Haiti’s Environment Minister Joseph Jouthe says that “climate change is a very big terror in Haiti”, and without funds the Caribbean island nation is unable to adapt and mitigate against it. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
MADRID, Dec 13 2019 (IPS)

Haiti’s Environment Minister Joseph Jouthe has compared the climate emergency to a violent act and appealed to the international community for help to fight climate change.

“Climate change is a very big terror in Haiti. It’s very hard for us to deal with climate change,” Jouthe told IPS on the margins of the United Nations climate summit, the 25th Conference Of The Parties (COP25), in Madrid, Spain.

“Haiti is not responsible for what’s going on with climate change but we are suffering from it. We want better treatment from the international community.”

Jouthe said Haiti remains committed to strengthening its resilience to climate shocks and to contributing to the global effort to mitigate the phenomenon.

Haiti is pursuing a four-fold objective in relation to climate change:

• promoting, at the level of all sectors and other ministries, a climate-smart national development;
• creating a coherent response framework for country directions and actions to address the impacts of climate change;
• promoting education on the environment and climate change as a real strategic lever to promote the emergence of environmental and climatic citizenship; and
• putting in place a reliable measurement, reporting and verification system that can feed into the iterative planning processes of national climate change initiatives.

But Jouthe said the country simply cannot achieve these targets without financial help.

“In Haiti all the indicators are red. We have many projects but as you may know [The Caribbean Community] CARICOM doesn’t have enough funding to build projects,” he said.

Patrice Cineus, a young Haitian living in Quebec, said access to funding has been a perennial problem for Haiti.

But he believes Haiti is partly to blame for the seeming lack of inability to quickly receive financial help.

“Haiti, my country needs to build evidence-based policies, and this will make it easier to attract help from the international community,” Cineus told IPS.

“If we don’t have strong policies, it’s not possible. We need research within the country. We need innovative programmes within the country and then we can look for financial support and technical support.

“We cannot have access to funding because the projects we are submitting are not well done. We don’t use scientific data to build them. They are not done professionally,” Cineus added.

Cineus’ theory appears to be substantiated by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), which helps CARICOM member states address the issue of adaptation and climate change.

The centre’s Executive Director Dr. Kenrick Leslie said since 2016, under an Italian programme, it is required to develop projects that would help countries adapt to different areas of climate change.

“One of the areas that we have been considering, and we spoke with Haiti, is to build resilience in terms of schools and shelters that can be used in the case of a disaster.

“Funds have been approved but, unfortunately, unlike the other member states where we have already implemented at least one, and some cases two, projects, we have not been able to get the projects in Haiti off the ground,” Leslie told IPS.

“Each time they have identified an area, when we go there the site is not a suitable site and then we have to start the process again.”

While Haiti waits for funding, Dr. Kénel Délusca, current head of mission of a technical assistance project, AP3C, of the Ministry of Environment and Environment and the European Union, said the country remains one of the world’s most vulnerable to climate change.

Scientists say extreme weather events like hurricanes, floods and droughts will become worse as the planet warms, and Island nations like Haiti are expected to be among the hardest hit by those and other impacts of a changing climate, like shoreline erosion.

“The marine environment is extremely important to the Haitian people. There are more than 8 million people living in coastal communities in Haiti,” Délusca told IPS.

“There are more or less 50,000 families whose activities are based on these specific ecosystems. In other words, this is a very important ecosystem for Haiti and different levels – at the economic level, at the cultural level, at the social level.”

Haiti is divided into 10 départements, and Délusca said nine of them are coastal. Additionally, he said the big cities of Haiti are all located within the coastal zone.

“These ecosystems are very strategic to the development of Haiti. The Haitians have a lot of activities that are based on the marine resources. We also develop some cultural and social activities that are based on these environments,” Délusca said.

For poor island countries like Haiti, studies show, the economic costs, infrastructural damage and loss of human life as a result of climate change is already overwhelming. And scientists expect it will only get worse.

Though Haiti’s greenhouse gas emissions amount cumulatively to less than 0.03 per cent of global carbon emissions, it is a full participant in the 2015 Paris climate agreement and has committed to reduce its greenhouse gas emission by five percent by 2030.

Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland said there is urgent need for higher climate ambition to limit global temperature increase to 1.5 ° Celsius – or risk severe and irreversible impacts. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
MADRID, Dec 12 2019 (IPS)

Commonwealth countries, including those in the Caribbean, continue to push for more ambition, following reports that a few very influential parties have stymied efforts to respond to the climate emergency.

The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has expressed concern that if this persists, the majority’s efforts to create platforms to unleash climate action suitable for averting catastrophic warming will be thwarted.

• World Resources Institute explains that “in the climate negotiations, “ambition” refers to countries’ collective will—through both domestic action and international initiatives—to cut global greenhouse gas emissions enough to meet the 2°C goal”.

As the United Nations climate negotiations, the 25th Conference Of The Parties (COP25), is nearing an end, Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Patricia Scotland said there is urgent need for higher climate ambition to limit the global temperature increase to 1.5 ° Celsius – or risk severe and irreversible impacts.

“We’ve never seen disasters on this scale before – bigger than ever, seas are rising, there’s increased desertification, increase in drought,” Scotland told IPS.

“The fight is on. Nobody ever knows how a COP will go until the end, so there’s a lot of us who are advocating for greater ambition because we have no choice.”

• According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), it is imperative that global warming be held to 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels. It also warns that global warming of 2 ° C would have devastating impacts on the planet, including more frequent extreme weather events, flooding and drought.
• A special report from the IPCC defines global warming as “an increase in combined surface air and sea surface temperatures averaged over the globe and over a 30-year period”.
• The report, entitled Global Warming of 1.5 ° C: An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5 ° C above pre-industrial levels, uses comparisons to the 1850 to 1900 period as an approximation of pre-industrial temperatures.

Scotland said an ideal outcome from COP 25 would be recognition of the IPCC’s findings.

“A recognition that we have no time. A recognition that the IPCC reports are correct and that we now have an aggressive implementable, action-oriented plan, which every single country is going to be committed to delivering. That would be my dream,” Scotland said.

“If you look through everything the Commonwealth is doing, we too are tired of talk; we want to do. We are committed to doing.”

Scotland said commonwealth countries are living climate change.

• This September, the Bahamas was hit by Hurricane Dorian, resulting in initial damages already totalling $3.4 billion, equal to one-fourth of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
• The catastrophic 2017 Atlantic hurricane season affected many Caribbean states, resulting in an estimated 3,300 deaths and damages estimated at $282 billion.
• In Dominica, Hurricane Maria resulted in total damages of $931 million or 236 perecent of their 2016 GDP.

“We are living with the sea rises, we are living with coastal erosion, we are living with the degradation of habitats, we are living with the reality of what climate change means, and we’re fighting,” Scotland said.

“It is not enough for us to talk. All of us need to do constructive things, which will make it incrementally better and more achievable for us to get where we can go. I think we can do it, but we haven’t got a lot of time.

“I’ve said before, human genius got us into this mess, and human genius is going to have to get us out. And I know that the people of the Caribbean and the people of the Commonwealth, we have a lot of genius, so we are going to have to utilise it very quickly,” she added.

Dr. Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General at the CARICOM Secretariat, said the expectation coming into COP 25 was that it was all about ambition.

For the Caribbean, he said, ambition is about trying to have member states committing to keeping the global temperature rise to below 1.5 ° C.

“We know that is a big challenge, and the ambition we want is that there will be a recommitment of all, especially the big polluters, with their Nationally Determined Contributions,” Slater told IPS.

“In other words, what will they be doing to decrease greenhouse gasses and therefore keep temperatures down? Quite frankly, we are informed that there was supposed to be what you call a stock taking at this meeting, where we would have an idea of where we are. We’re told that that might now come out. If it doesn’t come out, we still hope that we will be on our way.”

Slater said Caribbean countries will continue to put moral pressure on big polluters as they were causing the problems and should commit to solving them.

“We’re seeing the horrible storms, but it is not just those. There are the slow onset events – that is, as the temperature rises and the level of the sea, we are losing land, we’re losing out mangroves, we are losing out coral reefs,” Slater said.

