Regional resilience to natural disasters is the focus of the 2015 Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency's (CDEMA) forum on Comprehensive Disaster Management, in partnership with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), following the aftermath of a tumultuous hurricane season that left devastation in the Southern Bahamas.

State Minister for the Ministry of Works & Urban Development, the Hon. Arnold Forbes, The Bahamas' CDEMA Representative, extended a warm welcome on behalf of all Bahamians to the delegates who travelled to the Bahamas to participate in the Conference.

"We are constantly reminded that The Bahamas and the countries in our region are located in one of the most vulnerable areas in the world. The risks we face threaten our fragile economies and demand that we have in place sound disaster risk management systems," said State Minister Forbes.

"The Bahamas, a multi-island state, as well as several other multi islands states in the region are also faced with the challenges associated with building redundancy in resources. We nevertheless, have to remain resolute in our efforts to build disaster resilient states."

On November 30, The Bahamas welcomed CDEMA's Participating States to the 9th Comprehensive Disaster Management Conference, at the official opening ceremony, at Melia Nassau Beach Resort. The conference takes place November 30th to December 4th, 2015, under the theme "The Road To Resilience Checkpoint 2015."

"Today, November 30, marks the official end of the Atlantic Hurricane Season and this year Hurricane Joaquin and Tropical Storm Kate have reminded Bahamians once again of our vulnerability to hydro-meteorological hazards," said Minister Forbes. "We are currently recovering from the destruction that Joaquin’s storm surge and flood waters caused to infrastructure and homes and the concomitant disruption to our lives and livelihood."

Minister Forbes expressed gratitude to CDEMA for their support in organizing and deploying three Rapid Needs Assessment Teams (RNAT) to Acklins, Crooked Island, and Long Island, the worst hit of the Family Islands in Central Bahamas. He also thanked agencies that deployed personnel for the RNAT.

"These included the National Disaster Offices of BVI and ODPEM, PAHO, CARPHA, DFATD, UN OCHA/UNDAC and the Barbados Coastal Zone Management. The Government and people of The Bahamas are indeed grateful," said Minister Forbes.

"Over in Dominica, our brothers and sisters experienced tremendous loss from the passage of Tropical Storm Erika. Torrential rains on August 27 resulted in flooding and catastrophic mudslides, which caused the deaths of 20 persons and devastation of several villages. According to reports from the Government of Dominica, EC1.2 billion dollars is needed for the rebuilding process."

Minister Forbes said that the 2015 Hurricane Season, although considered a below average season, saw many countries across the region placing their response mechanisms on alert or activation as systems formed and threatened their islands.

"This year, drought situations were noted in many countries, including Barbados, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Dominica, Haiti, Guyana. Weather experts believe that hydro-meteorological events that are affecting the region are evidence of the climate change and climate variability phenomena," said Minister Forbes.

"Countries across the region have also been rattled by an increase in earthquakes and the rumblings of Kick ‘em-Jenny, the underwater volcano off the coast of Grenada. Scientists at the Seismic Research Centre at the University of the West Indies in St. Augustine have also been telling us that the region is due for a large earthquake."

Minister Forbes reminded the audience that last year, the panic and near hysteria of the Ebola threat, also reminded the region to remain cognizant of the threat of technological and other human-induced disaster events.

"I have drawn attention to these occurrences to illustrate that as a country and a region we must seek to continue the process of integrating Comprehensive Disaster Management into all sectors, and to promote its practice by all stakeholders," said Minister Forbes. "In The Bahamas, our Government has fully embraced the CDM concept and stands behind its endorsement of the Regional CDM Strategy and Framework for 2014-2024."

Minister Forbes added that our Honorable Prime Minister [Christie] has been named among the first Political Level CDM Champions. As a result, he said we now recognize that getting everyone on board is not an easy task, although we remain resolute in our efforts.

"We are also looking to work closer with the CDEMA Coordinating Unit to support advancement of CDM. Early this year, the NEMA team met with the CDEMA Coordinating Unit to discuss the country work programme and its alignment with national goals identified in the regional CDM Strategy. Our priorities at this time are focused on the mapping of vulnerable areas and on community preparedness," said Minister Forbes.

