Tackling climate change by improving the ability of local and central governments to work effectively together is being given an important boost. The Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) has partnered with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC) in the delivery of a multi-year project on Climate Resilient Development, working in Saint Lucia, Dominica, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. Funded through the Green Climate Fund’s Regional Readiness and Preparatory Support line the project aims at enhancing the capacity of CARICOM member states in building the climate resilience of national and sub-national governments and the urban spaces they govern. 

Climate stress in urban areas

CLGF will be delivering a series of workshops in the period May to July 2025, that will enable key stakeholders to exchange on the main issues impacting climate resilient urban development in their country. The first workshop will take place from 14 to 16 May in St Lucia, closely followed by the Trinidad and Tobago workshop from 27 to 29 May. These workshops are intended to build climate literacy and focus on key issues impacting a coordinated approach to addressing climate stress in urban environments.

The workshops will take a systems approach and will look to develop a set of short, medium and long-term priority actions for increasing impact on the ground. The dialogues will address the different role of actors in the urban environment and target priorities to those most able to facilitate change.

Climate literacy

Increasing climate literacy and the ability of local and central government to work together to achieve both adaptation and mitigation targets is essential in preparing Caribbean communities for the increasing impacts of climate change. The meeting will directly respond to the commitments made by 4^th SIDS conference (Antigua and Barbuda 2024), the COP28 Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships (CHAMP) for Climate Action and the OECS Climate Change Strategy and adaptation action plan (2021-2026).

CLGF is committed to supporting local government across its membership to address climate change and climate impacts, both in the form of on-going climate stress as well as in the form of disaster risk reduction and preparation for acute disasters and extreme weather. The outcomes of these national workshop will be presented to CLGF’s full Caribbean membership at its upcoming regional Caribbean meeting planned for late 2025.