The Honourable Camille Robinson-Regis, Minister of Planning and Development would like to state to the public that the Government, through the Ministry of Planning and Development has been working to combat climate change through a number of initiatives. In addition, the Planning Minister is reiterating the Government’s decision to ratify the Paris Climate Change Agreement.
Regarding our initiatives to address climate change, the Ministry of Planning and Development is currently undertaking climate change vulnerability and risk assessments in order to provide a comprehensive picture of projected climate change impacts in Trinidad and Tobago in terms of economic cost, impact on lives and finding out which geographic areas and groups are most vulnerable. Consultations were conducted in December 2017 with the public and private sector as well as UN institutions to facilitate the requisite decision-making on climate change risk management. Another project being undertaken in cooperation with the Tobago House of Assembly is the active mapping of the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve, which is one of the country's principal carbon sinks. Carbon sinks absorb large quantities of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.
Trinidad and Tobago is committed to a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 30% by December 31, 2030 in the public transportation sector equivalent to 1,700,000 million tonnes of carbon dioxide and a decrease of 15% by 2030 in the other main carbon emitting sectors such as industry and the petrochemical sector which is equivalent to 103 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
We have successfully met the global targets relating to the Consumption of Ozone Depleting Substances, which declined from a high of 220 tonnes in 1998 to 34.34 tonnes in 2011. We are still working to reduce this figure, since ozone depleting substances have been proven to contribute to climate change. In this regard, the Planning Ministry has been able to meet significant global milestones in refrigeration units using hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) through bans on assembled units using HCFCs from 2015 and the establishment of a training and certification programme for technicians in the air conditioning and refrigeration sector in the repair and installation of equipment from 2016.
These projects are conducted by the Ministry of Planning and Development in close collaboration with other organisations in order to support national efforts aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions as defined in the National Climate Change Policy.
In addition, the recent decision by Cabinet to ratify the Paris Climate Change Agreement further cements the Government’s commitment to combat climate change. The Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs is preparing the necessary documentation to communicate this to the wider global community and an announcement will soon be made when this has been accomplished. The Paris Climate Change Agreement is an accord within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) addressing greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and finance commencing 2020. By signing on to the Agreement we have committed to respond to the global climate change threat by agreeing to manage a global temperature rise of below two degrees Celsius.
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