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Will we ever ensure concrete actions for climate adaptation?

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From a personal standpoint, many Caribbean conferences are great for discussion, sharing experiences and idea generation. However, when all return to their own islands, careful planning for action vanishes or in the long run, at the implement age stage, things break down. Will the Caribbean-Pacific Agri-Food Forum prove to be the same?

By now, we all know how high a threat climate change is to the Caribbean, as a result of which the workshop session on this topic was a necessity… Or was it? Many of the great examples of climate adaptation and other relevant strategies have been heard before.

Some include: greater communication among stakeholders, a database on adaptation strategies, policy analysis to improve existing support structures and a prolonged linkage with affected communities.

Let’s be clear

However, these examples should be scaled up and replicated. This, then, was the purpose of the session. Participants identified the clear challenges that plague the climate sector diaspora, gave concrete solutions and selected key partners to achieve them.

Ironically, this is precisely were the break-down occurs. For all sorts of reasons, one all encompassing effort, as one region is difficult to achieve. This does not mean that programmes, national strategies and other activities are not working well. In fact, it is the contrary: they work, but on an isolated level.

The point is that we have been aware of solutions and successes beforehand. Therefore it is sustainable action that is needed.

As mentioned in the above video, recommendations from this session are to be used in an upcoming three-year long CTA project on climate adaptation in the Caribbean. The hope is that stakeholders rally around this project as the details unfold.

Photo credit: Keron Bascombe

Blogpost by Keron Bascombe, Social Reporter for the Caribbean-Pacific Agri-Food Forum 2015. 

Copyright © 2016, CTA. Technical Centre for Rural and Agricultural Cooperation

CTA is a joint international institution of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States and the European Union (EU). CTA operates under the framework of the Cotonou Agreement and is funded by the EU.