OECS Secretariat, Castries Saint Lucia The Organisation of East Caribbean States (OECS) will host the second in a series of annual climate change seminars from September 11-13, 2012 at the St Kitts Marriot Hotel.

The seminar is to be held under the theme, “Climate Change and Our Coast – Exploring possibilities, Finding Solutions”.  This theme will be explored via presentations to be made by relevant experts in five disaggregated topics as follows:

1. Issues Affecting Coastal Resources and Current Status of Resources
2. Integrated Coastal Area and Watershed Management
3. Impacts of Climate Change and Implications for Economic Sectors
4. Data Needs for Effective Coastal Area Management
5. Coastal Area Management: Policy, Legal And Institutional Arrangement in the OECS Region

An estimated 60 persons from across the OECS and CARICOM region who work in climate change related areas are targeted to attend the seminar, in which they will discuss the vulnerabilities of the region to climate change and have an opportunity to share their personal and professional experiences through the various topics.

The OECS Secretariat anticipates that the seminar will generate rich dialogue on the current and predicted impacts on climate change, especially in light of new research and observations which suggest that climate change and the attendant sea level rise will take place more rapidly than initially anticipated.

Discussions and results of the seminar will be used to inform policy direction and advice for the advancement of climate change adaptation in the OECS.

The seminar is being hosted by the new OECS Climate Change Project – Reducing the Risk to Human and Natural Assets Resulting from Climate Change (RRACC) Project which is funded by USAID.

The RRACC Project is a five-year developmental project which was launched in 2011 to assist OECS governments with building resilience through the implementation of climate change adaptation measures. 

Specifically, RRACC will build an enabling environment in support of policies and laws to reduce vulnerability; address information gaps that constrain issues related to climate vulnerabilities; make interventions in freshwater and coastal management to build resilience; increase awareness on issues related to climate change and improve capacities for climate change adaptation.