Representatives from more than 20 Cayman Islands Government ministries and departments gathered last week for the pilot workshop of the Cayman Islands Resilience Index (CIRI) and Investment Guidance Tool, a new online platform designed to strengthen climate resilience planning and support evidence-based decision-making.
Developed under the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability (MHES), CIRI will help the Cayman Islands Government assess national resilience and evaluate how future investments and projects contribute to its climate resilience goals.
The workshop, held at the Intergenerational Hub in George Town on 13 May, brought together government and non-government stakeholders to test the prototype tool, provide feedback and participate in training sessions on its functionality and application. It was well attended by senior civil servants including Deputy Governor, Mr Franz Manderson, Chief Advisor to the Deputy Governor Ms Mary Rodrigues, Chief Officer for the Ministry of Health, Environment and Sustainability Ms Tamara Ebanks, and Chief Sustainability Officer Ms Jennifer Ahearn, and parliamentarians the Minister for Health, Environment and Sustainability Hon. Katherine Ebanks-Wilks and Parliamentary Secretary Ms Julie Hunter.
CIRI aligns with the Cayman Islands Climate Change Policy 2024–2050 and the National Energy Policy 2024–2045. The platform measures resilience across six strategic focus areas as outlined in the Climate Change Policy:
The project is funded by the European Union through the Green Overseas (GO) Programme and is being implemented by MHES in partnership with Expertise France and Integrated Risk Management Associates LLC (IRMA).
Minister for Health, Environment and Sustainability, Hon. Katherine Ebanks-Wilks, said the initiative represents an important step in strengthening the Cayman Islands’ long-term resilience planning.
“The Cayman Islands Resilience Index will give Government and stakeholders a practical, evidence-based tool to better understand resilience needs, prioritise investments and measure progress over time. Importantly, it also supports transparency and accountability in how resilience-building decisions are made. The recent workshop provided us a first practical look at how the CIRI platform functions, alongside further discussion on the Climate Investment Guidance Tool and how the two will work together. I believe that these tools, once fully developed and embedded into government processes, can make a significant impact on governance, investment planning and strengthening long-term resilience in the Cayman Islands.”
Senior Policy Advisor for Climate Resiliency at MHES, Lisa Hurlston-McKenzie, highlighted the importance of the collaborative approach used to develop the tool.
“CIRI has been shaped through extensive consultation and co-creation with ministries, departments and stakeholders across the Cayman Islands. Building resilience is a shared responsibility, and this process has helped ensure the tool reflects the realities, priorities and needs of our Islands. The tool is a critical starting point for collectively understanding what resiliency represents in the Cayman context and applying it to identify the resilience gap and effectively utilise public funds to safeguard lives and enhance livelihoods. The CIRI platform and the investment guidance will enable us to better design shovel-ready projects and improve access to climate finance, whether that be in the private sector, the global market place, or through international climate finance mechanisms.”
During the workshop, participants tested both the Resilience Index platform and the accompanying investment guide, which is designed to help assess how proposals, such as capital infrastructure projects, may contribute to climate resilience and support climate finance sought for part of or entire proposals.
Marilise Turnbull, Team Lead and Co-Founder of IRMA said stakeholder participation has been central to the development process.
“One of the strengths of this project has been the active involvement of stakeholders throughout every stage. The pilot workshop is a valuable opportunity to gather practical feedback that will help refine the tool and ensure it is user-friendly, measurable and effective for long-term use within the Cayman Islands Government.
We presented a demonstration of the tool that we have built together, and everyone had the chance to try out CIRI – to input data, interpret results and consider how to use those results when assessing projects and how those projects build the resilience of the Cayman Islands. Resilience is a bit of an abstract concept so it is useful to see the indicators and think about where we stand now, and how we can improve it.”
Since the project officially launched in July 2025, the team has completed several major milestones, including an inception report, international benchmark study, stakeholder surveys and focus group discussions, as well as a multi-agency design workshop held in February.
MHES Chief Officer Tamara Ebanks added: “I want to thank everyone who has contributed to the progress and development of CIRI so far. I look forward to the continued partnership across ministries and sectors as we work to complete the index and have it fully integrated into future processes across Government.”
Following that workshop, the team developed a comprehensive list of over 60 indicators used to measure resilience conditions and assess how individual projects contribute to strengthening national resilience.
The project is currently in its pilot and training phase. Following stakeholder feedback, the final stages will focus on refining the platform, developing a training manual and formally transitioning the tool to the Cayman Islands Government for long-term implementation and management.
For more information on the Resilience Index project milestones and progress, Cayman Islands’ Climate Change Policy, and to learn more about climate risks in the Cayman Islands, visit https://gov.ky/web/sustainability/climate-change-policy