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Climate Change is an existential threat to the Caribbean #1point5toStayAlive is a Panos Caribbean initiative to help make the Caribbean's case for 1.5°C. Since 2009, Small Island Developing States and many others have been calling for limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels to prevent the worst of climate change impacts. The inclusion of a 1.5°C temperature limit in the 2015 Paris Agreement was a major victory for vulnerable countries. |
#1point5toStayAlive Frontpage News
Climate Central: 180 places threatened by rising sea levels
What will the world be like if temperatures rise by 1.5, 2 and 3°C, leading to an inevitable rise in sea level? This is the question that Climate Central, an NGO working on global warming, has tried to answer, which has modeled the rise in sea levels possible with such a rise in temperature in more than 180 places around the globe.
- Category: 1.5°C Press
- Read in: FR ES
CANARI: "Climate justice, gender and COVID-19 in the Caribbean"
12 October 2021
Ayesha Constable, co-founder of GirlsCARE and guest-blogger for CANARI's “Caribbean Voices for Climate Justice” seriesCaribbean Voices for Climate Justice” series
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for accurate and accessible information to inform public decision-making, similar to what is needed for individual climate action. Similarly, the policy measures taken by government are in line with what is required legislatively to bar actions that drive climate change. In addition, the disparity in access to vaccines by rich and poor countries is analogous to the access to climate finance and technology. If the vaccine scenario serves as a blueprint for the climate experience, then we ought to be very concerned. It is safe to say that measured bilateral support or negotiations will not secure the resources required to build Caribbean country’s resilience to climate change. At some point, the esoteric response to the climate crisis, like that of COVID-19, from a standpoint of diplomacy and consensus, must give way to fairness, equity and justice.
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
BARBADOS TODAY: "New UWI climate change think-tank hailed as critical"
8 OCTOBER 2021
The University of the West Indies’ Global Institute for Climate-Smart and Resilient Development (GICSRD) has been hailed as a “critical institution” in the region’s fight against climate change.
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“The GICSRD is a critical institution that will fill the climate educational gap as we seek to transform the region into a climate resilient zone…Now we’re seeing more frequent and more ferocious hurricanes and as a consequence we have to continue to prioritize our adaptation to climate events."
- Category: 1.5°C Press
REUTERS: "UN declares access to a clean environment a human right"
8 October 2021
The U.N. Human Rights Council on Friday recognised access to a clean and healthy environment as a fundamental right, formally adding its weight to the global fight against climate change and its devastating consequences.
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Another proposal led by the Marshall Islands to create a new special rapporteur on climate change was also approved by the Council on Friday.
- Category: 1.5°C Press
THE CONVERSATION (CANADA): "COP26: what’s the point of this year’s UN climate summit in Glasgow?"
6 OCTOBER, 2021
"About 25,000 people are expected to travel to Glasgow this autumn for the annual meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
This will be the 26th Conference of the Parties, also known as COP26, and all 197 states which are parties to the UNFCCC are supposed to be represented.
As hosts of COP26, the UK has called for attendees to submit more ambitious emissions reductions targets for 2030 that will help the world reach net zero by mid-century, to raise contributions to climate adaptation and mitigation funds and to finalise the rules which would govern the implementation of the Paris climate agreement made in 2015.
In a year plagued by catastrophic floods, wildfires and heatwaves, the need to act on climate change has never been more urgent. So what will the negotiators in Glasgow be debating?"
→ READ MORE ON THECONVERSATION.COM
- Category: 1.5°C Press
CARBONBRIEF: "Analysis: Which countries are historically responsible for climate change?"
5 OCTOBER 2021
Historical responsibility for climate change is at the heart of debates over climate justice.
History matters because the cumulative amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted since the start of the industrial revolution is closely tied to the 1.2C of warming that has already occurred.
- Category: 1.5°C Facts
Caribbean priorities for COP26: adaptation, mitigation and access to finance
4 OCTOBER, 2021
"Aurora Herrera reports on the formidable climate challenges facing the Caribbean, the progress some small islands states in the region have made against climate goals, and people's hopes and expectations for COP26.
The Caribbean population has been experiencing the effects of increasing global temperatures for decades. Government and civil society experts have been asking for the resources to adapt to and mitigate the effects of a changing climate, but global funding mechanisms have not been effective.
Now the latest International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report has underscored the gravity of the situation, many Caribbean countries hope that the plight of the most vulnerable states will be at the forefront of the upcoming climate negotiations in Glasgow."
→ READ MORE ON COMMONWEALTHFOUNDATION.ORG
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
The Glasgow Climate Dialogues: "Valuable inputs to COP26 negotiations"
The Glasgow Climate Dialogues, four online sessions held between 6-9 September 2021 and designed to engage with, learn from and platform key Global South stakeholders on climate change ahead of COP26, resulted in a communiqué that summarises the outputs of these Dialogues, and is intended to provide valuable inputs to COP26 negotiations.
