Saint Lucia's Second National Communication - Official Document - December 2011

The creation of a National Communication offers countries the opportunity to contribute with technically sound studies and information that can be used for designing mitigation and adaptation measures, and project proposals that can and will help increase their resilience to the impacts of climate change. Activities generally include: V&A assessments, Greenhouse Gas Inventory preparation, Mitigation Analysis or Education, and awareness raising activities. The ultimate goal is the integration of climate change considerations into relevant social, economic and environmental policies and actions.

Saint Lucia is benefitting from a considerable number of climate change adaptation projects across an array of its identified adaptation priorities, and has made a concerted effort to address climate change through its Climate Change Adaptation Policy and Strategy. The country’s dependence on tourism and vulnerability of its natural biodiversity and coastal resources may help to explain its ability to attract a considerably amount of adaptation funding, especially from projects with a global focus. In the future, adaptation program may need to build upon current efforts related to coastal zone management, agriculture, freshwater supply, and the gender dimensions of climate change impacts. It may also need to focus on areas in which action does not seem to be on-going, such as the impacts of climate change on marine resources, human settlements and human health. More programming could also be directed towards implementation of concrete adaptation measures in the field.