the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) 1-day climate change media sensitization workshop.
This event, which is in collaboration with the Caribbean Broadcasting Union (CBU), with funding from the European Union , is held on the margins of the CBU’s Annual General Assembly and supports the overall theme “Celebrating the Contribution of Media to Caribbean Development”.
Presenting on the topic of climate change current facts and things to know– including why 1.5 is important for the Caribbean, Executive Director of CCCCC Dr. Colin Young says while there has been improvements in reporting on climate change, very little analysis of what people are experiencing in the region is being done.
“Climate change is the greatest challenge of our generation and it has multiple impacts in space and places.
July 2023 had almost 15 of the hottest days ever on record.
Were at 1.1 degree celsius and if we don’t take serious action we will have a very uncertain future. We are already suffering massive impacts at 1.1, Dr. Young stated.
There have been a number of pledges and commitments from countries to reduce the global temperature over the past few years but they have been slow in taking action to do so.
Dr. Young added that climate change is also having an impact on the mental health of young people whether we want to admit it or not.
Climate change is affecting every part of the Caribbean and though contributing less than 1% of total emissions, the Caribbean suffers disproportionately from climate change impacts.
The Caribbean is a region extremely vulnerable to climate change especially with it’s collective reliance on tourism and it nature based economies.
An Enhancing Climate Resilience project being implemented by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre targets 16 CARIFIRUM countries with the objectives of:
- To strengthen the climate observation and monitoring networks in CARIFIRUM
- Enhance the Caribbean’s climate resilient water infrastructure for water security
- Implement a capacity building education and outreach program
- Detail a Climate Risk Management Framework in the region
Antigua and Barbuda is one of the project’s participating countries .
I hope this brings about some change in their reporting and how it really affects we the piblic