2 September 2010: The second Japan-Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministerial-level Conference was held on 2 September 2010, in Tokyo, Japan, to identify assistance measures that will benefit CARICOM States in the next three years under the framework of the Japan-CARICOM Partnership Programme.

At the Conference, Ministers agreed on an outcome document titled “Partnership for Peace, Development and Prosperity between Japan and the Member States of the Caribbean Community,” which gives further direction to Japan-CARICOM relations. The document includes sections on: overcoming vulnerability and promoting human security, which includes a sub-section on disaster risk reduction (DRR); and integration into the global economy, which includes sub-sections on improvement of the fisheries sector as a key industry. In the latter section of the Partnership document, the Foreign Ministers emphasize the need to better understand the impacts of climate change on the fisheries and marine ecosystem, and implement adaptation and mitigation measures to protect food security and the livelihoods of coastal communities of CARICOM member States.

In a section devoted to the environment and climate change specifically, the Ministers underline the necessity of concluding the ongoing negotiations under the UNFCCC and call upon all States to engage constructively in the negotiations, based on the work undertaken at the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference. Recognizing the necessity to take immediate measures against the serious threats caused by climate change that confront CARICOM member States, Japan commits to enhance its cooperation with CARICOM member States in their efforts to implement adaptation and mitigation measures promptly and effectively, recognizing the need for CARICOM States to access fast-start financing. Ministers also affirm their intention to cooperate in the introduction of renewable energy and energy-saving technology. [Japan Press Release]