In 2015, in preparation for COP 21 in Paris, a number of civil society organizations came together to create awareness across the Caribbean to the threats to lives and livelihoods posed by climate change. The civil society advocacy campaign, which was built around the theme of “1.5 to stay alive”, caught the attention of Caribbean citizens and helped to amplify the voices in support of an ambitious, legally binding Paris Agreement. Five years later, despite the adoption and coming into force of the Paris Agreement, the dangers posed to Caribbean countries by climate change have not abated. Greenhouse gas emissions remain on a dangerously high trajectory, and every year brings with it new temperature records, alarming levels of polar ice melting, debilitating droughts and devastating floods.
This session examines the hazards posed to Caribbean and other Small Island Developing States by climate change and explores the role that civil society can play in mobilizing action to save SIDS and other climate-vulnerable countries from the existential threat posed by climate change.
Carlos Fuller
Regional and International Liaison Officer at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre
