FORUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE CARIBBEAN Day (1/3): Stimulating Radical Ideas Session (4/5): From Resilience to Sustainability Moderator: Mr. Kirk-Anthony Hamilton- World Economic Forum Global Sharper Kingston Hub and Founder and CEO of the Infiniti Partnership Speakers: 1. Mr Kahlil Hassanali and Dr. Rahanna Juman- Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad and Tobago (Integrating climate change adaptation into coastal zone management) 2. Professor Eric Strobl- Ecole Polytechnique, Paris (The Inflationary Costs of the Extreme Weather: Evidence from the Caribbean) 3. Dr. Asad Mohammed- Caribbean Network for Urban and Land Management, The University of West Indies, St Augustine Campus (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises as Indicators of Resilience to climate change in the Caribbean) Organized by: The United Nations Development Program and The University of West Indies. Rapporteur: Shweta Sharma 1. Background/Context: The Forum on the Future of the Caribbean is a thought provoking avenue designed to stimulate discussion through the creation of Radical Ideas by academics and policy-makers across the region by outlining practical analysis on key themes such as Caribbean Convergence, the resilience of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the quality of data for decision making and pathways to a more sustainable future. One of the Key themes for a sustainable future is understanding the impact of Climate Change, integrating Climate Change into Coastal Zone Management, The inflationary costs of Extreme Weather and the role of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises as indicators of Resilience to climate change in the Caribbean. The Caribbean is constituted of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Due to their geographical location they are prone to Natural Disaster such as Hurricanes and Floods as well as Man Made Disasters such as Oil spills and ocean pollution. Therefore it is important for Policy makers and academics to utilize avenues such as these to create awareness amongst members of the region by providing empirical evidence and working towards common solutions. 2. Summary of Presentations by the panelists Global climate change and climate variability adds to the continuous pressure on coastal environments especially in Small Island States (SIS), many of which are faced with a limited resource base, logistical challenges and rising pressures from economic development. The future risks associated with these drivers include loss of adaptive capacity and ecosystem services critical to lives and livelihoods in small islands. An attempt to counter these conflicts can be achieved through the creation of bodies such as the Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) which has outlined the key areas of focus: intensive coastal development, establishing legal and institutional arrangements, creation of awareness as well as developing a policy plan. A key component in the success of such bodies is the implementation of such policies, the adequate funding (IDB) and access to resources. Another aspect of Climate Change conflicts is the inflationary costs associated with Extreme Weather such as Hurricanes and Floods. Prof Eric Strobl indicated that a 9% loss of GDP is projected by 2030 due to the costs associated with Extreme Weather as the have a long term domino effect which results in the increase in prices of goods and services due to their shortage in supply. And lastly the role of Micro, Small and Medium entrepreneurs was outlined as they are the back bone of the economy and therefore play a major part in the resilience of SIDS towards Climate change. It is therefore extremely crucial as outline by Dr. Asad Mohammed to ensure that such entrepreneurs are provided and guided with the availability of resources such as lending mechanisms as well as strengthening institutional framework to prevent vulnerability and failure.   3. Comments by discussants The discussion was based on the empirical data provided by the panelists which reinforced the need for creating awareness amongst civil society as well as stressing on the need for adequate institutional and legislative frameworks to guide this discussion by taking into consideration the multi-dimensional factors affecting the region with respect to Climate change. 3. Questions and Answers The session on Resilience to sustainability raised a lot of contribution from the members of the audience, where approximately 8 speakers raised a mixture of questions as well as comments with regards to the point raised by the panelists. The questions mostly touched on the role of disaster management strategies within the Caribbean as well as raising concerns on the lack of authentic and credible data collection mechanisms which is an issue being faced by most countries within the region.