Climate Change

As a new UN report on climate change spells out a stark warning over the future of the planet, the Compass looks at the possible impacts for Cayman.

The United Nations panel on climate change told the world on Monday that global warming was dangerously close to being out of control – and that humans were "unequivocally" to blame.

The UK and its Overseas Territories, including Cayman, have committed to work together on climate change with the aim of securing agreement on "ambitious action" to tackle the issue on a global scale at the COP26 Summit in Glasgow next year.

The UK hopes to play a bigger role in driving global action on climate change in a development that has implications for Cayman, Governor Martyn Roper has said.

Low-lying islands like Grand Cayman could become uninhabitable within the next century without “transformative change” in the global approach to climate change. That’s the verdict of Rueanna Haynes, a climate analyst and guest speaker at the RF Cayman Economic Outlook conference.

One of the primary concerns for Cayman Islands residents when it comes to climate change, is what impact the phenomenon will have on hurricanes.

Across the Caribbean region, tourism stakeholders are grappling with the reality of climate change and the threat it poses to the region’s hospitality sector. From Antigua to Dominica, officials are working on plans to protect their islands and their economies.

The Cayman Compass interviewed some of the islands’ students about their thoughts on climate change, the environmental policies they’d like to see implemented and the role young people play in the climate-change debate.

When it comes to understanding the impact of climate change, few in the Cayman Islands have been as close to the source as Ellen Cuylaerts.

Some of the responsibility for helping Cayman prepare for the impacts of climate change falls to the UK. Governor Martyn Roper answered questions from the Cayman Compass about what his office is doing to help.