We, the Heads of State and Government of the
Caribbean Community, at our Thirtieth Meeting of the
Conference in Liliendaal, Guyana from 2–5 July 2009,
affirm our commitment to the principles and
objectives of the Caribbean Community as embodied in
the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas establishing the
Caribbean Community including the CARICOM Single
Market and Economy -
1. Recalling the objective, principles
and commitments of the 1992 United Nations
Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
and its Kyoto Protocol; 2. Gravely concerned
that our efforts to promote sustainable
development and to achieve the internationally
agreed development goals including the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are under
severe threat from the devastating effects of
climate change and sea level rise which has led
to increasingly frequent and intense extreme
weather events, damage to bio diversity, coral
bleaching, coastal erosion, changing
precipitation patterns.
3. Emphasising that dangerous climate change
is already occurring in all SIDS (Small Islands
and Low-lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS)
regions including the Caribbean and that many
SIDS will cease to exist without urgent,
ambitious and decisive action by the
international community to reduce global
greenhouse gas emissions significantly and to
support SIDS in their efforts to adapt to the
adverse impacts of climate change, including
through the provision of increased levels of
financial and technical resources.
4. Very concerned that the estimated
total annual impact of potential climate change
on all CARICOM countries is estimated at US$9.9
billion in the total Gross Domestic Product
(GDP) in 2007 US$ prices or about 11.3% of the
total annual GDP of all 20 CARICOM countries
(Member States and Associate Member States)
according to the World Bank estimates;
We Affirm:
1. Our belief that the global response to
climate change should be undertaken on the basis of
common but differentiated as well as historical
responsibility and that it should not compromise the
ability of SIDS to pursue Sustainable Development
and the sharing of the cost of addressing climate
change should be equitable and should not perpetuate
poverty.
2. Our continued commitment to the work of
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
and call on all Parties to ensure that UNFCCC
decisions are guided by that work;
3. Our Endorsement for the Caribbean
Challenge in its efforts to protect the Region’s
Marine Resources and in its work towards fulfilling
the UNFCCC ecosystem-based management and adaptation
recommendations and implementing the Millennium
Development Goals related to reducing biodiversity
loss;
4. Support for the co-ordinating role of
the CARICOM Task Force for Climate Change and
Development established by the Conference of Heads
of State and Government and the implementing role of
the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC)
and the roles of the CARICOM Secretariat, the
Alliance of Small Island Developing States (AOSIS)
chaired by the Government of Grenada and the CARICOM
Representatives in the international climate change
negotiations; and
5. The importance of a common Regional
approach to address the threats and challenges of
climate change and of the full and effective
participation of the Region in the upcoming United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen,
Denmark (COP15), the UN Secretary-General’s Climate
Change Summit in September 2009 and their
preparatory processes.
WE Declare:
1. That all Parties to the UNFCCC should
work with an increased sense of urgency and
purpose towards arriving at an ambitious and
comprehensive agreement at the COP 15 in
Copenhagen in 2009 which provides for: long-term
stabilisation of atmospheric greenhouse gas
concentrations at levels which will ensure that
global average surface temperature increases
will be limited to well below 1.5° C of
pre-industrial levels; that global greenhouse
gas emissions should peak by 2015; global Co2
reductions of at least 45 percent by 2020 and
reducing greenhouse gas emissions by more than
95 per cent of 1990 CO2 levels by 2050;
2. Adaptation and capacity building
must be prioritised and a formal and well
financed framework established within and
outside of the Convention, including the
multi-window insurance facility, to address the
immediate and urgent, as well as long term,
adaptation needs of vulnerable countries,
particularly the SIDS and the LDCs;
3. The need for financial support to
SIDS to enhance their capacities to respond to
the challenges brought on by climate change and
to access the technologies that will be required
to undertake needed mitigation actions and to
adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change;
4. Our full support for the location
of the Headquarters of the UNFCCC Adaptation
Fund Board in Barbados;
5. Support for climate change
negotiations to be fully cognisant of the
requirement for improved land use management;
6. Our recognition of the value and
potential of standing forest, including pristine
rainforest, and our affirmation of its potential
contribution to Reduced Emissions from
Deforestation and Degradation (REDD). Forest
conservation or avoided deforestation and
sustainable management of forests are important
mitigation tools against climate change in a
post 2012 Agreement. We also support the
approach to harmonizing climate change
mitigation and economic development as proposed
by Guyana in its Low Carbon Development
Strategy;
7. Strong determination to overcome
technical, economic and policy barriers to
facilitate the development, diffusion and
deployment of appropriate and affordable low-
and zero-emission technologies and renewable
energy services; We also recognise the need for
energy efficiency and conservation and the need
for increased technical and financial support
for the development of renewable energy in the
Caribbean;
8. Our commitment to providing more
effective preparedness for response to natural
disasters through the development of better risk
assessment and material coordination along with
the streamlining of risk reduction initiatives.
In pursing this task, we call on the Parties
negotiating the new Climate Change Agreement to
endorse the Alliance for Small Island Developing
States (AOSIS) proposal on risk management and
risk reduction strategies, including risk
sharing and transfer mechanisms such as
insurance;
9. Strong support for the streamlining
of all climate change funding mechanisms
including the Global Environment Facility to
include the vulnerability index in their
formulae in order to better facilitate SIDS’
access to financial resources; and to explore
mechanisms to support the Caribbean Community
adaptation programmes;
10. Our commitment to ensuring that
the Caribbean Community and its supporting
institutions will play their full part in
implementing our shared vision, goals and
actions, working in strategic partnerships with
others;
11. Our resolve to strengthen our
educational institutions to provide training ,
education, research and development programmes
in climate change and disaster risk management
particularly in renewable and other forms of
alternative energy, forestry, agriculture,
tourism, health, coastal zone management and
water resources management to increase the
Region’s capacity to build resilience and adapt
to climate change; and
12. Our further resolve to institute a
comprehensive programme of public awareness and
education and hereby invite all, partners,
organisations and stakeholders to play a full
part in promoting a better understanding of
climate change and its impacts and in addressing
adaptation and mitigation.
4 July 2009
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