“We want that reality coming out of this COP, that we send a message strong enough so that the bigger players understand and to put some moral pressure on them to say ‘hey, we are part of the universe. We have a right to be here, and that right we have to be here depends on all of us working together.’”

Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley warned of a backlash of mass migration to the world’s richest and biggest polluters, saying an influx of climate refugees can be expected in coming years as a consequence of failing to take action to stop climate change. Courtesy: Desmond Brown

By Desmond Brown
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 1 2019 (IPS)

The Prime Minister of Barbados Mia Mottley tells IPS her patience is running thin, as she challenges the world to tackle the climate crisis.

She warned of a backlash of mass migration to the world’s richest and biggest polluters, saying an influx of climate refugees can be expected in coming years as a consequence of failing to take action to stop climate change.

“The bottom line is that we are not here by accident. There is no traditional norm on the part of the world where I come from,” Mottley tells IPS.

In September 2014, Small Island Developing States met in Apia, Samoa for the Third International Conference on SIDS and adopted the Small Island Developing States Accelerated Modalities of Action, also known as the SAMOA Pathway. It is a 10-year plan to address challenges faced by small islands.

During last week’s United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the world body convened a one-day, high-level review of progress made in addressing SIDS’ priorities in the first five years since implementation.

According to the world leaders, progress toward sustainable development in SIDS will require a major increase in investment.

Foreign Affairs Minister of Belize Wilfred Elrington says the mid-term review represents more than a simple reflection.

“It is a critical political moment, given the overwhelming challenges that threaten our sustainable development,” Elrington tells IPS.

“Our people receive daily reminders of the ticking clock for our survival. Last year we had a special report from the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] that predicted utter devastation for our countries if we missed the 1.5° C target.”

Elrington says the latest special report on the ocean and cryosphere from the IPCC projecting that 65 million people who inhabit islands and low-lying states are at risk of total inundation, only reinforced what is already happening.

“Our beaches are disappearing, our drinking water is being salinated, our oceans and seas are warming, acidifying and deoxygenating threatening our reefs and our fisheries. And if we are not experiencing more frequent flooding events, we are experiencing extreme drought events,” Elrington adds.

“Anyone of us could be the next to face a Category 5 hurricane or cyclone. We are the ground zero of a global climate and biodiversity crisis.”

Some of the specific development issues SIDS are faced with include their remoteness, transport connectivity, the small scale of their economies, the high cost of importing, the high cost of infrastructural development, vulnerability and climate vulnerability.

Already on the frontlines of climate change, sustainable development in many SIDS is threatened by difficulties in achieving sustained high levels of economic growth, owing in part to their vulnerabilities to the ongoing negative impacts of environmental challenges and external economic and financial shocks.

“It is diabolical and it is unbelievable. I refer to the plight of Barbuda whose cost of recovery was 10 times that which was pledged, and who still have not collected even that which was pledged,” Mottley says.

“I refer to Dominica, whose public service is minuscule to most countries but who are required to jump through the same hoops to unlock 300 million dollars in public funds while the people of Dominica, who were affected like the people of Abaco and Grand Bahama [in the Bahamas], don’t know where they’re going to earn money this week,” Mottley adds.

The prime minister says: “Twenty five years ago we met in Barbados and settle the Barbados Programme of Action, and on that occasion, we recognised that the wellbeing and welfare of Small Islands Developing States required special recognition and was a special case for our environment and our development.”

Meanwhile, Guyana’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Karen Cummings says even with their limited resources, SIDS have been doing their part, adding that her country has taken an “aggressive” approach towards climate change and has been “ambitious” in its nationally determined contribution commitments.

Leaders called on the international community to mobilise additional development finance from all sources and at all levels to support SIDS and welcomed the ownership, leadership and efforts demonstrated by these states in advancing the Implementation of the SAMOA Pathway.

They expressed their concern about the devastating impacts of climate change, the increasing frequency, scale and intensity of disasters and called for urgent and ambitious global action in line with the Paris Agreement to address these threats and their impacts.

