Costa Rica to Host First Regional Meeting of the Climate Vulnerable Forum

April 22, 2014 - PRLog -- San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday 22 April 2014 - A Regional Workshop on Climate Vulnerability in Marine and Coastal Areas taking place in Costa Rica is gathering fifty government experts, academics and representatives of civil society of the Central American and Caribbean region. The Workshop will address key risks and impacts of climate change, especially in ecological and socio-economic terms, as well as regional cooperation.

The event will be inaugurated on Wednesday 23 April by the Administrative Vice Foreign Minister, Luis Fernando Salazar, with the Executive Director of the National System of Conservation Areas (SINAC-MINAE), Rafael Gutiérrez Rojas, and Head of Environment at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Costa Rica, Kifah Sasa.

This is the first regional activity of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), whose presidency is exercised by Costa Rica since late 2013, and aims to stimulate intra-regional cooperation to address climate change vulnerabilities relating to coastal marine areas, many of which are common to countries of the region.

Caribbean basin countries are affected by rising heat and sea levels, as well as other climate-related changes. Regional climate change impacts are manifested through effects as diverse as increased pressures on biodiversity, land degradation and drought, extreme weather such as floods, landslides, storms, and coastal erosion and stress on water resources, as well as effects on health, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, tourism, and hydropower generation - constituting the main areas of concern for the countries of Central America and the Caribbean.

The Climate Vulnerable Forum is an international partnership of developing countries highly vulnerable to a warmer planet. Twenty governments of all key regions of the world, including least developed countries, small island states and middle-income countries, have participated in policy, advocacy and knowledge exchange activities of the Forum.

The Regional Workshop is an opportunity for government and technical experts to exchange experiences and views on the state of the impact of climate change in the region and to explore the possibility of developing collaborative responses from a regional and international perspective.

Ends