March 29, 2023

(CCCCC Press Release 2023/003)

(City of Belmopan, Belize) Global climate change is expected to affect the hydrological cycle, altering surface water levels and groundwater recharge to aquifers with various other associated impacts.  This has led to predictions that the Caribbean will be impacted by drier conditions in the short, medium, and long-term future. Over time, this will result in more water stresses, frequent and severe droughts, and changes to the timing and frequency of rainfall.

Through funding from the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has been assisting CARICOM Member States with building resilience in the water sector. In this regard, the CCCCC is supporting the Government of Belize with the capacity, tools, and information to guide improved water resources management in an effort to build resilience to the effects of climate change.

This support is being delivered through a national GCF Readiness Project that seeks to provide preparatory support to National Adaptation Planning for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) in Belize.

This project is critical for understanding the characteristics of Belize’s groundwater resources, which are less understood than its surface sources.  This lack of understanding can have grave impacts on the sustainable development pathway for the country which has been subjected to meteorological droughts every quarter for the past 4 years.  Belize’s water resources are transboundary, making the resource vulnerable to impacts from its neighbours – Guatemala and Mexico. At the same time, dry corridor projections for Guatemala indicate that the Mopan River – a main source of water for Belizeans – will become a dry corridor in the future. 

Over-abstraction is already observed in some areas in the south of the country where high water withdrawals have resulted in the exposure of the riverbed. Along with saltwater intrusion, these current trends threaten Belize’s freshwater supply and the ability to ensure fresh, potable water for the populace.

These all illustrate the urgency for understanding the quality, quantity, and variability of all water resources that sustain the development projections for the country.

Working closely with the Ministry of Natural Resources, Petroleum, and Mining, the project aims to:

  • Increase the capacity of the National Hydrological Services (NHS) for evidence-based decision-making.
  • Strengthen the relationships among national agencies such as the National Hydrological Services, the National Meteorological Services, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Rural Development, the National Climate Change Office, and the National Emergency Management Organization, among others.
  • Foster the government’s readiness for additional climate finance from international donors

Since its accreditation, to the GCF in 2015, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has implemented 23 Readiness Support projects in 12 CARICOM Member States, thus, building the long-term capacity of the National Designated Authorities (NDAs) within these countries to translate national climate change plans into a pipeline of transformative mitigation and adaptation projects that could attract climate finance from the GCF and other sources to build climate resilience on the ground.

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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 the United Nations Institute for Training and Research. CCCCC is empowering the Caribbean Community to act on climate change.

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