H. Elizabeth Thompson, Minister of Energy and Environment, Barbados, voiced her gratification for Italy’s continued support and recognition of the extent to which climate change is a problem for the Caribbean, and emphasized that it is now accepted that climate change will not only have environmental impacts, but also economic ones. She underscored the continued need for international recognition of small island developing states’ vulnerability to climate change.

Antonio Navarra, Euro-Mediterranean Centre for Climate Change, discussed the Centre’s work, noting that it focuses on climate modeling and data set gathering to study climate variability. He said that the Centre examines predictions of GHG emissions, assesses the economic value of the impacts of climate change and how it affects various sectors, and provides seasonal forecasts.

Kenrick Leslie, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, explained the Caribbean’s vulnerability to climate change, including its seasonal hurricane activity, and said that sea level rise, higher sea water temperatures, increasingly severe hurricanes and changing rainfall patterns could have severe impacts on the region.

Karen Bernard, UNDP, discussed the Caribbean Risk Management Initiative, saying that it is designed to build capacity within the Caribbean region to address the growing occurrence of natural hazards and environmental risks, as well as to emphasize the concept of climate change and social vulnerability through South-South cooperation.

Corrado Clini, Director General, Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, Italy, suggested a joint work plan for Italy and Belize’s climate centers to examine the similarities and differences in adaptation, prediction and risk management in the Mediterranean and the Caribbean.

Participants discussed the need for linkages between the UN International Strategy for Disaster Reduction project and the Caribbean Community, and the need to involve Haiti and Cuba in effective climate risk management.

Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP, said that environmental concerns, as exemplified by climate change issues, are beginning to define tomorrow’s market. He suggested that WTO rules may be preventing countries from introducing renewable energy targets, and sought further examination of the issue.

Ian Pearson, Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, UK, said that a successful post-2012 climate regime is unlikely without a strong international trade dimension, and called for the trade policy and climate change “communities” to start working together. He suggested that free trade in low- and zero-carbon technologies would provide real opportunities for the developing world to supply sustainable goods and services to the developed world.

Corrado Clini, Director General, Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea, Italy, supported involving the WTO in climate change discussions. On bioenergy, he pointed out that sugarcane-based ethanol is greatly superior to corn-based ethanol for reducing carbon emissions and keeping food prices stable.

Following a discussion of international trade and agriculture issues, Steiner concluded that the next round of trade talks would need to have energy at its center. Some panelists suggested that real progress may need to wait until after the conflictive Doha Round, so that a process of rebuilding international trust can commence, and environmental concepts are no longer “bracketed out” of trade discussions.

Daudi Migereko, FEMA Chair and Minister of Energy and Minerals Development, Uganda, noted that FEMA’s duty was to provide political commitment, policy direction, experience-sharing and advocacy on the provision, access, use and management of energy resources for sustainable development in Africa.

Simbarashe Mangwengwende, Zimbabwe, said that Africa does not have a lack of energy, but a problem of underdeveloped economic and energy resources. He stressed that low and uneven economic development is Africa’s fundamental problem.

Salvador Namburete, Minister of Energy, Mozambique, provided an overview of the FEMA Maputo Declaration, stressing the importance of increasing access to modern energy, utilizing Africa’s abundant energy resources and expanding energy finance.

Vijay Iyer, World Bank, stressed the importance of the donor community working together to provide resources and technical capacity for FEMA’s programme of work.

Geert Anderson, Denmark, underscored the importance of energy access to support the implementation of the MDGs, and called for the mainstreaming of sustainable energy in development cooperation plans and portfolios, especially those of the multilateral financial institutions.

Peter Davies, DFID, said that energy is back on the development agenda, and noted that the development community is ready to work with African governments through arrangements such as the EU-Africa energy partnership.

Marlis Kees, GTZ, underscored that support for FEMA will become a cornerstone of German-Africa cooperation on sustainable energy.

John Christensen, UNEP, highlighted the UNEP Governing Council decision on support to Africa, which specifically identified FEMA for further collaborative work with UNEP.

Minoru Takada, UNDP, said that while energy is not specifically identified in the MDGs, UNDP was working to ensure that energy needs are a key component of discussions and plans to meet the MDGs.