The Climate Action-Reparatory Justice Crossroad As the global reparatory justice movement takes shape as the greatest political movement of the 21 st century, The UWI affirms its commitment to greater advocacy and consciousness-raising. The scientific evidence points to the Caribbean as the place where there is the greatest “local harm caused by global warming.”The Caribbean climate change discourse is, however, a relevant conversation about reparatory justice—as inherited colonialism, which has gone unrepaired, has resulted in a cocktail of community vulnerability and structural exposure to nature. Today’s existential crisis of environment entrapment results from the legacies of the Crimes against Humanity represented by slavery and colonialism. Furthermore, global warming has released from their natural habitats viruses and bacteria, affecting public health in vulnerable communities. The mobility of such pathogens, causing mass exposure to respiratory infections and non-communicable diseases, has seen the African people of the Caribbean classified by these criteria as the sickest peoples in the world. Thus, there is an interconnected call in the Caribbean bringing together the demand for support for climate resilience within the reparations framework.
A Leading Advocate for 1.5 to Stay Alive Agenda The Caribbean region is under constant threat from the fallout from global warming. According to the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 1.5 Report, released in October 2018, global temperatures are expected to reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels by as early as 2030. As an activist university, The UWI has been leading the discourse within the region and globally, calling upon leaders, particularly policy makers, technocrats, private sector and civil society, to act swiftly on the 1.5 to Stay Alive agenda and the options for enhancing resilience. Further, a recent study co-authored by The UWI’s academics and published in Science suggests that investment in these instruments of climate awareness and responsibility will redound to financial well-being, as any related expenditure would be significantly lower than the costs of recovering from the results of climate- related events such as hurricanes and flooding. The University therefore continues to highlight the high risk faced by small island and low-lying states such as ours in the Caribbean, advocating mitigation methods, and adopting strategies to enhance resilience.
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