5Cs Constructing New Headquarters on UB Belmopan Campus

Belmopan is about to become the new hub for climate action in the Caribbean. The University of Belize’s main campus will soon be home to the new headquarters of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center, also known as the 5Cs. Ground was officially broken today, marking the start of a major project on five acres of UB land. And it all comes as the 5Cs celebrates twenty years of leading the fight against climate change. News Five’s Paul Lopez was there and brings us this report.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Today, the University of Belize and the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center broke ground for the construction of 5Cs headquarters on UB Belmopan Campus. An official groundbreaking ceremony was held at the location in tandem with the 5Cs’ twentieth anniversary. Executive Director at 5Cs Dr. Colin Young says it’s a mutually beneficial partnership.

 

Dr. Colin Young, Executive Director, CCCCC

“This is going to a mutually strategic partnership where the 5Cs will assist UB to develop a center of excellence, have climate change programs, provide scholarships and training for faculty and students and the 5Cs will also assist with resource mobilization to assist the university.”

 

The event saw the presence of a Caribbean delegation, including Prime Minister of Saint Lucia Phillip Pierre. Prime Minister John Briceño was also present to give remarks and participate in the ceremonial groundbreaking.

 

Prime Minister John Briceño

“For me it is a sense of accomplishment. As I have said before, the climate change center, when the 5Cs agreed to come to Belize, I was the deputy prime minister, and we worked several years along with the prime minister back then to get the support from the Caribbean to put the 5Cs in Belize. Now we can look back and realize that yes it is the right decision. Belize has everything. It is a living laboratory where you can go from the sea all the way up to the mountain and the forest, the wildlife, fisheries, the marine life. We have everything here. Twenty years later, as the prime minister, it gives a sense of accomplishment to see that something that you started off has come to this.”

It was a full-circle moment today at the University of Belize, as UB President Dr. Vincent Palacio called it a ‘homecoming.’ Two decades after the Caribbean Community Climate Change Center first started in a small room on campus, the university is now breaking ground on the center’s brand-new headquarters, right back where it all began.

 

Dr. Vincent Palacio, President, University of Belize

“So now look at us today, breaking ground for the headquarters. I say to 5Cs, welcome back home. Today marks a significant step forward in how we prepare our nation and region for the climate challenges ahead. The University of Belize has allocated five acres to the 5Cs because we understand that education must engage with national development. Climate change is not an abstract issue, it is here and our response must be rooted in institutions that serve.”

 

Saint Lucia’s President Phillip Pierre also took to podium to share a few remarks.

 

Prime Minister Phillip Pierre, Saint Lucia

“I see it as the start of the construction of a center of excellence. a center where there can be a part from the regular things that happens in these buildings. A center where there can be rigorous intellectual debates, a center of research where we can sit with our academics, intellectuals, people in the forefront of climate change and work to get some homegrown solutions to the climate crisis.”

 

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Center will continue to celebrate its twentieth anniversary throughout the course of the week. Tonight, an award ceremony is being hosted in Belize City. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.