"We are seeking to build capacity in the islands and to bring communities to a point where they can respond in the immediate aftermath to events. As a multi-island state, we need to have systems in place to be able to respond in a timely way to our Family Islands and are working to build logistics capacity in this regard."

Minister Forbes concluded with his belief that the Bahamas is on the “Road to Resilience.“

"We view the hosting of the 9th CDM Conference, as a privilege of being able to provide the space to further discussions on the progress of CDM implementation not only in The Bahamas, but in all the 18 CDEMA Participating States. We are also happy to have among us at this Conference, disaster management practitioners from Latin America and other Caribbean States, the Pacific and globally who will share their experiences on disaster risk reduction efforts," said Minister Forbes.

"I have perused the programme and am sure that at the end of the four days, we will all leave here with a better understanding of what we need to do in our respective ways to move further along the 'CDM Road to Resilience'."

" I wish you a successful Conference and encourage you to take time out each day to sample the delights of The Bahamas," said Minister Forbes.

By: Gena Gibbs | BIS

The Bahamas, through the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, is hosting the Ninth Comprehensive Disaster Management Conference of CDEMA, Monday, November 30 to December 4, 2015 at Melia Nassau Beach Resort. The conference is under the theme: “The Road to Resilience Checkpoint 2015.” Pictured in photo following the opening ceremony are from left: Captain Stephen Russell, Director, NEMA; The Hon. Adriel Brathwaite, Chairman, CDEMA Council; the Hon. Arnold Forbes, Minister of State, Ministry of Works and Urban Development; The Most Hon. P J Patterson, former Prime Minister, Jamaica; and, at right, Rev. Ranford Patterson, President, Bahamas Christian Council.

Delegates attending the Opening Ceremony of the Ninth Comprehensive Disaster Management Conference of CDEMA, Monday, November 30, 2015 at Melia Nassau Beach Resort.

More delegates attending the Opening Ceremony of the Ninth Comprehensive Disaster Management Conference of CDEMA, Monday, November 30, 2015 at Melia Nassau Beach Resort.

Students of Eva Hilton Primary School put on an energetic performance the Opening Ceremony of the Ninth Comprehensive Disaster Management Conference, Monday, November 30, 2015 at Melia Nassau Beach Resort.  (BIS Photos/Kemuel Stubbs)

Dozens of Exumians joined the Women’s Bureau of the Ministry of Social Services and Community Development in a Women’s Backyard Farming Workshop on November 27 in the Kettel Centre of the Exuma Foundation in George Town. The theme of the workshop was “Women and the Environment: Creating Partnerships for Sustainable Development.”

The workshop was part of “National Women’s Week” and one of a number of activities presented over the past week by the Bureau of Women’s Affairs of the Ministry of Social Services. The Women’s Bureau organized the Backyard Farming Workshop in collaboration with the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA), and the Bahamas Agricultural and Industrial Cooperation (BAIC).

Social Services Minister, Melanie Griffin, set out to speak to Exuma's women involved with the environment, who also love working with their hands. Minister Griffin said that women should be able to pass on skills to the next generation what we learned as children.

"Although farming is knew to Nassau, it's not new to residents in the Family Islands," said Minister Griffin. "Backyard Farming is more than planting seeds. It's about taking control of your health and combating poverty."

Exuma Member of Parliament Anthony Moss said: "The government has been stepping in the right direction to remind Bahamians, young and old, to feed themselves." He added that he wanted to encourage Exumians to learn from the women already doing backyard farming.

Women's Week 2015 hosted a series of events during November 23 to 27, which included Women & the Environment Panel Discussion on Monday; ‘Adaptation to Climate Change’ Webinar on Tuesday; Commemoration and Special Forum recognizing the United Nation’s International Day to End Violence Against Women, on Wednesday; a video documentary screening of “Womanish Ways, Freedom, Human Rights and Democracy” by Marion Bethel in recognition of the 1962 Anniversary of the Women's Suffrage Movement that yielded women’s right to vote, on Thursday; the Women's Backyard Farming Workshop in Exuma on Friday; and, then ending the week, on Saturday a symposium at Melia Cable Beach Resort in Nassau, under the theme "The Future We Want."

