CARICOM Climate Change Negoitiators Meeting

The CARICOM Negotiators Meeting was organised by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and was held in St. Lucia during the period March 15- 16, 2013.  Ms Jewel Batchasingh, Climate Change/Ozone Specialist of the Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources represented Trinidad and Tobago at this strategic meeting.

The principal focus of this meeting was to:

•  Analyse the outcomes of Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the eighth session of the Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP18/CMP 8) that occurred in December, 2012 and,

• Define the region’s objectives for the negotiations under the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban  Platform and other subsidiary bodies especially in relation to the new institutions established under the Convention during the past two years.

 The Second Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (ADP) was carded to meet during the period April 29 – May 03, 2013 and therefore, the meeting sought to formalise the CARICOM climate change negotiating position prior to this second session of the ADP.

Outcomes from the COP18/CMP 8 were discussed by various thematic coordinators. These presentations engendered discussions which allowed for a better understanding of the various issues. A concept note was prepared by Trinidad and Tobago which proposed a way forward for on-going negotiations under the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS).