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The 15-member Caribbean Community grouping took the December 2015 Climate Talks very seriously. Those small island states had maintained that they had the most to lose if the world did not agree to an ambitious, legally-binding agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The states were happy with the outcome – after chanting and clamoring for a 1.5 degrees Celsius cap on global warming and for governments in turn to pledge to do their part to tackle climate challenges at the national level.
It's been 100 days, is the momentum still strong and what do members of the public have to say about progress?
Stanislaus Hollingseed is a member of Saint Lucia’s Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Association. He says this body is doing its part to save the ozone layer.
“We have put something in place concerning the gas we use from our fridges. Where you have to seal it properly instead of dropping it into the atmosphere (as was done before). These gases are very dangerous for the atmosphere,” he told teleSUR.
The 45-year-old was referring to the Association’s plan, in collaboration with Saint Lucia’s National Ozone Unit to phase out the use of ozone-depleting substances.
Velda Joseph heads Saint Lucia’s Disaster Office, National Emergency Management Organization. That office was recently retrofitted with solar panels – part of a massive program by the government to invest in renewable sources of energy.
“We live in a very vulnerable zone and our infrastructure is very vulnerable to different hazard impacts. You know that we need not only prepare for hurricanes but for all of the hazards that we are prone to and this system here has really given us the capacity that if our electricity infrastructure were to severely devastated by any impact, we would be able to continue functioning,” she said.
While many applaud the steps taken so far, some believe the climate change progress is slow.
“Honestly I think a lot more should be done, since nothing is being done, to try to protect the environment,” said Saint Lucian Hugh Jones, adding that “we need to stop the littering, protect our native species and biodiversity.”
Last month, Barbados’ Chief Agricultural Officer Lennox Chandler said the Caribbean was "not as serious as it should be" in confronting climate change. He said while some argue that a lot has been done, he did not see the evidence.
“Based on my observations, it is my opinion that we in the region have not been as aggressive as we should be, or as serious as we should be in tackling and taking steps to address the issue of climate change, neither on specific fronts or addressing it on a wider scale, in terms of plans or policies to mitigate issues relating to climate change,” he argued.
Many countries have however, been charting climate change steps.
Saint Lucia’s government has set a target of 35% of electricity production from renewable energy sources by the year 2020. Dominica is pursuing geothermal energy and recently secured funding for two waste-to-energy projects. St. Vincent, the Grenadines and Jamaica have all launched major disaster mitigation programs.
The Caribbean can ill-afford to drop the climate change ball and 100 days post COP21, targets have been set and programs are underway.
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