September 9, 2021

(CCCCC Press Release 2021/017)

(City of Belmopan, Belize) The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), will launch nationwide surveys in five Member States of CARIFORUM to capture citizens’ knowledge and attitudes towards climate change, and its impact on their country.

The Knowledge Attitude and Practice (KAP) survey is a key output of the communications component of the project, “Enhancing Climate Resilience in CARIFORUM Countries”, which is funded by the European Union (EU) under the Intra-ACP Global Climate Change Alliance Plus (GCCA+).  The project is part of a global programme seeking to support the climate compatible development of the CARIFORUM countries to combat the negative impacts of climate change and disasters, while simultaneously exploring opportunities presented.

The surveys are to be launched in Belize, The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago.

“Building awareness of climate change and variability at all levels of the Caribbean society is important for us to achieve climate compatibility and strengthen national development, that is why the KAP survey is being launched in some of our Member States, to gather the baseline that we need to set the context for the public awareness drive that is to be subsequently initiated”, says Ms Tecla Fontenard, Communications Specialist at the Centre.

While predictions are that Caribbean countries are expected to face more adverse extreme weather events, many citizens have not connected extreme weather events to climate change. Awareness of how climate change can and will intersect every aspect of daily life is also lacking. The survey  findings from these Member States  will inform National Climate Change Public Education and Outreach Strategies that will make these connections and close knowledge gaps.

The Centre is urging the local populations of Belize, The Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, St Kitts and Nevis and Trinidad and Tobago to co-operate with survey administrators who are capturing this critical data in-country, which is needed to inform continued work in Member States.

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The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre is an inter-governmental Caribbean Community (CARICOM) institution that is mandated by the CARICOM Heads of Government to coordinate the Region’s response to climate change. We maintain the Caribbean’s most extensive repository of information and data on climate change specific to the region, which in part enables us to provide climate change-related policy advice and guidelines to CARICOM Member States.  In this role, the Centre is recognized by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the United Nations Environment Programme, and other international agencies as the focal point for climate change issues in the Caribbean. The Centre is also one of the few institutions recognized as a Centre of Excellence by United Nations Institute for Training and Research. CCCCC is empowering the Caribbean Community to act on climate change. -END-