GEF Antigua and Barbuda

The current warming of the climate system is undeniable, as evidenced through the increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice and rising global average sea level. This will in turn pose huge challenges to nations with developing countries suffering most from the adverse impacts of climate change.

Climate change refers to the current and predicted changes in the present climate; this phenomenon is also referred to as global warming. Global warming is the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans since the mid-20th century and its predicted continuation.

Eleven of the last twelve years (1995-2006) rank among the twelve warmest years in the instrumental record of global surface temperature (since 1850) and global average sea level has risen since 1961 at an average rate of 1.8 mm/yr and since 1993 at 3.1 mm/yr, with contributions from thermal expansion, melting glaciers and ice caps, and the polar ice sheets. It is now almost undisputable that this warming is due to the increase in the global atmospheric anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHG), the most important of these being carbon dioxide (CO2), whose annual emissions grew by about 80% between 1970 and 2004. CO2 has now far exceeded the natural range over the last 650,000 years.

The changes being caused by regional climate change are affecting many physical and biological systems, on all continents and in oceans globally. For example as a result of the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 since 1750, the acidity of the surface ocean has increased and therefore could in turn affect the productivity of coral reefs.

The consequence of climate change that will most seriously impact small islands like Antigua and Barbuda is sea level rise. Sea level rise is expected to exacerbate inundation, storm surge, erosion and other coastal hazards, thus threatening vital infrastructure, settlements and facilities that support the livelihood of island communities. Deterioration in coastal conditions, for example through erosion of beaches and coral bleaching, is also expected to affect local resources.

Due to the unavoidable impacts of climate change the international community’s first political response to climate change began with the adoption of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1992, which sets out a framework for action aimed at stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases to avoid “dangerous anthropogenic interference” with the climate system. The UNFCCC entered into force on 21 March 1994 and now has 192 parties.

In December 1997, delegates at the third UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP3) in Kyoto, Japan, agreed to a Protocol to the UNFCCC that commits industrialized countries to achieve emission reduction targets. These countries, known under the UNFCCC as Annex I parties, agreed to reduce their overall emissions of six greenhouse gases by an average of 5.2% below 1990 levels between 2008-2012 (the first commitment period), with specific targets varying from country to country. The Kyoto Protocol entered into force on 16 February 2005 and now has 184 parties. However these targets have not been met and the problem has ballooned into one of more significant proportions.

In December 2009 at COP15 in Copenhagen, Denmark Parties to the UNFCCC will try to adopt an ambitious global climate agreement which will take into account both developed and developing countries. This goal will involve global emissions cuts within the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities, and taking into account social and economic conditions and other relevant factors.

Source: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report http://www.ipcc.ch/