World Bank supporting Grenada’s blue economy transition
The World Bank will provide US$30 million worth of support for Grenada’s transition to a resilient blue economy: The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors approved a US$30 million Development Policy Credit to support Grenada in strengthening its climate and fiscal resilience and helping the country transition to a blue …
Recommendations for designing and building hurricane-resilient solar photovoltaic systems
The Rocky Mountain Institute recently published Solar Under Storm, a report which addresses the question of why some solar photovoltaic (PV) survive hurricanes virtually unscathed, while others suffer extensive damage: The 2017 hurricane season was one of the most active in history. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria brought widespread destruction …
Small farmers in Jamaica to learn climate-smart agriculture skills
Thousands of smallholding farmers in Jamaica will be exposed to training on the use of climate-smart practices and information communications technology in agriculture: Under the project, dubbed ‘Accelerating the Uptake of Climate-smart Agriculture in selected African, Caribbean and Pacific countries’, to be implemented in three beneficiary countries – Jamaica, Mali …
Frigatebirds return to Barbuda
After the devastation of Hurricane Irma in 2017, most of Barbuda’s frigatebird population disappeared from the island’s Codrington Lagooon, which is said to be the second-largest frigatebird nesting site outside the Galapagos. The BBC reports that frigatebirds have begun returning to Barbuda: The aptly named magnificent frigatebirds are famed for …
FAO, Mexico to assist Caribbean countries with climate resilient agriculture
The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations and the government of Mexico have established a fund to help fourteen Caribbean countries leverage additional financial support to make their agricultural systems more climate resilient: Fourteen countries from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have agreed to boost their resilience and …
CARICOM Energy Personality of the Year: Suriname’s Hannah Olmberg-Soesman
Hannah Olmberg-Soesman of Suriname was recently declared the 2017 CARICOM Energy Personality of the Year. Ms. Olmberg-Soesman won the award for her work introducing off-grid solar systems to remote rural communities in Suriname: A dynamic entrepreneur with a background in social work and a degree in law, Hannah Olmberg-Soesman has …
Detroit Zoo’s breeding programme boosts population of endangered Puerto Rican crested toad
Since 1995, the Detroit Zoo has been working, through a cooperative breeding programme, to preserve and grow populations of the critically endangered Puerto Rican crested toad (Peltophryne lemur). Recently the zoo sent over 11,000 tadpoles to Puerto Rico to help increase the toad population in the wild: Detroit Zoo officials …