Press Release

 30 May 2008

UK to help Caribbean islands weather the storms

£2.4 million funding to fight the effects of climate change

The UK Government is backing a scheme that will cut the risks from climate change and natural disasters that face many Caribbean countries, International Development Minister, Shahid Malik said today.

The scheme, which is part funded by the UK’s Department for International Development, will help governments and communities in vulnerable Caribbean countries react and recover from the impact of hurricanes, storms and rising sea levels.

Practical steps that will be supported to fight back against future climate shocks will include:

• Safer building standards and codes of practice;
• Shared information services and early warning systems to be used by all islands; and
• Better landslide protection

Speaking at the annual meeting of the Caribbean Development Bank in Halifax, Canada, Shahid Malik praised the Caribbean Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) Framework that will save lives, property and infrastructure in the Caribbean. He said:
"The small island states of the Caribbean are very vulnerable to the effects of natural disasters. And with six out of ten of the world’s most disaster prone countries located in the region, future economic development is at risk without the right investment in disaster management for the Caribbean. For too long natural disasters have slowed down growth in the region and have hit the poor worst of all. Today’s support will help reduce the financial and human cost of climate change."

The CDM framework, which is a Caribbean-led initiative co-funded by the UK, and Canada, will help all 17 Caribbean islands at risk from natural disasters identify and target what they need to do ensure that the next time they are hit by storms, earthquakes and hurricanes they are better prepared.

Key Facts:

1. A natural disaster inflicting damage equivalent to more than 2% of the affected country’s GDP can be expected to hit the Eastern Caribbean roughly once every two and a half years. In some cases the costs are much higher.

2. Losses from single hurricanes have far exceeded some countries’ annual GDP and recovery is usually slow. The total damage caused by hurricane Ivan in Grenada in 2004 represented more than 200% GDP.

3. Predictions from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) suggest that the Caribbean will be hit particularly hard in coming years, with changes in rainfall, increasingly volatile weather, and significant sea levels rises.

4. Rising sea-levels rise may magnify the impact of storm surge and waves on coastal areas. This is particularly dangerous in the Caribbean, since populations and economic activity (e.g. tourism and fishing) are close to shorelines.

Notes to Editors:

• The CDM will be implemented by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat, which is a sub-regional body representing 50% of participating states.
• The CDM Strategy has been recognized as the road map for disaster risk management and disaster loss reduction in the Caribbean region. It was endorsed by the CARICOM (Caribbean Community) CDERA Board and Council of Ministers in May and June 2007 respectively.
• This initiative will be co-funded with Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) (the DFID/CIDA funding split is 60/40). Other donors providing complementary funding in cash to the CDM framework are the EC (through EDF9; ACP/EU funds), USAID, Government of Turkey and funding in kind from participating Caribbean states. Total funding costs will be £5.85million of which the UK will provide £2.4m and Canada £1.6 million.
• DFID is contributing £800M to tackle climate change in developing countries through developing cleaner technologies and help tackle the effects of climate change on the ground.