The High-level Review of the SAMOA Pathway comes one month after Hurricane Dorian devastated parts of the Bahamas, causing significant loss of life and property damage.  Countries noted that the increasing frequency, scale and intensity of natural disasters will continue to claim lives, decimate infrastructure and remain a threat to food security.

While some progress has been made in addressing social inclusion, poverty, and unemployment, inequality continues to disproportionately affect vulnerable groups, including women and girls, persons with disabilities, children and youth. More support is needed to strengthen public health systems in SIDS and especially reduce the risk factors for non-communicable diseases, and healthcare after disasters.

Other areas identified as needing more effort include demographic data collection, trade opportunities, and economic growth and diversification.

Michael Tierney, Deputy Permanent Representative of Ireland to the United Nations and co-facilitator for the Political Declaration of the SAMOA Pathway midterm review, says SIDS have done excellent work in setting up a partnership framework at the United Nations, whereby the partnerships they are working on are monitored and registered and there is an analysis done of their effectiveness.

“It’s actually a model of other parts of the world to look at. It can be improved and it can be strengthened but there is a very detailed process here at the U.N. whereby we try to encourage new development partnerships for the islands, but also, we try to monitor and analyse what we’re doing and if we’re doing it well,” Tierney tells IPS.

“One of the things, quite frankly, that we need to do better is get more private sector interest in projects. That’s a problem across the board in the developing world but it’s something that is specifically a difficulty in the Small Island Developing States.”

While there were just 10 megacities worldwide in 1990, this number has tripled to 33, with populations of more than 10 million people. The number of megacities is expected to rise to 43 by 2030, mostly in developing countries. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
ANKARA, Jun 20 2019 (IPS)

With two-thirds of the world’s population projected to be living in cities by 2050, increasing pressure continues to be placed on forests which are being cleared to make way for agricultural production.

China, India and Nigeria are set to drive a surge in urbanisation, with the percentage of the global population living in urban areas increasing from around 55 percent currently, to 68 percent in the coming decades, according to United Nations figures.

Luc Gnacadia, former Minister of Environment of Benin and former Executive Secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) says as more people move to cities – where incomes and rates of consumption are generally higher – more pressure is put on forests to produce more animal and processed food products, which require more clearing.

“The system that we have, that is mining natural resources, using it for consumption patterns that are wasteful, that system is still in play,” Gnacadia told IPS on the sidelines of the International Soil Congress in Turkey, which ended Jun. 19.

“It is less people producing more for cities, which means that they may be just mining the soil, mining the forest and causing us to be more and more vulnerable to climatic shocks and contributing to it.”

Gnacadia said forests are being lost because of what he described as the misuse of land in agriculture.

He said agricultural expansion globally is taking place by encroaching on existing pristine ecosystems, including forests.

Luc Gnacadia, former Minister of Environment of Benin and former Executive Secretary of the U.N. Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) says as more people move to cities – where incomes and rates of consumption are generally higher – more pressure is put on forests to produce more animal and processed food products, which require more clearing. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

The Food and Agriculture Organisation of the U.N. said on Tuesday that expanding plantation and sprawling urban areas are placing greater pressure on forests and resources, hurting rural communities and exacerbating the effects of climate change.

“If we want less of this, we must first consider the land potential and clearing capacity; what can the land be used for must be clearly identified before we make decisions,” Gnacadia said.

“When we use the land for agriculture, we must clearly map the land and identify where the land is in good health and make sure that we avoid degradation. Whatever we do must have one aim. We use the land but we make sure that we do not lose its productivity, and we do not deplete all of its nutrients.

“For the lands that are experiencing some degradation, we must make that we do whatever we can to reduce it . . . you must assess if there’s still, in socio-economic terms, potential for restoring it, bringing it back to life. If it is, then you have to do it.”

While there were just 10 megacities worldwide in 1990, this number has tripled to 33, with populations of more than 10 million people. The number of megacities is expected to rise to 43 by 2030, mostly in developing countries.

Tokyo is the world’s largest city with a population of approximately 37 million people, followed by New Delhi with around 29 million and Shanghai with 26 million. However, India’s capital is forecast to surpass Japan’s most populous area by 2028.

