National climate change adaptation policy

2015


   THE SAINT LUCIA CLIMATE
   CHANGE ADAPTATION
   POLICY
   Adapting one individual, one household, one community, one
   ENTERPRISE and one sector at a time




   Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science
   and Technology
FOREWORD
In 2002, Saint Lucia’s Cabinet of Ministers approved a National Climate Change Policy and
Adaptation Plan (NCCPAP). This was the first such policy of its type in the Caribbean and, for
some time, the only one.
At the time, the awareness of climate change and its impacts was only just beginning to emerge
in the English-speaking Caribbean. For this reason, interest in this phenomenon was then
confined largely to a relatively small group of persons in government and academia.
Consequently, the NCCPAP placed the responsibility for addressing climate change primarily on
state entities.
A decade later, awareness of climate change has increased nationally and regionally. This
heightened awareness has been accompanied by a growing recognition, in Saint Lucia, that
climate change affects everyone and every sector and that, consequently, the response to this
phenomenon is not just the responsibility of Government but rather, that of every citizen.
Government, the private sector and civil society must therefore work hand in hand to face and
respond to the climate change challenge.
In 2011, the NCCPAP was revised with resources made available under Phase 1 of the Pilot
Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR), funded under the Climate Investment Funds (CIF).
The final outcome of the aforementioned review is this Climate Change Adaptation Policy
(CCAP). The CCAP, while superseding the NCCPAP, endorses and builds on many of its
principles and elements, including the idea of a cross-sectoral approach to adaptation, across
many sectors.
The CCAP duly recognizes the respective roles of Government, the private sector and civil
society. For this reason, it bears the strap-line “Adapting, one individual, one household, one
community, one enterprise and one sector at a time”.

The CCAP provides a framework for addressing the impacts of climate change, in an integrated
manner, across all key sectors. It also takes into account the fact that successfully adapting to
climate change involves three interconnected processes, namely:
     Adaptation Facilitation, which entails creating the appropriate policy, legislative and
       institutional environment;
     Adaptation Financing, which involves putting in place measures to ensure adequate and
       predictable financial flows; and
     Adaptation Implementation, which entails taking concrete actions on the ground to
       prepare for or respond to the impacts of climate change.

While the CCAP specifically addresses climate change adaptation, it is recognised that some