Jamaica urged to adapt to impacts of climate change

The Gleaner (Jamaica): Regional environmentalists and climatologists are warning that failure to sufficiently adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change will severely affect the country's ability to achieve sustainable development. Dr Kenrick Leslie, director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, said it is projected that climate change will exacerbate the development challenges of the region, making it harder to attain and sustain millennium development goals.

He was speaking yesterday during the official handing over of the National Water Adaptation Sector Strategy Plan developed by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre. The document was handed to Dr Horace Chang, minister of water and housing, at his offices on Dominica Drive in New Kingston. According to Leslie, the region is already experiencing changing weather patterns with more intense extremes, including drought, floods and hurricanes. "A recent study has shown the potential economic costs as a percentage of GDP to Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) if no action is taken to reduce the impacts of climate change," he said…