UNCCD-Science Policy Interface co-chair Dr. Mariam Akhtar-Schuster says countries need to put in place an integrated land use planning mechanism to be able to satisfy the demands and needs of households, and at the same time sustainably manage and conserve the natural environment

“We have to consider that urban people also have a demand for firewood, cooking wood and construction material. These are all taken from forests,” Akhtar-Schuster told IPS.

“If an unregulated expansion of urban areas takes place then nearby forests will be affected, but even if forests are not logged for housing, they are a source for firewood, for cooking and this can lead to an immense degradation process.”

Akhtar-Schuster stressed that it is a governance issue and “you have to create procedures and regulations, how much wood is allowed to be taken out of forests and how far forests control mechanisms have to be in place to avoid illegal logging and the removal of wood for daily demand.”

Urban planning should also consider that infrastructure for energy is needed, Akhtar-Schuster said, adding that forests are very vulnerable to human use and this needs to be taken care of.

“I am not saying that forests should not be used, but they have to be used sustainably and that means you have to put in a lot of regulations especially is urban expansion takes place,” Akhtar-Schuster said.

“It takes years and years and years until a small sapling turns into a real big tree and this time dimension needs to be considered in any planning. You have to have a very long vision if you want to manage your forests sustainably and you will always have to check the condition whether there’s a natural rejuvenation of forests taking place, you will have to check that the age structure of forests close to urban areas always remains healthy.”

Global demand for commodities like rubber and palm oil have driven changes in land use, especially in countries such as Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, where governments have granted businesses leases and land concessions to boost their economies.

Grenada has been spearheading the fight against desertification at local, regional and global levels. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
ANKARA, Jun 18 2019 (IPS)

Businesses are being encouraged to follow the lead of the youth to halt desertification, reduce degradation, improve agricultural sustainability and restore damaged lands.

“The youth is a very particular case. The youth give me a lot of hope because I see their passion, and I see their vision,” head of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Ibrahim Thiaw told IPS.

“For the youth it’s basically ‘I care for the planet, this is our future.’”

Each minute, 23 hectares of productive land and soil is lost to desertification, land degradation and drought, according to U.N. Environment.

Thiaw said when this happens young people are forced to leave their homeland, and most never return.

He said restoring land will help in reducing risks of irregular migration – a major component of population change in some countries.

According to a new U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs’ Population Division report launched on Monday, Jun. 17, between 2010 and 2020, 14 countries or areas will see a net inflow of more than one million migrants, while 10 countries will see a net outflow of similar magnitude.

“What is left for the young girl or young gentleman of Haiti if 98 percent of their forest have been degraded and they have barren hills that cannot generate food anymore? What is left for them to do but to flee?” Thiaw questioned.

“Therefore, restoring land would reduce migration, it will keep people on the ground, help them generate their own income and live their own lives. They don’t want to leave their families. They migrate because they have no choice. So, restoring land is also bringing stability in our countries.”

Like Haiti, Grenada – another Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member state – has seen its share of land degradation.

As countries observed World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought (WDCDD) on Monday, Jun. 17, Grenada’s Minister of Agriculture and Lands Yolande Bain-Horsford said while soils and land continue to play an integral role in the economic shift the island nation is experiencing today, these resources are under threat.

“The agricultural sector is a major contributor to national development through the provision of employment, household income, food and government revenues,” Bain-Horsford told IPS.

“As we boast of the importance of this sector to our economies, unfortunately we must face the harsh reality of the challenges facing the sector, which include land degradation, lack of sustainable farming practices, climatic variations and droughts.”

Bain-Horsford said Grenada has been spearheading the fight against desertification at local, regional and global levels.

Locally, the island nation has set ambitious targets to ensure it addresses and, in some cases, reverse the impacts of negative agricultural, construction, and other actions which lead to desertification.

Some of the actions taken include the Cabinet approving Grenada’s Voluntary Land Degradation Neutrality targets that should be achieved by 2030.

