Environmental Social Impact Assessment and Management Plan.

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is submitting a funding proposal to the Green Climate Fund to cover three main components: Climate-proofing interventions implemented in critical public service and community buildings to improve resilience to, and recovery from, extreme climate events (1); Climate change adaptation mainstreamed into the building sector and relevant financial mechanisms (2); Climate information services strengthened to facilitate early action within the building sector to respond to extreme climate events (3). Antigua and Barbuda is among the most vulnerable countries to extreme climate events such as hurricanes and tropical storms. Climate change projections indicate that, although the total number of storms is not expected to change significantly, there will be an increase in the frequency of high-intensity storms. These speeds are likely to continue decreasing under future conditions of climate change, resulting in heavier rainfall events and increased flood risk, this will have severe impacts on the lives and livelihoods of local communities as well as the economy as a whole.
The objective of the proposed project is to increase the climate-resilience of selected critical public buildings in Antigua and Barbuda to hurricane. The Department of Environment (DoE) is an accredited entity to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and will act as the implementing body for the proposed project with the Ministry of Finance and Corporate Governance as the Executing Entity. The proposed project involves a wide range of stakeholders including communities, community-based organisations (CSOs), non-governmental organisations (NGOs), monitoring and research institutions, small- and large-scale private sector operators, and public-sector role-players from various spheres of government. The Program further provides for legal and administrative framework and international conventions that are applicable to the DOE’s Climate Change Program and this project in particular. For preparation of the program extensive professional studies and research have been conducted that are presented as the key technical documents used to support the elaboration of this project.
The Program provides for the project location, energy system, climate change threats, social conditions, vulnerability of the population, economic sector, security and healthcare, social and disaster services and gender assessment. The Program finally provide provision on risks and impact analysis and monitoring plans. The Policy consists of 16 Sections covering 6 Annexes.