Climate change media handbook released

Today, The Belize National Meteorological Service and the Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change Project officially launched “Concepts and Issues in Climate Change: A Handbook for Caribbean Journalists.” The publication is intended to inform, educate, and warn journalists of the danger posed by the extreme weather events that the region is currently experiencing and the long term impact of climate change on the sustainable development of the region. According to Chief Meteorologist in Belize, Carlos Fuller, while there are some climate change projects occurring in the country, he does not believe the public has been sensitised enough about the issue.

Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist
?To those who we have been able to contact, they are now taking it seriously. I have noticed for example the tourism industry association is doing something with an environmental walk through programme where they are looking at various hotels and what they can do to become ecological friendly and that is also climate change. In Toledo, we saw where one village has now gone totally solar again this is a climate change project, they may not realise it, but it is a climate change project. There are other sectors that are occurring that have been doing some work. Programme for Belize back in 1995 got the first international project on forest management on climate change, that is six power companies paid them some money to keep a sector of the forest in Belize under its natural vegetation, not going into rice production. So there are various sectors, but the community on whole is not doing anything significant yet and I am hoping that through this media presentation today the media will start be able to talk to the various sectors about it and get them to do something more about climate change.?

The handbook was launched regionally at the annual general meeting of the Association of Caribbean Media Workers in Barbados on November fourth, 2005.