The Caricom Secretariat intends to use the upcoming bi-annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meet-ing (CHOGM) in Trinidad and Tobago to plug the importance issue of Climate Change, Caricom Secretary General Edwin Carrington disclosed yesterday.

The Caricom Secretariat yesterday launched its special Climate Change campaign under the theme ‘1.5 ˚C to Stay Alive’.  The theme reflects the fact that if world temperature rises by more than 1.5 degrees Celsius the low-lying countries in the Caribbean and small island states “will be at serious risk of economic hardship, poor health and environmental degradation from rising sea levels, severe weather, coastal erosion and coral and sea life deterioration” .

Carrington told reporters that the campaign will be taken to Trinidad during CHOGM, which will be held from November 27 to 29. He said this campaign has the full support of Trinidad & Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning. Carrington said Manning recognises that the meeting is the last major gathering of several world leaders before the Copenhagen meeting in December, and believes it should be used to push this critical issue.

The Secretary General said prompt action is needed and noted with some concern that some of the major perpetrators seemed not to appreciate the importance of the issue. However, he said he was optimistic that the region will experience favourable responses coming out of Copenhagen.

Prior to the official launching of the campaign Garfield Barnwell, the director of the Secretariat’s Sustainable Development Programme conducted a power point presentation highlighting the impact of climate change.

The campaign was then officially launched by the Secretary General in the foyer of the Caricom Secretariat.