This constructive, convincing & articulate document provides an uplifting window into the needs of the Global South at the upcoming COP 26. It includes input from Caribbean allies such as the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) and CARICOM.
Each session, co-hosted by the Scottish Government and Scottish civil society, focused on a specific theme: Access, Participation and Voice; Adaptation and Resilience; Loss and Damage; and Just Transition.
→ READ THE GLASGOW CLIMATE DIALOGUES COMMUNIQUÉ HERE
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
CANARI: "Climate justice: international and national implications for the Caribbean"
Via Caribbean Natural Resources Institute - CANARI
Dr. Adelle Thomas, Ph.D., Caribbean Science Lead, Climate Analytics & Senior Fellow, University of The Bahamas
Climate justice highlights that the causes and impacts of climate change are neither distributed nor experienced equally and that there are structural, systemic and historical factors that have led to these inequities. Although climate justice has been a key advocacy issue for many years, the term has only recently become recognised in mainstream climate change discussions.
→ READ FURTHER ON CANARI WEBSITE
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
Bahamas: The Voices of Dorian
In September 2019, the world watched as Hurricane Dorian stormed through the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco as a Category 5 hurricane. During it’s 3-day journey through these islands, this storm erased any evidence of life in some neighbourhoods and communities, leaving behind a trail of trauma, heartbreak, sorrow, disbelief, and death. 'I Survived Dorian', a University of The Bahamas project, aims to provide a platform for the Survivors of Dorian to share their experiences of Dorian and their views on how disaster preparedness and response can be improved.
"Hurricane Dorian cannot be considered a one-off incident for The Bahamas. This hurricane is just the latest example of the impact of climate change on the environment and how we experience natural hazards in The Bahamas.
To redefine the next century of Climate Action and Disaster Preparedness, the Voices of the Survivors of Dorian need to be amplified to tell a more complete story — stories of movement and migration, hardship, struggle, recovery, and hope. The Bahamas is more than beautiful geology, wildlife, and scenic views. It’s a homeland—a place of history, library of cultural knowledge, a den of life and memories—to many."
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
New Iconic Painting to Support Global Climate Justice Campaign
Panos Caribbean, 31 August 2021 - Renowned Saint Lucian-American visual artist Jonathan Gladding has released another powerful painting to convey the urgency of the climate crisis and the need for action. Gladding, who lives in the village of Laborie in the South of Saint Lucia, is known for his vivid portraits and his realistic renderings of rural life and people. Since the launch of the Caribbean campaign “1.5 To Stay Alive” in 2015, Gladding has put his talent at the service of a social and environmental cause he strongly believes in. As world leaders prepare for the latest round of climate negotiations at the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (COP 26) in Glasgow, Scotland this November, Gladding’s newest painting calls attention to what is at stake for the global community.
→ READ MORE ON PANOSCARIBBEAN.ORG
- Category: 1.5°C Press
- Read in: FR ES
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION (WMO): "STATE OF THE CLIMATE IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN 2020" REPORT
17 AUGUST 2021
WORLD METEOROLOGICAL ORGANISATION (WMO)
This report provides a snapshot of climate trends, variability, observed high-impact weather and climate events, and associated risks and impacts in key sensitive sectors for the period January–December 2020.
From the various analyses provided in this report, it is evident that urgent efforts should be pursued to enhance resilience through appropriate prevention and risk-management measures.
- Category: 1.5°C Facts
IPCC 2021 report: ‘Code red’ for human driven global heating, warns UN chief
10 AUGUST 2021 - "Human-induced climate change is already affecting many weather and climate extremes in every region across the globe. Scientists are also observing changes across the whole of Earth’s climate system; in the atmosphere, in the oceans, ice floes, and on land.
Many of these changes are unprecedented, and some of the shifts are in motion now, while some - such as continued sea level rise – are already ‘irreversible’ for centuries to millennia, ahead, the report warns.
But there is still time to limit climate change, IPCC experts say. Strong and sustained reductions in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gases, could quickly make air quality better, and in 20 to 30 years global temperatures could stabilize."
→ FULL IPCC ASSESSMENT REPORT - AUGUST 2021
- Category: 1.5°C Facts
- Read in: FR ES
Caribbean civil society calls for an alliance on climate justice and a just transition as part of COVID-19 recovery
Port of Spain, July 2, 2021
Caribbean civil society has begun to position itself to build a unified, coherent and amplified voice to enhance the effectiveness and impact of calls for climate justice for the most vulnerable, at a “Virtual Roundtable on a Caribbean Climate Justice Alliance” on June 11, 2021 that was convened by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and Panos Caribbean.
The roundtable brought together key experts, champions and thought leaders working on various aspects of climate justice – economic, environmental and social justice – from civil society organisations, academia, think tanks and other grassroots networks, to discuss a regional alliance to catalyse action, learning and influence policy and practice. This alliance would link up small and disconnected efforts by CSOs and other non-state actors on climate justice and support vulnerable and marginalised groups to advocate for pro-poor, inclusive, environmentally sustainable, and climate resilient approaches to COVID-19 economic recovery as part of a just transition in the Caribbean.
