- The Exchange of Notes (E/N) concerning a grant amounting to fifteen million US Dollars (US $15,000,000) in aid for the “Project for Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership” was signed on July 28, 2014 in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, between His Excellency Yoshimasa Tezuka, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Trinidad and Tobago and Mr. Richard Blewitt, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. The notes were exchanged following the first Japan-CARICOM Summit Meeting in the presence of the leaders of CARICOM Member States and the Prime Minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe.
- Small island states in the Caribbean region share similar challenges, including susceptibility to natural disasters, such as hurricanes and floods, and vulnerability to climate change. Climate change can increase the risk of hurricanes and storms in the region, as well as other risks including loss of land through rising sea levels, which can severely affect development. While Caribbean countries are striving to address climate change, constraints such as the lack of technology, information and financing, hinder progress.
- Through the “Project for Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership” to be implemented by the UNDP, Japan aims to assist Caribbean countries in developing and implementing climate change policies, to promote the transfer of adaptation and mitigation technologies through various pilot projects in selected countries, and to build a regional platform for information sharing. Japan expects that this project, designed for each beneficiary country, will help boost their adaptive capacity to climate change and natural disasters, and will further strengthen the partnership between Japan and these countries, especially on the occasion of the Japan-CARICOM Friendship year 2014, which marks the 20th anniversary of the commencement of the Japan-CARICOM Consultations begun in 1993.
- This project will be conducted as part of the pledge by the Government of Japan to contribute 1.6 trillion Yen, approximately 16 billion US Dollars, to developing countries for measures against climate change during the 3-year period from 2013 to 2015, referred to under the “Actions for Cool Earth (ACE)” at the COP 19 in November, 2013. The Government of Japan will continue to collaborate with the small island states in the Caribbean region to address climate change, in order to establish a fair and effective international framework in which all major economies participate.
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