Environmental research

Climate change has serious implications for people living in the small islands of the Caribbean, with this in mind the project seeks to raise public awareness on the extent and dangers of climate change and intends to empower the people of the region especially the youth to contribute to reducing carbon emissions. The goal of the project is "to create a cadre of Caribbean Youth who are knowledgeable about climate change, competent advocates and lobbyists for climate change mitigation and who have also developed entrepreneurial skills to the extent that they can capitalise on business opportunities related to climate change. The project will utilise the media including print and electronics (radio, television, internet, etc.) and other innovative communication methods such as popular cultural activities to raise awareness and increase actions on issues relating to climate change mitigation. The project will provide training in climate change energy auditing, small business development and entrepreneurship to approximately forty youth leaders from 16 Caribbean countries. The training programme would be structured so as to provide theoretical as well as practical experience on the various topics. This component is designed to: (1) train a cadre of 40 youth leaders in climate change conducting audits and small business and entrepreneurship development, (2) develop business plans for businesses to be established and (3) explore avenues for the mobilisation of credit to support and sustain the businesses. During the training opportunities for internship and exchanges of youth leaders would be provided. The project will also conduct energy audits relating to electricity consumption in Barbados, St. Lucia, Dominica and Grenada to determine the rate of consumption within these respective pilot countries low income communities so as to provide a benchmark. Additionally case studies will be developed depicting the extent, impact and effect of climate change on the communities/countries participating in the project. This information would contribute to the formation of a body of knowledge on climate change within the respective countries and the region as a whole and will be used tools to lobby governments to implement national policies to address climate change.

Barbados