Building Financial Resilience for Youth-Led Climate Adaptation
Regional Context
Challenges in the region that we need to overcome include our colonial past and present which has not fostered a sense of oneness and equity for shared prosperity for our peoples. We are geographically separated by water and have small populations on a multitude of islands rocks and cays throughout our regional archipelago. With limited access to technology and sustainable financing to support regenerative sustainable development, it will not be possible to build resilient Caribbean communities.
Within the Caribbean, there are geopolitical challenges that must be addressed for our collective communities to become resilient to the impacts of Climate Change. We must become more intentional about learning each other’s languages to foster collaboration and co-creation.
Caribbean young people can seize the opportunities presented by the Climate Crisis with meaningful and equitable support that finances youth leaders. The co-creation of new ventures within the adaptation economy will help to reduce poverty and improve youth employment. Creating new sustainable jobs will help to reduce migration challenges in The Caribbean.
Action Plan
Adaptation is our priority. Climate financing must reach young people and local communities in meaningful and sustainable ways. The current conversation at the UN level is primarily focused on Mitigation, this narrative completely overlooks the needs and realities of young people in the Caribbean. The COP narratives are successively following a twilight zone loop of inaction.
As Caribbean young people we accept that it is our responsibility to ensure that all Caribbean youth truly understand what is at stake and are aware of the harsh realities that the climate crisis has given us. Our pathway from survival to thriving is to ensure that young people are the co-creators of the innovative solutions that our communities need.
Caribbean youth must become more proactive in our efforts to collaborate so that we can effectively engage in the UNFCCC process and conversations that are shaping our future well-being, and are so clearly our financial burden to bear.
As Caribbean populations are generally small we must band together. We began to cultivate our community during the 2022 Caribbean RCOY – Our Collective Pathway to Cop 27 and Beyond.
This year’s RCOY Building Financial Resilience for Youth-Led Climate Adaptation in The Caribbean has 4 components.
- Technology Transfer
- Online Policy Working Group Writing Sessions (August – September 2023)
- Online Climate Leadership Course ( August – September 2023)
- The Physical RCOY in Barbados will convene 66 young people from 33 different Countries and Territories within The Caribbean. ( Week of October 16 2023)
The Regional Conference of Youth will allow us to capture the different challenges that we are faced with and refine our collective regional climate action plan and associated budget.
Draft RCOY and BYCASE Programme Schedule
Important Links
Climate Solution - SDG 6 Increase Precipitation Data Points throughout the Caribbean and in parts of East Africa
Climate Leaders in attendance at RCOY Caribbean in Barbados will be tasked with developing an action plan for the installation and long term sustainable monitoring of their assigned Rain Gauges. Learn more about the Royal Rain Catchers Programme.
Our Caribbean Youth Community
