The Climate Crisis and Small Island Developing States

Events

The Climate Crisis and Small Island Developing States: The Case for Climate Justice

James L. Fletcher The Climate Crisis and Small Island Developing States

Thursday, February 29, 2024

5:00-6:30 p.m.

True North Classroom (101), 280 Brook St.

Registration for those attending in person is appreciated but not required.
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About the Event
“The Climate Crisis and Small Island Developing States (SIDS)” investigates the profound impacts the climate crisis is having on the economies and societies of SIDS and examines the extent to which these impacts are likely to worsen at current trajectories. It explores the effectiveness of the Conference of the Parties (COP) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement at reducing emissions of greenhouse gases and catalyzing the requisite global responses to the crisis. It also looks at the need to view the climate crisis from a human rights perspective and the role of litigation in this regard. Finally, it recommends a role for civil society in helping to amplify and expand the advocacy for urgent climate action.

About the Speaker

James Fletcher was the Minister for the Public Service, Information, Broadcasting, Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology in Saint Lucia from 2011 to 2016. Under his leadership, the Caribbean’s ‘1.5 to Stay Alive’ climate change civil society campaign was developed. During the negotiations on the Paris Agreement in COP21, he was a member of a small group of ministers chosen to help achieve consensus on the Paris Agreement. In recognition of his work, James Fletcher was highlighted in Profiles of Paris as one of the people who played an important role in creating the Paris Agreement.

During his tenure as a minister, James Fletcher led an aggressive modernization of the energy sector with new investments in renewable energy and the enactment of new energy legislation. He commissioned modern information technology centres in several under-served communities, started a program for free island-wide Wi-Fi, developed a 311-call centre for the public service, initiated major water re-development projects, and established an Employee Assistance Programme for public officers.

James Fletcher is the author of the book Governing in a Small Caribbean Island State. He authored the chapter ‘The Fight for Small Island Developing States’ in the Cambridge University Press publication Negotiating the Paris Agreement: The Insider Stories, and he edited and produced Where is the Justice? An Anthology of Caribbean Youth Perspectives on the Climate Crisis. He also wrote the ‘Regional Strategic Action Plan for Governance and Building Climate Resilience in the Water Sector in the Caribbean’. In 2019, James Fletcher was selected by the United Kingdom’s Chevening Scholarship Program as one of 35 Global Changemakers.

James Fletcher currently manages his own consulting company, SOLORICON. In 2020, he launched The Caribbean Climate Justice Project, which is an initiative aimed at increasing civil society awareness of the impacts of climate change and ensuring that there are appropriate responses at the national, regional, and international levels to issues of climate justice and just transitions. James Fletcher is currently the Chairman of the Executive Board of the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). Dr. Fletcher holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry (Hon.) from the University of Ottawa, and a Ph.D. in Crop Physiology from the University of Cambridge.

Website: www.soloricon.com; www.caribbeanclimatejustice.org
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/jimmyfletcher
Twitter/X: @jimmyfletcher25; @soloricon
Threads: jimmylfletcher