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Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Global Climate Change (CPACC): Design
and Establishment of Sea-Level/Climate Monitoring Network
Claudio R. Volonté
Organisation of American States
Keywords: sea-level, monitoring, project implementation, adaptation
Summary
CPACC's overall objective is to support twelve Caribbean countries to cope with
potential impacts of global climate change, particularly sea-level rise, through
vulnerability assessment, adaptation planning, and capacity building. The Organisation
of American States (OAS) is CPACC's executing agency and recipient of the US$6.7
million grant from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through the World Bank
(as the GEF implementing agency). Funds are transferred to the Regional Project
Implementation Unit (RPIU) established at the University of the West Indies
Centre for Environment and Development (UWICED), Barbados, to coordinate and
manage project activities at the regional level. All participating countries
have established National Implementation Coordinating Units (NICUs) that facilitate
project implementation at the national level. The project became effective on
April 1997 for a four-year implementation period.
Approach
Adaptation to climate change is achieved through a regional approach to strengthen
technical and institutional capacity of national and regional institutions.
These capacities include: (i) monitoring and analysis of climate and sea-level
dynamics and trends to determine potential impacts of global climate change;
(ii) identifying areas vulnerable to climate change and sea-level rise; and
(iii) developing an integrated management and planning framework for cost-effective
responses and adaptations, as well as policy options and instruments to impacts
of climate change on coastal areas.
Design and establishment of Sea-Level/Climate Monitoring Network is one of 9
components of the CPACC programme. The overall objectives of this component
are to establish a state-of-the-art telemetry sea-level and meteorological monitoring
network in countries participating in CPACC, and to develop the region's capacity
to take charge of the network over the course of the project. The network provides
data to be used for analysis and prediction of oceanographic and atmospheric
phenomena related to sea level change and global warning. These stations comply
with the minimum standards of the Global Sea Level Observing System (GLOSS)
network. The capacity of data acquisition, analysis, archiving and dissemination
is the responsibility of the Caribbean Meteorological Institute (CMI) in Barbados.
The Institute of Marine Affairs (IMA) in Trinidad and Tobago acts as a regional
support for archiving and disseminating sea-level data. A training and technology
transfer programme has been designed to ensure that participating regional and
national institutions acquire the capacity to coordinate the network, support
data analysis and dissemination and maintain its operational integrity during
and after the project.
Parties to the project
Parties to the project include the Global Environment Facility Trust Fund (GEF),
the General Secretariat/Organisation of American States (GS/OAS), RPIU at University
of the West Indies Centre for Environment and Development (UWICED), Meteorological
and Land Survey Offices of 12 participating countries, the Caribbean Meteorological
Institute and Institute of Marine Affairs, and the US NOAA Coastal Survey Department
and National Geodetic Survey Laboratory.
Type of agreement
Commercial considerations
Financial considerations (e.g., investment, operating costs, profitability):
The project receives 100% financing from the GEF. The OAS, UWICED, and national
and regional institutions provide in kind contribution (staff, office space
and equipment, etc.). The budget for Component 1 is US$811,500 for four years,
divided in technical assistance/training (US$410,900), equipment (US$350,600)
and maintenance/replacement trust fund at CMI (US$50,000). So far, mechanisms
for cost recovery have not been developed.
Risk considerations (e.g., investment, country, intellectual property issues):
Lessons Learned
It is clear that project ownership is a key element for implementation success.
The extensive consultation effort during project preparation has paid off. Another
key element of project success is that technology transfer should be accompanied
with intensive training of local experts, both formally, through workshops,
and informally, hands-on. Furthermore, the CPACC framework appears conducive
for replication.
Contacts
1. Jan C. Vermeiren, USDE/OAS, USA
Fax: +1 202 4583560; E-mail: jvermeiren@oas.org
2. Neville Trotz, CPACC/RPIU Project Manager,
CERMES Building, University of the West Indies, Barbados
Fax: +1 246 4244204; E-mail: utrotz@ndlc.com
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