Spicy Tunes: Spreading the message on climate change Grenadian style

How to raise awareness about the effects of climate change, particularly amongst the youth? The Caribbean “Isle of Spice” – Grenada - might have found the answer!

On Wednesday 15th October, the Grenada Ministry of Agriculture, Lands, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment, in conjunction with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) unveiled a recently produced music video which will champion climate change awareness activities in the Isle of Spice, particularly amongst the youth. After only three days the video was clicked more than 1500 times on YouTube and played by several Grenadian TV and radio stations.

The song, entitled “Can’t Do This Alone”, was written by three budding young artistes, Jevon “Avonni” Langaigne, Elon “Eclipse” Cambridge and Edison “Swipe” Thomas. The music video was commissioned by GIZ and produced by Arthur Daniel, with the assistance of the Grenada True Blue Bay Boutique Resort.

The video was filmed at several locations in Grenada and Carriacou which are vulnerable to the negative impacts of Climate Change. Commenting on their experience producing the video, Jevon Langaigne said, “This has been a truly amazing experience for us, as we all want to pursue careers in music and entertainment. We recorded the song in 2012 for the Grenada Red Cross competition “Spice it up- Sing for preparedness” on Disaster Awareness and are very excited that our song was selected to spread the message on Climate Change Adaptation. We were most impressed with the quality of the video production which rivals videos produced internationally.”

The video was produced under the Grenadian-German Pilot Programme “Integrated Climate Change Adaptation Strategies” (ICCAS) which is currently being implemented in Grenada. It is part of a wider outreach campaign and will be used for climate change awareness-raising activities in secondary schools, during community consultations and also for cultural festivals and various events for international environment days.

The overarching goal of ICCAS is to increase resilience of vulnerable communities and ecosystems to climate change risks by working with a variety of different sectors and partners. Therefore, the song’s main message “Can’t do this alone” captures perfectly the approach of ICCAS: Instead of only implementing isolated measures, the programme offers an integrated approach by linking local activities with national policies and sector-specific experiences with comprehensive intervention packages. For example, at the national level, the programme supports the institutionalization of a systematic risk analysis by using the Caribbean Climate Change Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL). An important role for the success of the programme is the involvement of the local population through a “Community Adaptation Fund” accessible for tangible, visible adaptation action on the ground. In addition, the programme supports Grenada in gaining access to long-term funding for adaptation measures. Together with the awareness campaign, this comprehensive approach should serve as a “good-practice” example for other countries in the region.

The ICCAS programme is funded by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) under the International Climate Initiative (IKI) and jointly implemented by the Government of Grenada, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).