The project consists of three phases, the first of which establishes the scope and feasibility of carrying out a study on the costs and benefits of taking action on climate change adaptation and the cost effectiveness of mitigation in the Caribbean compared to a "business as usual" scenario. This phase is also aimed at supporting initial actions to alert policy makers and key influencing various constituencies in the Caribbean to the urgency of the climate change challenge.

The second phase is expected to provide country-by-country assessments of the impacts of climate change on Caribbean countries; the third phase is aimed at broadening these assessments by incorporating multiplier effects caused by regional interdependence and will ultimately feed into an analysis of the costs and benefits of climate change mitigation and policy recommendations for countries and regional bodies.

The review will also enhance partnership building among the various regional bodies engaged in climate-change related research and policy analysis in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Community Climate Change Center (CCCCC), based in Belize, will be an important collaborator in the implementation of this initiative which seeks to build on the work of the CCCCC in measuring climate change impacts on Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and in forging adaptation strategies. Other Caribbean centers of expertise, such as the Cuban Meteorology Centre would also be key resource institutions.

The International Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its fourth assessment report released in November 2007 projected that sea levels on average are likely to rise this century around the small islands of the Caribbean Sea, and this is very likely to be accompanied by increased temperatures, decreased rainfall, deforestation, desertification, water scarcity and reductions in agricultural production. Extreme weather events will potentially become more frequent causing stronger hurricanes in the Atlantic Ocean with multiple impacts on Caribbean countries such as flooding and destruction of productive infrastructure. Climate change is likely to impose serious economic consequences for the Caribbean, and in turn will make it increasingly difficult for the region as a whole to respond to the challenges of poverty reduction, higher human development and environmental sustainability linked to the attainment of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

This review for the Caribbean forms part of a series of related climate-change initiatives that are currently being carried out by ECLAC in Central America and the DFID at a global level. The study from this review, in conjunction with the ECLAC study on climate change in Central America and other regional studies, will contribute to a better understanding of the economic impact of climate change in Latin America and the Caribbean. It will also outline the costs and benefits of needed related policy responses both in terms of mitigation and adaptation.