Turks and Caicos Islands

Following the devastation wrought on his Caribbean island home by Hurricane Maria, the Prime Minister of Dominica, Mr. Roosevelt Skerrit, is calling on the world not “to turn its back” on the problem of climate change and for greater investment in disaster risk reduction.

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency is introducing a new awards scheme to recognise distinction in reducing disaster risk including the Jeremy Collymore Award for Research in Disaster Response and Disaster Risk Management.

As the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season kicks off, all 16 member governments of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have committed for the sixth year in a row to renew their hurricane and earthquake insurance for 2012-2013 and earned themselves a 25% premium rebate.

The magnitude 4.0 earthquake recorded off the coast of Antigua on 11 May is "a warning that the Caribbean should prepare for a much more severe earthquake to come," says a leading expert.