Review of the Economics of Climate Change in the Caribbean (RECC)

The purpose of this project was to assess the likely economic impacts of climate change on key sectors of Caribbean economies through applying robust simulation modelling analyses under various socio-economic scenarios and carbon emission trajectories. The findings are expected to stimulate local and national governments, regional institutions, the private sector and civil society to craft and implement policies, cost effective options and efficient choices to mitigate and adapt to climate change.

Comparable economic reviews were conducted by ECLAC for the South American region (ECLAC Santiago) and for the Central American region (ECLAC Mexico)

This project was carried out with the joint efforts of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Climate (CCCCC) in Belize and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) in Trinidad, supported by the British Department for International Development (DFID), and a number of other partners, and supported by the provision to the Centre of an Environmental/Resource Economist by the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Cooperation (CFTC) expert.

The project sought

  • to carry out an economic assessment on the impact of CC in the Caribbean using various socioeconomic development scenarios and emission trajectories.
  • to assess the costs and benefits of following no new specific CC initiatives (known as business as usual approach and used as the baseline[1]) vis-à-vis adaptation options, to reduce vulnerability and pursue cost-effective options/interventions.
  • to promote dialogue and facilitate a forum in which governments, the private sector, research institutions and civil society can work together to develop national and regional interventions to respond to the challenges and opportunities that climate change may pose

It started in January 2010 and ended September 2011.

All project information can be found at the project homepage at ECLAC Caribbean.

A mirror of final project documentation is provided below.

Selected project reports and products

Assessments of the economic impacts of climate change
The assessments focused on:

– An estimation of the costs of climate change until 2050 under a Business As Usual (BAU) scenario as well as the A2 and B2 scenarios as documented by the IPCC. Projections were done at 1%, 2% and 4% discount rates;

– In collaboration with the countries, identification of adaptation and mitigation strategies and the conduct of a cost/benefit analysis of each suggested mechanism

The results were then used to make recommendations as to the most cost-effective options that may be pursued by the countries.

The following assessments were conducted:

  • the agriculture sector in Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Agricultural Sector in Guyana. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Agricultural Sector in Jamaica. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Agricultural Sector in Saint Lucia. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Agricultural Sector in Trinidad and Tobago. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

  • the coastal and marine sectors in the British Virgin Islands and Saint Kitts and Nevis

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Coastal and Marine Sectors in the British Virgin Islands. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Coastal and Marine Sector in Saint Kitts & Nevis . Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

  • the coastal and human settlements sector in Barbados and Guyana;

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Coastal and Human Settlements Sector in Guyana. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Coastal and Human Settlements Sector in Barbados. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

  • the energy sector in Trinidad and Tobago;

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Energy Sector in Trinidad & Tobago. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

  • the health sector in Guyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago;

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Health Sector in Guyana. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Health Sector in Jamaica. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Health Sector in Montserrat. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Health Sector in Saint Lucia. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Health Sector in Trinidad and Tobago. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

  • the tourism sector in Aruba, the Bahamas, Barbados, Curaçao, Jamaica, Montserrat and Saint Lucia;

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in Aruba. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in the Bahamas. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in Barbados. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in Curaçao . Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in Jamaica. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in Montserrat. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)\

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Tourism Sector in Saint Lucia. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

  • the Transportation sector in Barbados and Montserrat;

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Transportation Sector in Barbados. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Transportation Sector in Montserrat. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

  • the water sector in Grenada, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Water Sector in Grenada. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Water Sector in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

UN ECLAC, 2011: An Assessment of the Economic Impact of Climate Change on the Water Sector in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Final Report. United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN ECLAC)

Meetings

September 2010: Report of the Meeting of the High-Level Advisory Committee (HLAC) of the Project: A Review of the Economics of Climate Change (RECC) in the Caribbean

February 2011: Report of the Working Group Session for Capacity-Building in Econometric Modelling: A Review of the Economics of Climate Change (RECC) in the Caribbean

November 2010: Report of the Meeting of the High-Level Advisory Committee (HLAC) of the Project: A Review of the Economics of Climate Change (RECC) in the Caribbean