National Consultation on Climate Change Policy

Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change projects the Government of Saint Lucia has engaged in several activities to enable the island to cope with the impacts that climate change is likely to have a small island state such as St. Lucia.  One of these activities is the initialization of a process to develop a comprehensive adaptation policy on climate change.  Already there has been the development of a National Climate Change Issues Paper which identifies the key issues of concern in the context of climate change impacts.  This issues paper has formed the foundation for the development of the National Climate Change policy.  A Consultation has been scheduled for the end of this month which will bring together a number of agencies to discuss the draft policy document so that the output of the national climate change policy will reflect the needs of all stakeholders.

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Greenhouse Gas Training and Inventory Workshop

The National Greenhouse gases Training and Inventory workshop was held from the 10th - 14th January 2000 at the Cable and Wireless College facilities in St. Lucia.  The workshop's main aim was to train participants in conducting an inventory of anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases.  The participants at the workshop represented the major sectors and interest groups which have a stake in the process and could provide information as well as expert judgment in areas where data was not available or reliable.  These included:

• Department of Forestry/Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,     Fisheries and the Environment

• Department of the Environment/Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

• St. Lucia Water and Sewerage Company

• Department of Agriculture/Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment

• Department of Sustainable Development, Science and Technology/Ministry of Finance and Planning

• Development Corporation and Programme Planning

• St. Lucia Solid Waste Management Authority

The workshop was conducted by Dr. Bhawan Singh and Mr. El Fouladi, two experienced and qualified experts in the field of conducting GHG Inventories.  

The workshop was conducted using actual data collected and through this approach St. Lucia was able to complete about 80% of its inventory.  The follow-up data collection and verification process has already begun and it is expected that the inventory will be completed by the end of March. 

The Greenhouse Gas Workshop report is now available for download.

UPDATE

Since the National Greenhouse Gas Workshop, there have been a number of activities taking place which has led to the completion of the final draft of the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory and Inventory Report.  This report is currently available at the Ministry of Planning, Sustainable Development and Environment Unit.  A copy of the report will be available on this web site very soon, through adobe acrobat.  Some of the Major findings of the inventory were as follows:

• St. Lucia is a net remover (- 84 Gg) of Carbon Dioxide (CO₂)_.   Net CO₂ removals (352 Gg) exceed net CO₂ emissions (268 Gg). CO₂ emissions derive mainly from the Energy sector and net CO₂ removals occur in the Land Use and Forestry sector.

• Most of CO₂ for the year 1994 came from the energy sector measuring a total 268Gg

• The Land Use and Forestry sector, which is also responsible for some amount of CO₂ emissions, through Forest and Grassland Conversion (68.06 Gg) and Carbon Release from Forest Soils (95.89), is a Net Sink with a Net removal of (-) 352.11 Gg CO₂ due to Growth Changes in Forest and Other Woody Biomass Stock producing CO₂ removals of up to -516.06 Gg of CO₂

It was concluded that St. Lucia is a net remover of carbon dioxide CO₂ (- 84 Gg) and a relatively small emitter of the other greenhouse gases.

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Website Training and Development

With an increasing number of persons surfing the internet and the thrust in information sharing and awareness, the development of a National Climate Change website is a big step in getting persons educated and tuned to the reality of climate change and its inevitable impacts. The website training was held at the ISIS Training Centre from the 24th January to the 9th February.  Training was conducted using Microsoft FrontPage 2000 and it was a great success with all participants expressing their satisfaction, interest and commitment to this process.   

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Regional Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Workshop  

The regional Vulnerability and Adaptation Workshop is a joint activity with various Caribbean islands including St. Lucia taking part.  Its main aim is to build capacity for undertaking the national Vulnerability and Adaptation Workshop.  St . Lucia sent three participants:

• Dr. Maier Louis Felix - Department of Fisheries

• Mr. Lyndon John - Department of Forestry

• Ms Joanna Raynolds - Physical Planning Department

The workshop was held from the 13th - 24th March 2000 in Trinidad. The participants have since returned and acquired the skills needed to conduct a National Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment.  

The Ministry of Planning, the focal point for the National Communication on Greenhouse Gas Project is currently implementing this component of the project.  The principal consultant chosen is Mr. Brian Challenger from Antigua. Three local experts have also been chosen to work on the national component. These are the three persons who attended the Regional Vulnerability and Adaptation Workshop, Mr. Lyndon John, Dr. Marie Louise-Felix and Ms. Joanna Raynolds.

A meeting of the consultant, local counterparts, Mr. Crispin d'Auvergne, Project Coordinator and Mr. Devon Barrow, Project Assistant was recently held to sort out the details of the study.  Accordingly, a National Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Workshop is scheduled from the 27th - 28th September 2000.  More information on this workshop will be provided in the future.  

National Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Workshop

As part of the process in preparing the National Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Assessment, the National Climate Change Vulnerability and Adaptation Team made up of Mr. Brian Challenger (lead consultant ) , Dr. Marie Louise Felix, Ms. Joanna Raynolds and Mr. Lyndon John (three local experts) conducted a National Workshop.  This workshop was held at the Caribbees Hotel and ran from the 27th - 28th September 2000.  Present was over 25 participants from a cross section of Government, Non-Governmental, academic and private sector agencies.  It was felt at the end of the workshop that all goals had been met i..e.:

1. to educate the various stakeholders on climate change

2. to initiate discussions among stakeholders on the likely impacts of climate change on Saint Lucia and gain their feedback on the draft   National Climate Change V&A Study.

3. Highlight the role of every agency in the process and and the importance of that role

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Regional Enabling Activities Workshop

A Regional Enabling Activities Workshop was held in Barbados on the 27th April 2001 to discuss the National Communication and Biodiversity Projects.  This workshop was held at the United Nations Development Programme's  (UNDP) Office and was conducted to facilitate discussion on the implementation of these two components. Present were the project coordinators from all the OECS islands including Saint Lucia who had two representatives, Mr. Crispin d'Auvergne and Mr. Devon Barrow.  Discussions centered around best practices and progress of implementation with many of the islands being able to benefit from each others experiences.

This was indeed a successful meeting and the relationships built are expected to prove beneficial to all implementing countries.

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