7th Annual Governor’s Symposium on Climate Change Speakers Announced
- jun 05, 2018
Harbour View – The Governor of Sint Maarten, His Excellency drs. E.B. Holiday today announced the speakers for the 7th Annual Governor’s symposium with the theme: “Climate Change and Small Islands States - A Call For Strategic Action”. This year’s Symposium will be held on Friday June 15th, 2018 at the Auditorium of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine, Cupecoy.
Several national and international speakers will address the gathering. The keynote speaker for this year’s symposium is Dr. Ken Leslie, Executive Director Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC). Prior to joining the Climate Change Centre he was a Senior Principal Scientist in the Applied Physics Laboratories of AlliedSignal now Honeywell Corporation in Morristown, New Jersey in the United States. Dr. Leslie has considerable experience in the fields of physics and meteorology. He has contributed much to the development of meteorology and climatology in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre is the key source for information on climate change issues and coordinates the Caribbean region’s response to climate change. The CCCCC is recognized as a regional Executing Agency on climate Change-related projects by the World Bank, various UN agencies and the UK Department for International Development (DIFD).
In addition to the keynote address, the program for the 2018 Governor’s Symposium also includes featured regional speakers and distinguished experts in their respective fields:
1. Dr. Michael A. Taylor, Professor & Deputy Dean Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, Jamaica.
2. Dr. Cedric van Meerbeeck of Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Barbados;
And featured national speakers:
3. Mr. Joseph Isaac, Head of the Meteorological Department, Government of Sint Maarten;
4. Mr. Derick Downes, Managing Director of the Windward islands Bank, Sint Maarten;The distinguished panel of speakers will give insight into weather and environmental patterns, the effects of climate change on economic development as well as the vulnerabilities and challenges of climate change for Small Island States and the need for strategic action and policy. The presentations will culminate in an interactive panel discussion between the speakers and the audience which will be moderated by Mr. Tadzio Bervoets, Managing Director of the Nature Foundation Sint Maarten.
The goal of this Seventh annual Governor’s Symposium is to inform invited participants about the facts and effects of climate change and the urgency for policy decisions and actions today to secure our socio-economic future. Climate change is an existential threat for the Caribbean in a variety of ways and Sint Maarten is no exception. In that regard we only need to take stock of the most recent devastation caused by Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017 throughout the region. And there are other real risks for our island and people. This year the symposium wishes to highlight the importance of and encourage national climate change policies and actions within the framework of effective public, corporate and social governance.
Due to the limited space the Governor’s Symposium is by invite only. Governor Holiday is inviting persons 15 years and older interested in attending the symposium to submit their personal information. For details please check the Facebook page Governor of Sint Maarten www.facebook.com/Governor-of-Sint-Maarten. The deadline to submit your personal information is June 11, 2018. Based on the information submitted a selection will be made and the selected persons will receive an invitation to the event.
The symposium is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 15, 2018, at the auditorium of the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in Cupecoy, with registration at 8:00 a.m.. All are requested to be on time.
