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Addresses Climate Change And Disaster Indicators

One of the highlights of ECLAC’s end of year activities for 2022 was a regional workshop to address coordination and data sharing challenges for better environment, climate change and disaster indicators in the Caribbean.

The workshop was one of the activities undertaken by ECLAC as part of the ongoing project on relevant climate change and disaster indicators for evidencebased policies for Caribbean SIDS. The project is designed to enhance the statistical and institutional capacity of the beneficiary countries to measure climate change and disaster events, with a view to improving policy coherence in line with the implementation of regional and international agreements, notably the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the SAMOA Pathway, the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework, and the Escazú Agreement.

The workshop, held in Belize from 9 to 11 November, was jointly organized by ECLAC, the Statistical Institute of Belize, and the Ministry of Sustainable Development Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management.

The Caribbean is threatened by climate change, particularly the small island developing States (SIDS). Belize is no exception. The country is situated in the tropical cyclone belts and is directly exposed to the forces of the oceans. As a small geographical area, disasters might affect vast proportions of the country. Availability of high-quality statistics and indicators are, therefore, crucial to effectively respond to the effects of climate change and build resilience.

In her opening statement at the workshop, ECLAC Caribbean Director, Diane Quarless, expressed satisfaction at the Commission’s arrival at the “last lap” of the project, which started in 2020 and is scheduled to end by mid-year 2023.