LONDON, March 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Commonwealth of Dominica, a small island nation with a population of only 70 000, is showing great resilience in establishing itself as the first climate resilient nation in the world. This is despite the country being on the receiving end of nature’s wrath, which is being exacerbated by developed nations contributing most to greenhouse gas emissions that impact global warming.
Dominica is classified as a Small Island Developing State (SIDS). SIDS were recognized as a special case both for their environment and development at the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The aggregate population of all the SIDS is 65 million, slightly less than 1% of the world’s population, yet this group faces unique social, economic, and environmental challenges.
Climate change has a very tangible impact on SIDS. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, Maria, and Nate turned the 2017 tropical cyclone season into one of the deadliest and most devastating of all time, destroying communications, energy and transport infrastructure, homes, health facilities and schools.
According to research from the University of Bristol, global warming is dramatically increasing the risk of extreme hurricanes in the Caribbean and there is a stark need to meet more ambitious climate change goals which could halve the likelihood of such disasters in the region.
The study analysed future projections of hurricane rainfall in the Caribbean and found it to be particularly vulnerable to climate change, resulting in extreme hurricane rainfall events being as much as five times more likely in a warmer world.
"Hurricane research has previously focused on the United States, so we wanted to look at the Caribbean region, which has fewer resources to recover. The findings are alarming and illustrate the urgent need to tackle global warming to reduce the likelihood of extreme rainfall events and their catastrophic consequences, particularly for poorer countries which take many years to recover," said lead author Emily Vosper, Research Student at the School of Computer Science, at the University of Bristol.
Dominica, well-known as the Nature Isle of the Caribbean, has been increasingly experiencing the ravaging consequences of these hurricanes in its recent history. Hurricane David in 1979 claimed 40 lives, Tropical Storm Erika in 2015 killed 30 people and, most recently Hurricane Maria in 2017 took 65 lives and 90% of the population their homes.
Hurricane Maria, a Category 5 hurricane, impacted about 80% of Dominica’s population and more than 90% of roofs were damaged or destroyed while power and water supplies were disrupted, and entire crops destroyed.
On 23 September 2017, five days after Hurricane Maria decimated Dominica, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerritt addressed the 72nd United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and declared Dominica an “international humanitarian emergency” and boldly vowed to rebuild Dominica as the first climate resilient nation in the world.
Following this, the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD) was born. CREAD aims to lead and coordinate strategic initiatives across all sectors in the country with the goal of leading the climate resiliency mission in Dominica.
CREAD operates as a statutory government agency and acts to bolster the ability of business, the public and social sector partners to build strong and resilient communities, develop adaptive infrastructure, accelerate economic growth, strengthen institutional systems, enhance Dominicans’ capacity to respond to the local impacts of global climate change, and set an example for the rest of the world on how to respond to the challenges of a changing climate.
As part of CREAD, Dominica also issued a climate resilience policy framework to guide its recovery journey in the form of the National Resilience Development Strategy 2030 (NRDS).
The NRDS articulates and outlines 43 resilience goals aimed at ensuring that development is people centred. It stipulates that, at the highest level, the Climate Resilience and Recovery Plan (CRRP) should reflect three pillars of resilience, namely: Climate Resilient Systems, Prudent Disaster Risk Management Systems, and Effective Disaster Response and Recovery.
The country, which can be counted amongst the few nations that can be termed "carbon neutral" is enhancing its resilience agenda by utilising resources on the island to generate energy.
It has already undertaken several projects that will help it achieve climate resiliency.
This includes the construction of a geothermal plant, in partnership with the United Kingdom, the World Bank and Kenesjay Green LTD, a local green energy company. The plant is expected to be operational by 2023 and will enable the country to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels.
The plant will ensure that the country is powered by renewable energy, reducing energy costs and carbon emissions while simultaneously creating jobs.
The government has also already built 1,000 of the 5,000 modern, climate-resilient homes promised to affected families, along with community facilities, health centres and modern infrastructure.
Micha Emmet, CEO of the world’s leading government advisory and marketing firm, CS Global Partners says, “For a small nation, Dominica has taken bold steps to ensure its sustainability while combating the impact of global warming. What the country has managed to do, building back better and stronger, from its own resources is quite remarkable and the nation must be commended for being so resilient.
“With that said, global warming and climate change remain the responsibility of every nation and we constantly need to hold each other accountable in ensuring we meet the Paris Agreement targets.”
In an effort to fight global warming, the Paris Agreement – a legally binding international treaty on climate change, was adopted by 196 countries at COP 21 in Paris on 12 December 2015.
Its goal is to keep worldwide temperature growth under 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The US, China and India have the highest emission in the world and have committed to aggressively reduce greenhouse emissions with the US planning to reduce emissions by 26-28% from 2005 levels by 2025; China plans to hit peak emissions by 2030 and then decline from there; and India plans to cut “emissions intensity” by 33-35% by 2030 while also restoring forests to create carbon sinks.
Beginning in 2020, countries will have to provide updated plans every five years, with the expectation that they will be more demanding each time. Beginning in 2023, reports will have to be produced that describe progress.
Never before have the effects of climate change been so keenly felt around the world and never before has the consensus been so great that something be done.
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