From Barbados to Baku: Supporting island solutions to climate change -- James Ellsmoor
James Ellsmoor, CEO of Island Innovation writes in jamaica-gleaner.com — “The destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl underscores the need for concerted climate action by the world’s leading economies as well as increased collaboration towards resilience building, adaptation, and mitigation projects in vulnerable communities.
Beyond the SIDS conference, which happens once a decade, and the yearly UN COPs, where negotiations and policymaking is top of the agenda, there are few opportunities for large-scale knowledge-sharing events that involve civil society, youth, academia, and other key stakeholders. One of the events filling this gap is the Virtual Island Summit, a yearly event heading into its’ sixth iteration that brings together 10,000 attendees and over 160 speakers from around the world.”
This year’s #VIS2024 agenda includes a Solution Showcase, the powerful voices of the CCJLA students and many big announcements regarding our future events! The event is free and virtual, so register today!
You can also download the official agenda here.
Trinidad and Tobago redraws coat of arms to remove Columbus’s three ships
Trinidad and Tobago is redrawing the island’s coat of arms for the first time since its creation in 1962 to remove references to European colonisation – a move lauded by many in the eastern Caribbean nation. Explorer Christopher Columbus’s three ships – the Pinta, the Nina and the Santa Maria – will be replaced with the steelpan, a popular percussion instrument that originated on the island.
Engineering Resilience: Protecting Tuvalu’s Nanumea Island from Sea level Rise
Nanumea, the fourth largest and most remote island of Tuvalu, is located 650 kilometers north of the nation’s capital. The livelihood of people on the island depends mostly on livestock rearing of pigs and chickens and fishing. Farming is mainly done on the nearby Island of Lakena, which is accessible by boat. “Pulaka”, which is the staple food grown on the Island, has been affected by saltwater intrusion into gardens during marine flooding.
This year, our team will support a new cohort of young climate advocates under the Caribbean Climate Justice Leaders Academy (CCJLA) to go to COP29. Thus far, they have been benefiting from workshops delivered by international guest lecturers including Audrey Joachim (Sustainability & Entrepreneurship Consultant), Dr. Kirk Douglas (Professional senior scientist at the Department for Biosecurity Studies, the University of West Indies), Mya Symister (2023 CCJLA alumnus and mechanical engineering student at the University of Plymouth), Vincent Diringer (PR Lead, Island Innovation) and a range of other speakers. The topics of the courses range from Climate Justice, Climate policy and Governance, Communications, Environmental Journalism, Intersectionality, Renewable energy solutions, and more!
While the program’s not over yet, we are revealing the selected participants who will get the fully funded opportunity to attend the global COP29 in Baku (Azerbaijan) as part of Island Innovation’s Youth Delegation.
The CCJLA training sessions will end in September when each student submits their final papers. These young climate justice advocates are already taking action amongst their island communities. We want to thank all of them for trusting our project and making it an unmatched success!
