DISASTER VULNERABILITY REDUCTION PROJECT (DVRP) NEWSLETTER

RESILIENCE April - June 2015

Volume 2, Issue 2

T he Disaster Vulnerability Reduction

Project (DVRP), launched in December
2014, is a US$68 million initiative undertaken
by the Government of Saint Lucia, in conjunc-
tion with the World Bank. The project aims to
considerably reduce Saint Lucia’s risk to natu-
ral disasters in an era of climate change.
A component of the DVRP is a Climate Adaptation
Financing Facility (CAFF). The US$5 Million facility
is expected to be managed by the Saint Lucia
Development Bank, SLDB.
The CAFF’s main goal is to provide loans at conces- Students interact with World Bank officials during training Sessions
sional interest rates to Saint Lucian households and
businesses to undertake climate resilience building
and disaster risk reduction measures. As a part of a
systematic approach to gathering information for
crafting the CAFF, 1500 households have been
surveyed.
In its ongoing effort to ensure that the CAFF meets its
objective, the Government of Saint Lucia, in collabo-
ration with the World Bank, have agreed to undertake
a Structural Assessment Survey. This survey will seek
to analyze the structural integrity of homes, vis-a-vis
SALCC students
their ability to withstand climate-induced natural
disasters, such as hurricanes. Data amassed from the hundred of the 1500 households that previously
survey will be used to complement information participated in the initial household survey, will be
already collected from the previously conducted selected to take part in the upcoming Structural
household survey to ensure that the CAFF is Assessment Survey which commenced on Saturday,
ultimately designed to meet the needs of those whom July 15, 2015 and which is expected to end in
it intends to benefit. In a deliberate attempt at capaci- September 2015. To obtain a thorough picture of
ty—building, 26 students from the Sir Arthur Lewis needs from key stakeholders, a business survey will
Community College, SALCC, have been selected to also be undertaken. Findings from the 3 surveys
carry out the survey. The students have benefitted (household, structural assessment, and business) will
from training in geo-referencing technology provided inform the design of the CAFF.
by World Bank officials. Using tablets, they will be INSIDE THIS ISSUE
able to capture, store, and share data whilst in the
NCCC Reviews Annual Progress .................. ……….………….……….…...2
field. World Bank Mission Inspects DVRP Initiatives in Saint Lucia……….….3

The SALCC engineering students who will conduct Saint Lucia Participates in World Bank Caribbean Implementation
Workshop In Santo Domingo…………………………...……………….……..4
the survey alongside enumerators from the Central
St. Lucia Looks To Reduce Fossil Fuels Use ………………..…………..…5
Statistics Office, have also briefed on climate High Level Government Officials Receive Information on Climate
change issues, dress code, and survey protocol. Five Change & National Development .................. ……..………………….………5
 initiating climate change activities on their own.
The Sustainable Development and Environment Notably, while agencies accept that climate
Division (SDED), Ministry of Sustainable Devel- change impacts their sectors adversely, some are
opment, Energy, Science and Technology, serves still not clear as to how they should address this
as the technical focal point for the Pilot specifically or, how best to tackle the main-
Programme for Climate Resilience, PPCR, and as streaming effort. However, under the DVRP
such, this Division leads the annual reporting pro- Public Awareness Campaign Implementation
cess for the PPCR scorecard. A participatory ap- Plan, an assessment of operations will be
proach is employed to ensure broad participation conducted for each Ministry and guidelines for
by stakeholders in reviewing the status of activi- mainstreaming climate change adaptation and dis-
ties under the Implementation Plan and subse- aster risk reduction into the Ministry operations
quently completion of the PPCR Scorecard annu- will be prepared.
ally.
A meeting of the National Climate Change Com-
mittee (NCCC) was convened on May 19, 2015
as a working session, wherein an overview of the
Strategic Programme for Climate Resilience
(SPCR) was presented to provide context to the
session and remind all of the objectives of SPCR.
Participants then identified a number of planned
or ongoing activities/projects that contribute to
achieving the goals of the SPCR.
During the meeting, participants were also
reminded of the PPCR Monitoring & Evaluation
(M&E) process and this was followed by working
sessions to provide scores for Core Indicators 1,
2, and 3, namely: Degree of Integration of
Climate Change in National and Sector Planning;
Evidence of Strengthened Capacity and
Coordination Mechanism to Mainstream Climate
Resilience; and Quality and Extent to which
Climate Responsive Instruments/Investments
Models are Developed and Tested. Scoring was Particpants
carried out using criteria that were defined and
used in 2013. Working sessions were followed
by plenary discussions to finalize and agree on
final scores for the various indicators. Follow-up
meetings were also held with a number of agen-
cies to obtain clarifications and further details
where needed.
Findings indicate that sectors are increasingly
including climate change adaptation and disaster
risk reduction in the justification of their various
activities and increasingly collaborating with
affiliate agencies. Further, private sector entities
(example hotels and utility companies), are NCCC discussions on progress of mainstreaming of Climate Change

