The Caribbean Community Climate Change Center - or 5Cs - was officially opened in August 2005, and it is a key unit in advising CARICOM states on how best to roll out their change-related policy for improved climate reslience.
Since it was officially opened, Dr. Kenrick Leslie has been the executive director, and under his leadership, the 5Cs slowly became recognized internationally. For several months now, Dr. Colin Young, the former CEO of the Social Security Board, has been leading the Center as Leslie's replacement, and today, the new director called a press conference to bid his predecessor a farewell.
During the course of a 49-minute conversation, here's what Dr. Young had to say about a few of the very important successes at the 5Cs under Dr. Leslie's leadership:
Dr. Colin Young - New Director, CCCCC
"On Wednesday, the 25th of November, the Center is holding an appreciation ceremony, where a number of dignitaries will be expressing their gratitude to Dr. Leslie for the work that he has done in championing climate change and leading the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center since 2003."
"There are a number of very stellar achievements in the center. The Center was established at a time where financing was always a challenge, and so the Center, since 2003, has been a self-financed institution. So, even though it's a CARICOM institution, all of the funding to run the operations of the center is obtained by the Center on its own. And that in itself is a remarkable achievement, that 15 years since establishment, the Center is still able to raise all of the funds to conduct its operation and provide financing for climate change work in the region. And, the numbers speak for themselves. In fact, since 2005 up until January 2020, the Center has leveraged and mobilized over 250 million dollars for implementation of a wide range of projects in all of the CARICOM countries in the region."
"So, because of Dr. Leslie's efforts, and his ability to forge partnerships with other regional institutions like the Caribbean Institute of Meteorology, and the University of the West Indies, and the modeling group, and putting up automatic weather stations all over the Caribbean, along with coral reef monitoring stations, all of this data is now be used to help guide countries in terms of their decision-making as it relates to climate change adaptation."
"Dr. Leslie, really, his leadership was instrumental in positioning the center as a regionally and internationally recognized center of excellence, to coordinate the region's response to an existential threat of climate change."
Dr. Leslie will receive a ceremonial send-off from several important dignitaries on Wednesday.
