The government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines is hosting a series of meetings of The Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF) at the Beachcombers Hotel.
These are essentially two meetings held to deliver climate forecasts for the wet/hurricane season and to train meteorologists/ climatologists.
These RCOFs are critical for the development and delivery of effective early warning systems, in that they provide real-time seasonal climate forecasts and interpretation across relevant time and spatial scales.
The combination of climate variability and change pose significant risks for the Caribbean region. Pressures on regional resources are anticipated to increase along with demands due to population growth and the expansion of tourism. Coupled with these risks are:
- The threats already posed to society from today’s climate extremes and variations
- The potentially high-impact but uncertain additional risks presented by climate change
The CariCOF meeting commenced on Monday, May 29th with a Wet/Hurricane Season- Seasonal Forecast Training Workshop at the Beachcombers Hotel.
Tuesday’s programme will take the form of a training exercise for local and regional media personnel and other stakeholders and will be addressed by Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries and Rural Transformation, the Hon. Saboto Caesar. The training will be conducted by well-known NBC Television Meteorological presenter, John Morales at the Beachcombers Hotel at 8:30 am.
The Official Opening Ceremony of The Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF ) will take place on Wednesday, May 31st at 8:30 am also at the Beachcombers Hotel and will be addressed by Prime Minister, Dr. the Hon. Ralph Gonsalves.
The week will conclude June 1- 2 with the Regional Sectoral Early Warning Information Systems Across Climate Timescales (EWISACTs) Close Out Meetings under the BRCCC Programme.
Wednesday Opening Ceremony will showcase new and enhanced climate information products and will be addressed by the Hon Camillo Gonsalves, Minister of Economic Planning, Sustainable Development, Industry, Internal Trade, Information and Labour.
CariCof is funded through the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Programme for Building Regional Climate Capacity in the Caribbean (BRCCC Programme), with the generous support of the American people.
