BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Schools were ordered closed in Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica on Tuesday as Tropical Storm Philippe brought heavy rains and flash flooding to these islands as it makes its way through the northern Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands.

UNITED NATIONS – St. Lucia has signed the agreement on the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction.

KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Jamaica government says it will spend an estimated US$209 million to implement the Northwestern Parishes Reliability and Service Improvement Project that is intended to address water concerns and challenges in the island’s northwestern parishes resulting from, among other factors, rapidly deteriorating archaic pipelines.

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados – Tropical Storm Philippe is on track to pass near the northern Leeward Islands later on Monday with maximum sustained winds of 50 miles per hour (mph) with a tropical storm watch remaining in effect for Antigua and Barbuda.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla.  – The Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association (CHTA) and its environmental arm, the Caribbean Alliance for Sustainable Tourism (CAST), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) to jointly promote the conservation, protection and management of biodiversity and natural resources in the Caribbean. This collaboration is crucial as the tourism industry relies heavily on a healthy natural environment.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad – The new Caribbean Climate Investment Program to advance climate change goals by unlocking the potential of the private sector was launched here on Tuesday amidst concerns that the world is still in a peril as a result of climate change.

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – Bahamas Prime Minister Phillip Davis Thursday warned Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries against “shooting arrows at new targets” as regional countries meet here to consolidate their position ahead of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 28) that gets underway in Dubai in November.

GRAND CAYMAN, Cayman Islands – The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC) says water utilities in the Caribbean will now be able to access parametric insurance coverage to financially protect them against extreme weather events such as hurricanes, tropical storms, and excess rainfall events.

UNITED NATIONS – A United Nations-appointed human rights expert on Friday urged the international community to increase assistance to The Bahamas and other Small Island States that face elevated threats from natural disasters resulting from climate change. 

KINGSTON, Jamaica – Jamaica's government says it is seeking to increase the island’s land mass protection to an estimated 40 per cent by 2030 surpassing the international goal of 30 per cent protection by 2025.

HAMILTON, Bermuda – Residents in Bermuda were keeping an eye on the passage of Hurricane Lee, the large and powerful storm that is expected to pass west of the island on Friday.

BELMOPAN, Belize – A senior official of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is warning that climate change could precipitate an annual fish value loss of between US$1.2 to US$2.7 billion across Latin America and the Caribbean.