THE OECS and the Pacific as a collection of Small Island Developing States are forging closer collaboration at COP24 to combat climate change.
OECS Director General Dr.Didacus Jules met with his counterpart in the Pacific, Mr. KosiLatu, Director General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP).
Dr. Jules met with Mr. Latu and Mr. Espen Ronneberg of SPREP to discuss opportunities for co-operation between the two regions.
The Directors-General discussed ongoing initiatives, potential areas of collaboration and opportunities for knowledge-sharing and learning.
One of the key issues discussed was bridging the gap when insurance is not sufficient to deal with the impacts of climate change and to build resilience.
Mr. Latu highlighted the fact that the Pacific region has developed various tools and products to help countries with adaptation planning and to navigate the climate finance ‘ocean’. He said that these tools and products could be looked at to determine their applicability for the OECS region.
The Pacific is currently constructing a Climate Change Centre of Excellence, slated to open by June 2019. The Centre will serve as the headquarters for one of the Region’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) hubs and will also be focus on knowledge-sharing, capacity- building, applied research and training. It was agreed that the OECS could learn from the Pacific’s experience in this regard.
The meeting discussed virtual communication between the two regions to facilitate collaboration and learning. The Directors-General each agreed to nominate a focal point to ensure continued contact with a view to deepening cooperation.