Representing the Bureau of Women’s Affairs were Christine Campbell and Lynn Symonette. Others of the team were: Catherine Booker, Exuma Foundation Ltd. representative; Shacara Lightbourne, National Technical Specialist, Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture; and Shomekhan Cargill, Consultant, Agrotech.

After addressing the Exuma residents about the importance of farming, Minister Griffin declared the workshop officially opened.

Minister Griffin Addresses Exuma Backyard Farmers.

Exuma Backyard Farming Vegetable Patch.  (BIS Photos/Gena Gibbs)

President Barack Obama (C) talks with fellow world leaders during a family photo for the opening day of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) at Le Bourget, near Paris, France, November 30, 2015. (Photo: CBS News|Reuters Jacky Naegelen)

Addressing the twin threats of global warming and extremist violence, the largest group of world leaders ever to stand together kicked off two weeks of high-stakes climate talks outside Paris on Monday, saying that by striking an ambitious deal to cut emissions they can show terrorists what countries can achieve when they are united.

The meeting -- which includes more than 150 heads of state and representatives of 195 governments -- comes just two weeks after militants linked to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) killed 130 people around Paris. Fears of more attacks have prompted extra-high security and a crackdown on environmental protests - and threaten to eclipse longer-term concerns about rising seas and increasingly extreme weather linked to man-made global warming.

"The challenge of an international meeting has never been so great because it's the future of the planet, the future of life," French President Francois Hollande said after a moment of silence for attack victims in France, Lebanon, Iraq, Tunisia and Mali.

"There are two big global challenges that we must face," he added, urging leaders to create a world free from both environmental destruction and extremist violence.

President Obama was among the many leaders to pay respects to the victims of the attacks on his way to the conference, visited the Bataclan concert hall after he arrived in Paris Sunday evening and placed a single flower at the makeshift memorial to mark where dozens were killed.

"We stand with Paris," said U.N. climate change agency chief Christina Figueres said at talks near Le Bourget airfield, just north of the city. "The city of light, now more than ever, is a beacon of hope for the world."

On Sunday, hundreds of thousands of people rallied around the world, calling on the leaders to make real progress at the talks. Violence erupted after one peaceful demonstration in Paris, and hundreds of people were arrested. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon took note of the protests in his opening remarks.

"The future of the people of the world, the future of our planet, is in your hands," Ban told negotiators. "We cannot afford indecision, half measures or merely gradual approaches. Our goal must be a transformation."

Nations are working toward a global, legally binding agreement that will lower greenhouse gas emissions in order to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius (35.6 degrees Farenheit) - the critical number identified by scientists. Once global warming climbs beyond that threshold, they say, the earth's land, food and water supply would be harmed, endangering the planet's population.

The 2014 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) said the planet has already warmed by 0.85 degrees Celsius from 1880 to 2012 and could increase by another 1.5 to 4 degrees by the end of the century, compared to 1850. Ban, Hollande and other leaders called for a binding agreement and emphasized the role of private industry and money in solving what Hollande called "the climate crisis" and said the world must try to limit warming to an additional half a degree if possible half that to spare island nations threatened by rising seas.

Ahead of the conference, 181 nations announced pledges to combat man-made carbon dioxide pollution. Although those pledges will not be legally binding, negotiators hope to make some provisions of an agreement enforceable.

"We just have 11 short days before us," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said as he took over as president of the negotiations. "Success is not yet assured, but it is within our grasp... The eyes of the world are upon us and there are great hopes."

Added the outgoing president, Peruvian Environment Minister Manuel Pulgar-Vidal: "We can show to the world that we can work together against climate change and against global terrorism."

At the opening session, Mr. Obama said that the assembled countries seek "not simply an agreement to roll back the pollution we put into our skies, but an agreement that helps us lift people from poverty without condemning the next generation to a planet that's beyond its capacity to repair."

"Here, in Paris, we can show the world what is possible when we come together, united in common effort and by a common purpose," he said.