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
Earth Day 2020: Civil Society Action in Trinidad and Tobago
In celebration of Earth Day 2020, the global science and policy institute Climate Analytics has released a video documentary that features the efforts of civil society organisations and individuals in the fight against climate change.
In August 2019, in order to help keep a focus on the climate crisis and the need for urgent action at global, regional, national and community levels, Climate Analytics and the Institute for Small Islands convened a meeting to discuss the "Implications of Global Warming for a Small Island State like Trinidad and Tobago".
The video presents highlights from that encounter. “We are at the frontline against climate change”, says Caroline Mair-Toby, Founder and Director of the Institute for Small Islands in introducing the video, and “as small islands, the world over, it is important that we tell our own stories”. This new documentary does precisely this, telling the story of ground-breaking climate action in Trinidad and Tobago and showing the connectedness between the various efforts.
In the video, Rueanna Haynes, Senior Legal Advisor at Climate Analytics, reminds us that “under the Paris Agreement, countries have undertaken pledges to take action against climate change … [but] the 10-year time frame before us is our last chance to be able to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels”. In this documentary, civil society and other actors in Trinidad and Tobago stress that urgency, and demonstrate that everyone has a role to play in the fight against climate change.
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
2019 - COP25 - 12 December: AOSIS Ministerial Press Conference
"We hastily convened this press conference because COP25 is demonstrating very little ambition. #COP25 is a defining moment for us. It MUST trigger a decade of ambition." - Carlos Fuller, lead negotiatior
AOSIS Summary: https://bit.ly/2YSNN4t
Full Recording of the AOSIS Ministerial Press Conference: https://bit.ly/2ruUbTb
- Category: The Case for 1.5°C
- Read in: FR ES
2019 - COP25: What The Caribbean Expects, What We Fight For
COP25 comes at a crucial year for ambition. After COP24 delivered the “rule book” for the Paris Agreement, now called the Katowice Climate Package, a number of important questions remain open which countries have to resolve at this COP 25 in order to create the conditions for a successful COP26 in 2020.
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| In spite of the strategic importance of this COP, expectations are being managed in the light of the prevailing challenging global context, created in large part by the imminent withdrawal of the United States from the Paris Agreement |
Yes, this year’s conference is very much about preparing for next year, as 2020 will be a key year for ambition: according to COP Decision 1/CP.21, countries must submit new or updated NDCs by 2020, “at least 9 to 12 months in advance of the relevant session of the Conference of the Parties”. Parties are also invited to submit long-term strategies by 2020. The level of ambition of the new submitted NDCs will determine whether the world will keep the average global temperature rise under 1.5°C. According to the latest Emissions Gap Report 2019 by UNEP, total greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 1.5 percent per year over the past decade, and even if all current commitments made under the Paris Agreement were implemented, global temperatures would rise by 3.2°C. According to current trends, countries are on track to extract 120% more oil, gas and coal in 2030, as shown by the UNEP Production Gap Report. Thus, COP25 has the important task of ensuring that the world gets on track to deliver a dramatic increase in its ambition under the Paris Agreement.
- Category: The Case for 1.5°C
- Read in: FR ES
The 2018 IPCC's Global Warming of 1.5ºC Special Report
An IPCC special report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty.
” Pour ce qui est de l’avenir, il ne s’agit pas de le prévoir, mais de le rendre possible. “ – Antoine de Saint Exupéry, Citadelle, 1948
→ READ THE IPCC'S 2018 SPECIAL REPORT ON GLOBAL WARMING OF 1.5ºC HERE
- Category: 1.5°C Facts
- Read in: FR ES
An Urgent Call to Artists Worldwide
History will most likely – and hopefully – remember this 20 September 2019 as the day when the fight for climate justice finally took centre stage, when thanks to courageous and visionary young people it was no longer possible to ignore the fact that climate change is an existential threat that must be taken very seriously.
On this occasion, and while hundreds of thousands of people – mainly students, but joined by their parents, by trade unionists, media workers, people from all walks of life – marched through the streets of places as far apart as Sydney, Nairobi, Delhi or London, Saint Lucian poet, dramatist and activist Kendel Hippolyte once again issued his call for artists throughout the world to add their voice to the cry for climate justice.
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
Earth day 2019: 1.5 IS STILL ALIVE!
Earth Day, 22 April 2019. As part of the #1point5toStayAlive Campaign that supports Caribbean and other vulnerable countries in the fight against climate change, Panos Caribbean has produced a new theme song, with lyrics by Saint Lucian poet and dramatist Kendel Hippolyte and music by musician and humanitarian Taj Weekes, who coordinated the production on behalf of Panos Caribbean.
- Category: Voices of the 1.5°C Allies
