Climate change workshop at Trincity

Rickey Singh
Sunday, August 23rd 2009

Some 30 regional scientists are in Trinidad and Tobago to train in use of tools to better prepare the Caribbean for droughts, hurricanes and flooding associated with intense rainfall and rising sea levels associated with climate change.

The two-week workshop, organised by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre and CARDI opened last Monday and continues until August 26 at the Bureau of Standard Building (Premier Quality Services Ltd Maracas Conference Room), Trincity, Trinidad.

It is funded by the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR).

"The workshop is timely as the recent extensive losses to crops and livestock with torrential rains and resulting flooding makes it imperative for preventative measures to increase and protect the security of our food supplies against any potential negative impacts that erratic weather and climate patterns could have on the region's agriculture sector," executive director of CARDI, Dr Arlington Chesney said.

Noting that Trinidad and Tobago will host the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in November this year, Chesney explained that vulnerability of Caribbean small-island states with the need to increase skills and expertise to map climate change were tabled at a meeting of Commonwealth Environment Ministers in 2007. Climate change issues have been on the CHOGM agenda since Abuja (2003), Malta 2005) and Uganda (2007).

The workshop will look at ways to recognise vulnerability associated with climate change. It aims at building the capacity of the region by using modern tools to address the problem.

"The choice of agriculture is strategic. It is critical to the long-term sustainability and resilience of countries in the region. By looking at agriculture, interventions in a wide range of sectors can also be encompassed, including forests and natural ecosystems, water resources, livestock, integrated assessments and agrometeorology," Dr Ulric Trotz of the 5 C's said.

"In recent years and especially since the beginning of this century, adverse meteorological and climate conditions have done a lot of damage in this area of the world seriously affecting the region's food security and farmers' livelihood."

Source: http://www.trinidadexpress.com/index.pl/article_news?id=161521652