SAN JUAN – The Caribbean has agreed to ask for measures to limit the temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century at the 21st UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties, or COP21, set to begin Nov. 30 in Paris, the government of St. Lucia said on Monday.

In a statement, the government said this expectation was agreed to in the second meeting of climate change negotiators and ministers held in Saint Lucia last week with representatives from the 15-member Caribbean Community, or CARICOM.

“We want to limit the temperature increase to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century, because 1.5 degrees Celsius is the threshold for Small Island Developing States,” St. Lucian Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology Minister James Fletcher said.

The Caribbean regional group wants to ensure an agreement is reached at COP21 “that will allow the main issues to be addressed under some form of protocol,” Fletcher said.

Roland Bhola, Grenada’s agriculture minister, said special attention must be paid to small islands in the negotiations.

“While we know that the entire world will be affected by climate change, based on the special circumstances of Small Island Developing States and the level of economic development we have, there should be certain allowances made. We are going to ensure that this is fed into the final agreement if there should be one when we get to Paris,” Bhola said.

CARICOM’s members are Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.