Wednesday, February 21, 2007

VULNERABILITY AND ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE IN SMALL ISLAND DEVELOPING STATES

Report highlights adverse effects of and adaptation to climate change in the Caribbean and other Small Island Developing States.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
A. Context for adaptation to climate change for SIDS
1. There are 51 small island developing states which, in spite of their geographical and cultural
diversity, share similar economic and sustainable development challenges including low availability of resources, a small but rapidly growing population, remoteness, susceptibility to natural disasters, excessive dependence on international trade and vulnerability to global developments. SIDS also have to contend with a lack of economies of scale, high transportation and communication costs, and costly public administration and infrastructure.

2. The climate of small island states is influenced by large ocean-atmosphere interactions such as trade winds, El NiƱo and the monsoons; tropical cyclones and hurricanes are also important components of the climate, as well as sea-level rise. These climate characteristics, combined with their particular socioeconomic situations make SIDS, among which are 12 LDCs, some of the most vulnerable countries in the world to climate change. This, added to the fact that SIDS produce such extremely low levels of greenhouse gas emissions, means that they will suffer disproportionately from the damaging impacts of climate change.

File Format: PDF/Adobe Acrobat:
http://unfccc.int/files/adaptation/adverse_effects_and_response_measures_art_48/application/pdf/200702_sids_adaptation_bg.pdf

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