To achieve the targets, Grenada has agreed to;

• increase the fertility and productivity of 580 hectares of cropland by 2030, 
• transform 800 hectares of abandoned cropland into agroforestry by 2030, 
• implement soil conservation measures on 120 hectares of land by 2030, 
• the rehabilitation of 383 hectares of degraded land at Bellevue South in Carriacou by 2030, 
• the rehabilitation of 100 hectares of degraded forests in Grenada and Carriacou by 2030, and
• increase forest carbon stocks by 10 percent by 2030.

The island also completed and submitted its 2018 National Report on the state of land degradation, nationally linking it to gender and the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. 

But Thiaw said land restoration cannot be left in the hands of governments alone, explaining that it will not be sufficient.

With two billion hectares of land in need of restoration, the UNCCD head said the best solution would be for the governments to not only mobilise communities, but to mobilise private investments.

“As long as business does not see that investing on land and restoring land is a good business case, it will not happen,” Thiaw said.

“Governments will have to review some of the land tenure systems that they have. It may be just a concession saying if you restore this land, I will give you the concession over the land for the next 50 years or for the next 60 years. Then they can harvest and they will leave the land restored rather than leaving it barren.”

The government of Turkey is hosting three days of activities in observance of the 25^th anniversary of the UNCCD and the WDCDD.

Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli said countries are facing a silent danger that constantly grows and threatens the planet.

“This danger is indeed more dangerous and more insidious than wars,” he said. “This danger that takes our lands away, makes them unusable and risks our future is nothing but desertification.”

Pakdemirli said just as desertification is a disaster that threatens the entire world regardless of national borders, degraded and destroyed lands pose a direct threat to the lives of people living on land-based activities.

He said these social problems sometimes force people to migrate, especially in countries such as Africa that are most affected by the consequences of desertification.

“Nobody wants to leave the land where they were born, grew up, and felt belonging to. Migration is a way to addressing the most desperate and needy situations,” Pakdemirli said

“In such cases, children and women are viewed as the most vulnerable category of victims. Therefore, before it is too late, we should take necessary measures before lands lose their productivity and become completely uninhabitable.

“While taking these measures, we must act in unison and adopt the principle that all lands around the world should be protected,” Pakdemirli added.

Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli (left) and head of the UNCCD Ibrahim Thaw (right) at the international congress on "Successful Transformation toward Land Degradation Neutrality: Future Perspective" being held Jun. 17 to 19 in Ankara. Thaw told delegates at the conference that increasing food production by 50 percent, when land degradation and climate change will be decreasing crop yields by 50 percent, makes restoring and protecting the fragile layer of land an issue for “anyone who wants to eat, drink or breathe.” Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
ANKARA, Jun 17 2019 (IPS)

Events marking the 25th anniversary of the Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) and the World Day to Combat Desertification opened here Monday, Jun. 17 with a call for urgent action to protect and restore degrading land.

Two United Nations officials, the secretary-general as well as the UNCCD head, said it’s crucial that countries take action in order to reduce forced migration, improve food security, spur economic growth and help to address the global climate emergency.

“Think about what it takes to feed 7.5 billion people. Only 20 percent of the planet is habitable, yet within our own lifetimes one out of every four hectares of productive land has become unusable, three out of every four hectares have been altered from their natural state, and while agriculture drives that change, we waste a third of the food,” head of the UNCCD Ibrahim Thiaw told hundreds gathered in Ankara who were attending the international congress on “Successful Transformation toward Land Degradation Neutrality: Future Perspective” being held Jun. 17 to 19.

“We must take action to repay our debt to nature and restore our land, generating a tenfold return on our investment, multiplying the benefits of the Sustainable Development Goals, and growing together in a virtuous cycle where everyone contributes and everyone benefits.”

Thiaw said increasing food production by 50 percent, when land degradation and climate change will be decreasing crop yields by 50 percent, makes restoring and protecting the fragile layer of land an issue for “anyone who wants to eat, drink or breathe.”

World Day to Combat Desertification is celebrated every year in every country on Jun. 17 to promote good land stewardship for the benefit of present and future generations.