2
F or the World Bank, economic development depends in part, upon
providing infrastructure and facilities that improve people’s lives
and expand economic opportunities. These can include roads that
allow a farmer to get goods to market, access to electricity so that hos-
pitals can refrigerate medicines and children can do their homework at
night, providing clean water to reduce the incidence of easily preventa-
ble water-borne diseases, or access to local facilities such as schools,
clinics or community centers. In an era of climate change, where the
forecast speaks to more severe storms, hurricanes and droughts, the World Bank and local officials set the
Bank is keen to ensure that monies lent to countries go towards build- stage for the week-long tour of duty
ing eliminate resilience and meeting the needs of citizens, particularly
the most vulnerable and underprivileged, who are likely to suffer most
during and after climate induced disasters. Project monitoring is
therefore a key aspect of the Bank’s administrative duties.
To that end, a team from the Bank visited Saint Lucia from June 1 to 5,
specifically to provide technical advice and support to the Disaster
Vulnerability Reduction Project (DVRP). During the mission, issues
relating to the establishment of the Climate Adaptation Financing
Canelles Road Rehabilitation Project
Facility, CAFF, were discussed with Saint Lucia Development Bank
representatives, site visits were conducted to several DVRP project
sites. Below is a pictorial highlighting the tour undertaken by World
Bank and local officials of DVRP.

The Sir Arthur Lewis Community

Vanard Water Intake At the site of the Piaye

The site of Dennery Polyclinic

The Micoud Secondary School Piaye Community President of the United States of America,

Barack Obama:

State of the Union Address – January 2005

“One year doesn’t make a trend, but

this does: 14 of the 15 warmest years
on record have all fallen in the first 15
years of this century.”
SLDB and World Bank Officials The Choiseul Secondary School

3
 SAINT LUCIA PARTICIPATES IN WORLD BANK CARIBBEAN
IMPLEMENTATION WORKSHOP IN SANTO DOMINGO

G overnments in developing coun-

tries often turn to the World Bank
to help finance infrastructure and ser-
vice facilities. The Bank funds these
projects—like the current US$ 68 mil-
lion Disaster Vulnerability Reduction
Project, DVRP, in Saint Lucia—because
it encourages poverty reduction initia-
tives, a key World Bank goal.
The World Bank’s current policies,
often called “safeguards,” have been
developed over the last 20 years to
help identify, avoid, and minimize
harm to people and the environment.
These safeguards require borrowing
governments to address certain
environmental and social risks in order to receive Bank financing for development projects.
It is against this background that the World Bank organized a workshop to ensure strong protections for the
world’s poorest and most vulnerable people, and for the environment. The June 8 to 11, 2015, gathering,
comprised representatives from several countries, including Haiti, Saint Vincent, Belize, Jamaica, Trinidad and
Tobago, Dominica, and the host country Santo Domingo. The objectives of the workshop were:
 To emphasize the importance of conducting an environmental and social impact assessment ahead of the
commencement of each project.
 To ensure that affected communities
are aware of potential project impacts.
 To underscore the need to restore the
livelihoods of displaced people.
 To reiterate the need to consider com-
munity voices in the design and imple-
mentation of projects.
 To update participants on the Bank’s
thrust to review and strengthen current
environmental and social policies as it
strives to keep pace with changing
times.
Several case studies were presented high-
lighting projects that failed, successful initiatives, and ongoing ventures.
Following the productive gathering, a decision was taken to host such meetings more often, not only to up-
date representatives from countries implementing World Bank projects on new Bank policies, but also to en-
sure that best practices and challenges are shared.
Saint Lucia was represented by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance & Economic Affairs, Tracy
Polius; Project Coordinator in the Project Coordinating Unit, Cheryl Mathurin; Civil Works Coordinator, Nicho-
las Johnny; Procurement and Contract Management Assistant, Carlyn Auguste Prospere, Project Engineer,
Kensley Promese; and Communications/Liaison Officer for the DVRP, Lucius Doxerie.

