Intended Nationally Determined Contribution

1. Enhancing institutional framework: establishing an integrated and coordinated approach to addressing climate change can help minimize capacity gaps in the system while ensuring coherence and cohesion at the local and national level. The objective is to evaluate and enhance the existing institutional framework to improve capacity to develop and institute plans for climate change adaptation at the local and national level. Grenada has re-established its National Climate Change Committee which provides overall guidance and support to on climate change activities on the Island. Grenada has also began improving its institutional capacity by selecting climate change focal points in all line ministries and conducting trainings in climate change risk analysis and general as well as sector specific climate change knowledge. Grenada is also undertaking activities to increase its potential to access international climate funding, the National Designated Authority for the Green Climate Fund has been formalized and actions to strengthen it are underway.

2. Building Coastal resilience: Grenada’s economy is very dependent on healthy coastal areas, our beaches, coral reefs and mangroves all provide many ecosystem, social and economic benefits, therefore it is important to protect them from the adverse impacts of climate change. Grenada is in the advanced stages of developing its integrated coastal zone management policy and management system with the aim of facilitating integrative planning and management processes with the view to preserving and enhancing coastal ecosystems and ecosystem services while enabling social and economic development. As part of the policy development Grenada had to undertake a detailed mapping of the coastal features to provide a definition of the coast. Grenada has also re-established its beach monitoring program under new terms of reference and stronger institutional backing. Grenada is also undertaking several community ecosystem based adaptation actions including coral restoration, mangrove rehabilitation, all with alternative livelihood implications

3. Improving water resource management: The management of water resources, like that of the coastal environment is crucial to the long term development of Grenada as a nation. The goal is promoting and maintaining equitable and sustainable use of the water sources and their watersheds. In addition, improved capture, storage, distribution and conservation of water increases the adaptive capacity of individuals and communities. Grenada has recently completed a vulnerability assessment of the water sector and developed a national adaptation plan and action plan for the water sector, mapping and water quality testing of informal water sources. Rain water harvesting activities are currently underway in some remote communities to improve water collection and storage.

4. Building the resilience of communities: It has become increasingly evident that buy in at the local levels can go a long way in aiding the success of adaptation actions. Grenada is committed to engaging community groups and NGOs in participating in activities geared at building resilience to climate change. A people that are knowledgeable about the expected threats and the actions that can be taken to reduce their vulnerabilities to these threats can help inform actions and policies that can further build their resilience. There is a need for capacity building at all levels for this approach to be more beneficial for all. Grenada has already taken steps to assist CBOs and NGOs to become formalized to enable easier access to funding, and formal capacity building activities including training in communication of climate change information, training in GIS data collection and mapping, inclusion of representatives of NGOs and CBOs on various steering committees. Grenada has also launched a funding programme where community groups can access funding for small climate change adaptation projects in an effort to help communities build their resilience Implementation of further actions to reduce the level of vulnerability is severely constrained by the lack of capacity, human resources, technology, financial resources, data, knowledge and awareness. It is important to make use of existing new and emerging technologies such as early warning systems to reduce the impact of extreme events. Grenada is currently undertaking its technology needs assessments (TNA) and has selected the water, agriculture and tourism as the focal sectors. Water was identified as the more dominant crosscutting sector. The results of the TNA will provide the necessary information on technology needs for Grenada to continue its resilience building activities.