The initiative called “CCORAL-Water” builds upon the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL), an online support system for climate resilient decision-making; a platform hosted by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC).
CCORAL-Water therefore aims to support the existing CCORAL system, by introducing tools that are centred on the services which contribute to water security in the Caribbean and will focus on identifying and addressing climate risks which threaten the provision of services to sectors. The tool targets stakeholders in water-related planning in government departments, utilities, the private sector and other areas.
GWP-C is spearheading the development of CCORAL-Water in collaboration with the CCCCC with the support of a team of expert consultants lead by HR Wallingford. The development of the tool is being funded by the Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN).
The CCORAL-Water tools will be developed using a strong consultative process to ensure that they meet the needs of the tools’ target groups.
Cross-section of stakeholders at the Regional Consultation Workshop on the Caribbean Climate Online Risk-Adaptation Tool for Water (CCORAL-Water).
This process was kick-started on September 18th, 2013 in Barbados, through the first Regional CCORAL-Water Consultation Workshop. The workshop which was hosted by GWP-C in partnership with the CCCCC brought together more than ten (10) high-level representatives from the water sector in the Caribbean to introduce them to the CCCCC’s CCORAL and the GWP-C’s CCORAL-Water and sought to get their feedback on the initial direction and objectives of the CCORAL-Water initiative.
Mr. Keith Nichols, Programme Development Specialist at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) is seen here introducing stakeholders to the Implementation Plan of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Regional Framework for Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change and the CCCCC’s Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL).
The one-day workshop was deemed a success as stakeholders were able to provide guidance and input on the scope and content of the CCORAL-Water tools on areas such as:
- Planning and decision-making systems to target as entry points.
- Intended audiences for the tools.
- Technical scope of tools and their intended outputs.
- Critical issues and regional sectoral priorities that CCORAL-Water should address.
- Decision-making processes in the water sector that would benefit from integrating climate variability and change risks.
The structure of the workshop allowed for various discussions and interaction amongst stakeholders which allowed them to understand how and where the CCORAL-Water tool would be able to deliver the most positive impact.
From Left to Right: Dr. Mark Bynoe, Senior Environmental Economist at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and Mr. Emil McGarrell, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Housing and Water of Guyana are seen here during discussions at the Regional CCORAL-Water Consultation Workshop held on September 18th, 2013 in Barbados.
According to Dr. Natalie Boodram, Programme Manager of the GWP-C WACDEP “The CCORAL-Water initiative directly contributes to capacity development, and the facilitation of no/low regret investments in regional and national development related to climate resilience and water security; all components of the GWP-C WACDEP.” Dr. Boodram further indicated that “the workshop provided useful information for the development of the overall WACDEP Programme.”
The CCORAL-Water initiative is well underway and will continue to engage stakeholders throughout its development. The initiative is scheduled to be completed in March 2014 and at that time the tools will be made available through the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL) platform.