CCORAL: Ground-breaking climate adaptation tool launched in the Caribbean

The Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation TooL (CCORAL), a web-based tool designed to help decision makers in the Caribbean integrate climate resilience into their decision making and planning processes, has been launched in Saint Lucia. CCORAL was developed by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and Acclimatise, based on a thorough consultation process involving significant inputs from across the region. Critical inputs have been provided by Government Ministries in the four CCORAL pilot countries – Barbados, Belize, Jamaica and Suriname, non-governmental and civil society organisations, business and financial services sectors, universities and research institutions, and development partners. The new online support tool is an important step towards increasing the climate resilience of the region. Dr Rajendra Pachauri, Chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said of CCORAL “The development of the… tool [is] an extremely important asset in assessing the risk from the impacts of climate change in the Caribbean region. I would like to compliment the CCCCC for having taken this initiative”. CCORAL has been developed with support from the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) and the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) under the Caribbean Climate Risk Management Project. CCORAL is an online, open-source tool which can be accessed here: http://ccoral.caribbeanclimate.bz/. It guides users through several steps, helping them to quickly identify whether their activity is likely to be influenced by climate change and is a priority for further investigation, understand climate influence at each stage of their activity, and take action to increase climate resilience.

CCORAL is unique in that is has been designed for users of all skill levels, with different resources provided depending on user needs and experience (e.g. non-climate expert/climate expert). It is resolutely pragmatic in its approach, promoting the right tools and techniques to fit the context of Caribbean decision making, available time and resources and uncertainty about climate variability and change. Importantly, by using CCORAL, decision-makers will also be able to demonstrate to funders, investors and development partners that climate resilience has been considered and integrated into relevant activities.

It is intended that using CCORAL will promote discussion of climate risk management amongst decision-makers and will lead to greater collaboration between experts and non-experts leading to decisions that are robust in the face of climate change. The CCCCC and its partners are now preparing extensive training and rollout of CCORAL across the region. CCORAL comes as part of a continued effort by CARICOM Heads of Government to strengthen climate adaptation. Last year they approved the 2011-2021 Implementation Plan (IP) to operationalise the Regional Framework for Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change. The IP was designed by the CCCCC and Acclimatise with the help of funding from CDKN and DFID Caribbean. One priority challenge identified in the IP was the need to develop a risk management ethic in decision making in the Caribbean, ensuring the use of risk management processes and tools, management of uncertainties and integration of climate change into national development planning and decision making. CCORAL has been developed in response to this need.

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• http://ccoral.caribbeanclimate.bz/