Wide Paris-area highways usually packed with commuters were cordoned off to clear the way for all the VIPs. Riot police vans and plainclothes officers were stationed around the capital and by the national stadium, one of the targets of the Nov. 13 attacks that is near the climate conference venue.

The conference is aimed at the most far-reaching deal ever to tackle global warming. The current climate agreement, the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, came under scrutiny because it never required China and other developing nations to make cuts. As a result, the U.S. did not sign onto the agreement, and it covers only about 14 percent of global emissions. Another meeting in Copenhagen in 2009 failed to produce a meaningful agreement

Among several sticking points is money - how much rich countries should invest to help poor countries cope with climate change, how much should be invested in renewable energy, and how much traditional oil and gas producers stand to lose if countries agree to forever reduce emissions.

With that in mind, at least 19 governments and 28 leading world investors were announcing billions of dollars in investments to research and develop clean energy technology, with the goal of making it cheaper.

Backers include Obama, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, billionaires George Soros and Saudi Prince Alaweed bin Talal, and Jack Ma of China's Alibaba.

Under the initiative, 19 countries pledge to double their spending on low- or no-carbon energy over the next five years. They currently spend about $10 billion a year, about half of that from the U.S., Brian Deese, senior adviser to Mr. Obama on climate and energy issues, told reporters in Washington.

Gates, the "intellectual architect" of the effort, committed $1 billion of his own money, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said.

"We'll work to mobilize support to help the most vulnerable countries expand clean energy and adapt to the effects of climate change we can no longer avoid," the president wrote on his Facebook page.

On Monday, the United States announced it would contribute $51.175 million to help the least developed countries fight climate change and its effects in 2015 and 2016, part of a $248 million pledge announced by the U.S., Canada and nine European countries.

"I've come here personally, as the leader of the world's largest economy and the second-largest emitter, to say that the United States of America not only recognizes our role in creating this problem, we embrace our responsibility to do something about it," Mr. Obama said Monday at the opening session of the conference.

The money will be made available to a fund for the least developed countries hosted by the Global Environment Facility, a major funder of environment projects worldwide. Other countries that contributed include Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Sweden and Switzerland.

Source: CBS news

Sure, 3-pointers are nice. But when Michigan desperately needed points Friday, the Wolverines turned to Caris Levert down low. And he responded with two big baskets that helped Michigan defeat Texas 78-72 in the final round of Battle 4 Atlantis.

Michigan (4-2) went 14-of-25 from 3-point range, with 11 of the 3-pointers coming in the first half. That is one of the main reasons why the Wolverines never trailed in the game and led by 13 points at 58-45 with less than 12 minutes remaining.

“We got great shots,” said Levert, who scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting. “We really shared the ball and knocked down the open shots. We know we’re capable of that when we really pass the ball like we did.”

But the Longhorns (2-3) battled back behind Isaiah Taylor, who scored seven of his team-high 18 points in the final 11 minutes. When Taylor sank a layup and foul shot with 4:26 left, Texas had cut Michigan’s advantage down to a single point at 67-66.

The Longhorns’ momentum ended in the next 36 seconds, however, as Levert drove for power layups on consecutive possessions. That pushed the Wolverines’ lead back up to 71-66, and Texas never got any closer the rest of the way.

“I’m really thrilled for our guys, to play that well in the first half and then hold off a great charge by a very good Texas team,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “I didn’t realize it got down to one (point). I thought it was still three. And then all of the sudden we made a couple of big shots … and that let us get back to a lead we could finish with.”

Still, it was the 3-pointers that will receive much of the attention from this game, and rightfully so. Of the Wolverines 44 first-half points, 33 of them came off of 3s. Texas coach Shaka Smart said the Longhorns simply were too sluggish on defense in the first half.

“We needed to be way more aggressive on the defensive end,” Smart said. “We were pretty much allowing them to go where they wanted, pass the ball where they wanted, make pinpoint passes. And then when they got the ball at the 3-line, we needed to have a high hand every time. We were just nowhere near good enough.”

Photo Credit | Atlantis, Paradise Island