Belize Climate Ready Campaign launched

BELMOPAN, Wed. Sept. 23, 2026

   As the effects of climate change become increasingly evident across Belize, the Government has launched the Belize Climate Ready Campaign, a national public education and awareness initiative aimed at helping Belizeans better understand climate change and participate in the country’s response. The campaign was officially unveiled in Belmopan by the Ministry of Sustainable Development’s Climate Change Department, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and EUROCLIMA.

   The initiative seeks to move the conversation on climate change beyond technical and scientific circles, and make information accessible to communities and households across the country. Officials say the campaign will focus on helping the public understand both the impacts of climate change and the measures Belize is taking to address them.

   Anthony Mai, Chief Environmental Officer in the Department of the Environment, said climate change is a cross-sectoral issue that affects areas including agriculture, water availability, coastal erosion and other environmental concerns. He explained that, “What this campaign hopes to do is to take the technical discussion related to climate change and to bring it down to a level where it is easily understandable to everyone within the country.”

   Mai said it is important that climate change information reaches not only policymakers and technical experts, but also ordinary Belizeans, who can play a role in the national climate response. “It’s also the everyday household individual, the general public,” he emphasized. “So this campaign hopes to be able to deliver an understanding at the lowest level, at the community level, at the household level, of what climate action means and how the population in Belize, how the people of Belize could participate in the discussion on climate change.”

   The need for greater public awareness comes as Belize continues to experience climate-related challenges, including periods of drought associated with El Niño, coastal impacts and the increasing presence of sargassum along the country’s shorelines.

   Chief Climate Change Officer Edalmi Pinelo acknowledged that while the department has been focused on developing policies and meeting international reporting obligations, more work is needed to communicate that information directly to communities. She acknowledged that, “Our job as a department is to fulfill when it comes to meet our policies, develop our own international reporting. But we have not disseminated that information that we do every day to our communities.”

   Pinelo said that reconnecting with communities is central to the Belize Climate Ready initiative, particularly by providing information that people can understand and share with others. “For us, Belize Climate Ready is that, if the community understands what it means for a country like us, then we are transmitting the information rightly.” She said the ultimate measure of the campaign’s success would be whether Belizeans, including children, are able to explain climate change and understand concepts such as carbon markets, adaptation and mitigation.

   The campaign will now move into its implementation phase, with the Climate Change Department and its partners seeking to broaden public engagement and encourage communities across Belize to become more informed and prepared to respond to the country’s changing climate.