Australia will provide $17.5 million to support Caribbean efforts to adapt to climate change and manage the impacts of natural disasters.
This funding is part of the $60 million package of development assistance to the Caribbean pledged by Australia in November 2009. The $17.5 million allocation was announced at the inaugural talks between Australia and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Georgetown, Guyana on 17 December.
The new funding will build on Australia's existing support to:
- strengthen the capacity of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre to help countries plan for and adapt to climate change;
- support the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency's disaster risk reduction work program, which is helping the region manage the impact of natural disasters
- help increase understanding of climate change in the region through higher education, intra-region scholarships and academic exchanges
- work directly with communities on local-level adaptation activities.
The majority of this assistance for climate change is also part of Australia's global $599 million fast-start climate change finance package announced in June 2010, and will support the work of key regional organisations and fund community-level activities across the Caribbean.
About 25 per cent of Australia's fast-start funding will be targeted to the specific needs of small island states like those in the Caribbean and the Pacific who are highly vulnerable to the likely impacts of climate change.
Helping to shape a global climate change solution is one of the Australian Government's highest priorities and the outcomes of the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancún in early December provided the building blocks for a comprehensive global agreement.
Australia is also committed to ensuring the voices of small island states are heard in climate change negotiations and is providing $1.5 million in fast-start funding to help build the capacity of the Alliance of Small Island States to effectively meet the needs of member countries, including most Caribbean nations.
Australia will also provide an additional 30 scholarships for the Caribbean region, worth $3.8 million over the next four years.
The first group of 21 Caribbean scholarship recipients will commence study in Australia in early 2011.