December 2017


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This book is the first to investigate the challenges of climate change and opportunities for adaptation and resiliency in coastal cities in the small island developing states (SIDS) of the Caribbean and Pacific Regions. It is timely given the catastrophic hurricanes that devastated Caribbean islands this year. Highlighting that Caribbean and Pacific coastal cities are on the frontlines of climate change, the authors make a call for action to adapt and improve resilience of cities in coastal zones, especially those experiencing rapid urbanization. With an estimated 4.2 million people in the Caribbean and the Pacific living in flood prone areas due to sea level rise, one in five residents living in low-elevation coastal zones and human safety, economic output and employment threatened by more frequent and devastating hurricanes, the authors make several policy recommendations, including increased climate finance to support comprehensive programmes for strengthening coastal city resiliency.

An array of policy measures including improving coastal planning, land reclamation, coastal setbacks, enforcement of building codes, climate-proofing infrastructure, mangrove reforestation, and coastal surveying and monitoring are highlighted. The book provides strategies to implement commitments for SIDS in international agreements, such as the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action resolution (Samoa Pathway), COP21, the Sustainable Development Goals, and Habitat III. It is a useful resource for urban policymakers and practitioners, researchers and university students.

It was launched at The UWI St. Augustine on December 11.

About the Authors:

Dr. Michelle Mycoo is a Senior Lecturer in Urban and Regional Planning at The UWI St. Augustine. She has published on climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and coastal zone planning. She co-authored the book Disaster Risk Reduction (University of Wisconsin-Madison Press, 2009 and was a contributor to the World Bank Report on Climate Change Adaptation Planning in Latin American and Caribbean Cities (2011).

Dr. Michael G Donovan is a Senior Housing and Urban Development Specialist at the Inter-American Development Bank where he oversees several of the IDB’s low-income housing and neighborhood upgrading projects. He is currently leading research projects on urban land tenure, adaptation in coastal cities, and metropolitan governance.