4
 The Ministry of Sustainable Development,
Energy, Science & Technology along with
the Saint Lucia Electricity Services Limited
(LUCELEC) and Wind Tex Energy, officially
opened and toured the site of a wind meas-
urement tower at Anse Canot in Dennery.
The erection of the wind measurement
tower realises Phase 1 (the investigation
phase) for a potential 12MW wind farm.
This phase has been implemented through a
50/50 partnership with Wind Tex Energy – a
Texas based wind developer. The tower has
been set up to collect wind speed and other
data over the next several months. The data
will determine the feasibility and viability of
the wind farm and inform the subsequent
design. The site was chosen based on a 2003 study conducted by LUCELEC. Wind Tex Energy has secured a lease on
the land and is contributing the technology and expertise in wind farm development.
Speaking at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Minister for Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology,
Senator the Honourable Dr James Fletcher, referred to the establishment of the wind measurement tower as a
significant milestone. Dr Fletcher alluded to the ground-breaking nature of the venture, indicating that he looked
forward to the day when Saint Lucians would pay less for electricity.
For Saint Lucia, it is the first major tangible step in the development of a utility scale renewable energy project that
puts the country on the path to meeting its goal of providing 35% of its energy needs from renewable sources by 2020.
This initiative serves to support the climate resilience - building being undertaken under the DVRP, by reducing Saint
Lucia’s vulnerability to externalities, such as high costs relating to fossil fuel imports.

On April 7, 2015 a special high-level briefing on Climate Change was convened for Permanent Secretaries and Deputy
Permanent Secretaries. The briefing was purposed to provide the aforementioned officials with the most current
information on climate change as it affects the work of their respective ministries, and to give them an update on the
state of 2015 international climate change negotiations which are to culminate in Paris. This objective is consistent
with the efforts by the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology to realise the main-
streaming of climate change considerations into the operations of critical governmental agencies. Sensitising the ad-
ministrative heads of these agencies is considered a critical component of this process.
The highlight of the briefing, which was attended by most Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Permanent Secretaries and
Heads of Departments was a presentation by the Minister of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technol-
ogy, Senator the Hon. Dr. James Fletcher. Other presenta-
tions were made by members of the Climate Change Team
of the Sustainable Development & Environment Division
and the DVRP Climate Change Coordinator.
Based on the responses received from the participants, the
briefing was considered a great success. It is anticipated
that other such sessions will be convened in the near
future, for specific target audiences. The briefing for
Permanent Secretaries, Deputy Permanent Secretaries and
Head of Departments was made possible through funding
provided by the Caribbean Development Bank, through the
Building Capacity in the Public Sector to Facilitate
Evidenced Based Decision Making towards the Reduction of Climate Change and Environmental Risk Project. 5
 John Compton Dam

There's a saying that "“you never miss the water till the well runs dry.” Don't wait for a natural disaster. Store
and use water wisely every day.

RESILIENCE
UPCOMING NEWS:

 STRUCTURAL ASSESSMENT
SURVEY FINDINGS
HOTTEST YEAR ON RECORD
 BUSINESSES HELP TO SHAPE
In 2014, the Earth reached its hottest CAFF
levels at least since 1880, when global  BOCAGE COMBINED SCHOOL
temperatures were first recorded.
BENEFITS UNDER THE DVRP
Source: The National Oceanic and  CHOC BRIDGE: A NEW LOOK
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
 ENGINEERS TOUR THE
MARCHAND RIVER

SAINT LUCIA MOST AT RISK FROM CLIMATE CHANGE

The Global Sustainability Report 2015 ranks the top 20 Sustainable Development and Environment
countries (out of 193) most at risk from climate change Division,
based on the actual impacts of extreme climate events Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy,
Science and Technology
documented over a 34-year period from 1980 to
Choc, Castries
2013. In the Americas, ranked first, Saint Lucia
followed by Grenada and Honduras. The most
Phone: 758-451-8746
populous country in the region, Brazil, home Fax: 758-450-1904
to 200 million people, was ranked 20th E-mail: doxeriel@gmail.com
susannascottpmp@gmail.com
Source: The Energy and Resources charlesmarcia3@gmail.com
Institute (TERI)