10 March 2011: The Caribbean Conference on Climate Change and Ethical Principles, which was held from 8-9 March 2011, in Saint Kitts and Nevis, concluded with policy makers and other delegates vowing to intensify efforts to raise their populations’ awareness of climate change and promote behavioral change on related issues.

The Conference was organized by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), in collaboration with the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis and with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation. Participants considered how climate science and ethics can be used to impact policy development at the local and international levels. The Conference also aimed to help create the foundations for the articulation of a collective Caribbean response to the outcomes of the 16th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 16), which took place at the end of 2010, in Cancun, Mexico.

At the Conference, Davidson Hepburn, President of UNESCO’s General Conference, called for urgent action on climate change, noting that small islands developing states (SIDS) are among the most vulnerable to a rise in sea-level and intense and prolonged weather phenomena. He stressed the need to build solidarity among the most vulnerable, and between them and those who have the capacity to help. [CARICOM Press Release]