Secretary General, Dr. June Soomer leads delegation to the 6th High Level Forum on the Korea - Caribbean Partnership

NR/010/2016

Seoul, Republic of Korea, October 26th, 2016 - The Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Her Excellency Dr. June Soomer, was a specially invited guest to the Republic of Korea’s (an ACS Observer Country) 6th High Level Forum on the Korea-Caribbean Partnership entitled “Enhancing the Korea-Caribbean Partnership on Climate Change and Food Security”, which was held on 26th October 2016 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Seoul, Republic of Korea.

This Forum, brought together Diplomats, Technical Experts and Development practitioners from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bahamas, Dominica, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Suriname, and the Republic of Korea, to share experiences and seek synergies in Climate Change Adaptation and issues of Food Security.

The Secretary General opened the first session titled “Enhancing the Korea-Caribbean Climate Partnership on Climate Change” with the presentation  “Adapting to the Future: The Role of the ACS in the response to Climate Change”. In her presentation, Dr. Soomer outlined the numerous economic, humanitarian and cultural impacts of climate change currently being felt in the Caribbean region, and noted that if these current impacts are not addressed, there will not be much left of the Caribbean to adapt to the future.

In addition, the Secretary General outlined the numerous on-going efforts of the ACS to address the impacts of climate change through the Directorate of Disaster Risk Reduction and the Caribbean Sea Commission including: projects to Strengthen Spatial Data Infrastructure, Strengthening Hydro Meteorological Services in SIDS (PICTA), “The impact of Climate Change on the Sandy Shorelines of the Caribbean: Alternatives for its Control”, and other efforts to address impacts on Coral Reefs and Sargassum Seaweed.

Furthermore, Her Excellency identified the role of the ACS as the primary body charged with the preservation of the Caribbean Sea, noting its continued efforts at the science policy interface to improve communication between scientists, diplomats and policymakers and articulated the role of the ACS in collaborative fundraising across ACS Member states.

Prior to the high-level forum, Dr. Soomer lead a delegation to a  bilateral meeting to the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) to discuss details of the upcoming ACS project “The impact of Climate Change on the Sandy Shorelines of the Caribbean: Alternatives for its Control” being co-implemented with the Ministry of Environment of the Republic of Cuba.

The ACS thanks the Government of the Republic of Korea for their hospitality and continued collaboration and interest in addressing the impacts of climate change and adapting to the future. The ACS looks forward to building on this robust partnership and celebrating the 20-year relationship between the Republic of Korea and the Association of Caribbean States.

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For further information, please contact:

 

Kia Jaikaran

Unit Assistant, Communications

Association of Caribbean States

E-mail: communications@acs-aec.org

Tel: 1-868-622-9575 EXT. 231

Fax: 1-868-622-1653