QUEENSLAND—Estimates of current rates of reef growth in the Caribbean have been described as “extremely alarming” by the leader of a team of international researchers conducting a study with Australia’s University of Queensland (UQ). According to an article published in Science Alert, UQ research indicates that many Caribbean coral reefs have either stopped growing or are on the verge of starting to erode with potential impacts to millions of people.
Australia
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) has been identified as one of the agencies through which an additional $5M from the Australian Government will be channeled for immediate emergency humanitarian assistance for Haiti.
CARICOM Ministers at the Fourteenth Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) which met in Georgetown, Guyana on 31 January - 1 February 2003 expressed deep concern regarding the challenge to the European Union (EU) sugar regime launched by Brazil/Australia at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in September 2002. This challenge, if successful, would be disastrous for CARICOM Countries whose economies depend vitally on their sugar industries. Ministers considered this challenge as the most serious threat to CARICOM’s most important agricultural crop.