Since 2024, The UWI and the Clara Lionel Foundation, founded by Barbadian artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Rihanna, have been collaborating on a two-year project focusing on early-warning systems for disaster-prone communities. In a three-part series, the three project components will be explored. This third and final part of the series looks at the creation of the Caribbean Climate Knowledge Portal. The portal showcases climate resilience initiatives being carried out by organisations throughout the Caribbean and makes information about these projects available to regional government agencies, civil society organisations, and the wider public.
Across the Caribbean, government agencies and civil society organisations are implementing critical projects to strengthen the region's resilience to socio-economic vulnerabilities driven by intensifying natural hazards. But the financial, technical and human resources needed to sustain these projects, or even invest in new ones, are limited. This reality means that every climate project in the region counts, and misdirected or duplicated initiatives can strain the already limited resource pool.
Regional agencies and organisations need a central platform to access information on ongoing and upcoming projects, so that they can focus on developing projects that target underserved areas or themes. This includes identifying project overlaps and filling gaps, allowing government agencies and civil society organisations to direct their efforts toward developing needed projects and to more efficiently co-ordinate existing initiatives to maximise impact.
The UWI has received funding from the Clara Lionel Foundation (CLF) to develop the Caribbean Climate Knowledge Portal (CCKP), an initiative designed to improve access to information on existing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) projects across the region. It is accessible at https://caribbeanclimatecompass.com/.
Designed as a practical, publicly accessible tool, it already hosts more than 48 projects, representing countries across Central America and the Caribbean. Users are required to submit project information which the project team verifies before the project is added to the platform, strengthening the flow of up-to-date information.
Dr Thongs, Scientific Co-ordinator of the project and lecturer at UWI St Augustine, explained that many solutions to climate challenges in the region already exist, but these efforts are often developed within separate institutional, disciplinary, or national silos.
“Practitioners and decision-makers are not always aware of the experiences, lessons, or innovations emerging elsewhere in the region,” she said.
“The Caribbean Climate Knowledge Portal was created to help bridge these gaps by providing a shared space where climate information, tools, and best practices can be accessed, compared, and applied across countries. The portal is more than a repository of climate initiatives. It shows both what is being done across the Caribbean and where these activities are taking place.”
Originally launched in 2024, the platform has been upgraded to enhance the user experience, and is currently in its final testing stages with the Mona GeoInformatics Institute. The upgraded version, scheduled for release in early May, will be more visually intuitive and user-friendly, with improved search capabilities that make it easier to locate and compare projects across the region by Sustainable Development Goals, country, theme, status of project, and lead organisation.
Dr Thongs said, “The Caribbean Climate Knowledge Portal is more than just a database, as its real power comes from the people behind the data. Researchers, project managers, and knowledge leaders across the region hold the key to making this tool truly transformative.”
The collaboration between The UWI and the Clara Lionel Foundation is part of a larger pilot project in Trinidad and Tobago that is aimed at improving disaster resilience and early-warning systems.
In a statement, the CLF said, “The Caribbean has no shortage of people doing extraordinary work to protect their communities from climate change, but what has been missing is a way to connect those efforts. This portal changes that. We hope it becomes a living resource that grows with the region and helps ensure that no community is left navigating these challenges alone.
“This database helps people work smarter together. By bringing information about climate projects, research, and community programmes into one place, it makes it easier for organisations to connect and co-ordinate their efforts. It also helps ensure that projects support broader development goals for the region. When people have clear information, they can plan better, avoid repeating work, and focus on solutions that truly help communities adapt to climate change.”
In support of policymakers, the CLF wants the portal to give a clear picture of what is already happening across the region so they can design better policies and investments, while also helping researchers identify unanswered questions.
“A map that shows projects across the region makes it much easier to understand what is happening and where help is still needed. People can quickly see which areas already have support and which ones may have been overlooked. This helps governments, researchers, and organisations make better decisions, and use their time and resources more wisely,” they state.
Overall, the CLF is hopeful that the visibility provided by the platform will encourage more collaboration and openness among climate projects, helping the region function more like a connected network working toward the same goal.
Using the partnership between the CLF and The UWI as an example, the foundation is calling on all regional stakeholders to recognise that partnerships will be key to the region’s future resilience, as no single organisation can solve climate challenges alone.
With the launch of the portal marking the winding down of the partnership, Dr Thongs said they are now handing the baton to the wider public, whose engagement with the project's outputs will determine its ultimate success.
She said, “The real work, however, continues, and it relies on all of us. Together, we can turn these individual initiatives into a co-ordinated regional effort, addressing gaps, maximising impact, and ultimately moving the Caribbean forward in climate resilience and sustainable development.”
