Resilience after climate change: Fact or Fiction?
Just two weeks ago, business magnate and global philanthropist, Richard Branson, launched the Climate Change Accelerator for countries in the Caribbean region. This comes off the heels of the creation of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Coalition formed by the region’s leaders to create the world’s first “climate-smart zone.” It came as a response to the destruction left by hurricanes Irma and Maria. CARICOM members led a financing campaign that would lead to re-building stronger, more resilient societies and received a pledging of US $8 billion across the span of five years.
But what does climate resiliency mean- and how does it affect the most vulnerable in society? In the Caribbean, we have seen time and time again, that storms have gravely affected the most under-developed areas, and in St. Lucia’s case, most of these areas lie in the south of the island. It makes me wonder what plans have been presented to build resiliency in these areas and if our people understand what it means to be climate-resilient. Are they aware of the reasons behind the changes in climate, the cause and frequency of these mega-storms and the methods to combat them?
Climate Resiliency in essence is formed on three tiers: stronger and smarter infrastructure to withstand extreme weather, integrated processes that bring together stakeholders across sectors to…