Thiaw highlighted that more than a billion people have lifted themselves out of extreme poverty since the UNCCD was formed, but exploitation of natural resources continues to widen the poverty gap instead of reducing it.

And, while women are key to closing that gap, the UNCCD executive director said 90 percent of countries legally restrict their economic activity.

“For example, they make up 40 percent of farm workers, but only one in five own their land and even fewer control it,” Thiaw said.

“Yet, lifting such restrictions would add 240 million jobs and 28 trillion dollars to the economy by 2025. That’s like another U.S. economy – and then some – within just six years.”

Thiaw said this is why the UNCCD Gender Action Plan promotes more participation in decision making; more economic and legal empowerment; and more access to resources, education and technology.

“There is a social tipping point when women’s participation reaches 30 percent, and we need to reach it quickly, to avoid reaching one for land, biodiversity or climate.”

UN secretary-general António Guterres, in a video message at the opening of the congress, noted that the world loses 24 billion tons of fertile soil and dry land degradation reduces national domestic product in developing countries by up to eight percent annually.

Guterres said much remains to be done, and stressed the imperative of combatting desertification as part of our efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Turkey’s Agriculture and Forestry Minister Bekir Pakdemirli presided over the global observance celebrations hosted by his country.

Pakdemirli said that in the last 30 years Turkey has increased its forestland by six percent.
Turkey is the world’s number three country when it comes to adding forestland, after China and India. Worldwide, forestland has shrunk over the last 10 years an average of 5.2 million hectares annually, Pakdemirli said.

With its afforestation, erosion control, and rehabilitation efforts over the last 10 years, Turkey is among the world’s leading countries in adding forestland, and these efforts will continue, he said.

As part of efforts to fight desertification and erosion, Turkey carried out 327 projects between 2011 and 2018.

Some 196 countries and the European Union are parties to the UNCCD, of which 169 are affected by desertification, land degradation or drought.

In 2015, the international community agreed to achieve a balance in the rate at which land is degraded and restored by taking concrete actions to avoid, reduce and reverse land degradation, generally referred to as achieving land degradation neutrality or LDN, and mitigate the effects of drought.

In the last four years, 122 countries have committed to take voluntary, measurable actions to arrest land degradation by 2030. And 44 of the 70 countries that have suffered drought in the past have set up national plans to manage drought more effectively in the future.

Whereas a significant amount of the land degradation and transformation has occurred over the last 50 years, Thiaw stressed that the success stories of land restoration and conservation, such as in Turkey’s Central Anatolia region, where rehabilitation and restoration over decades has resulted in increased forest cover, offer hope that change is possible when traditional knowledge, technology and faith communities come together creatively.

He said the restoration of 150 million hectares of farmland by 2030 can generate up to 40 billion dollars in extra income for smallholders, feed another 200 million people and sink several gigatons of carbon dioxide. Scaling it up across all our degraded land could prevent biodiversity and climate from disintegrating and bequeath new opportunities to the next generation, he added.

On all continents you have the issue of land degradation, and it requires governments, land users and all different communities in a country to be part of the solution. Credit: Albert Oppong-Ansah /IPS

By Desmond Brown
ANKARA, Jun 17 2019 (IPS)

The coming decades will be crucial in shaping and implementing a transformative land agenda, according to a scientist at the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN).

UNCCD-Science Policy Interface co-chair Dr. Mariam Akhtar-Schuster, who spoke with IPS ahead of the start of activities to mark World Day to Combat Desertification (WDCD) on Monday, Jun. 17, said this was one of the key messages emerging for policy- and other decision-makers.

This comes after the dire warnings in recent publications on desertification, land degradation and drought of the Global Land Outlook, Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Assessment Report on Land Degradation and Restoration, World Atlas of Desertification, and IPBES Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services.

“The main message is: things are not improving. The issue of desertification is becoming clearer to different communities, but we now have to start implementing the knowledge that we already have to combat desertification,” Akhtar-Schuster told IPS.

“It’s not only technology that we have to implement, it is the policy level that has to develop a governance structure which supports sustainable land management practices.”

IPBES Science and Policy for People and Nature found that the biosphere and atmosphere, upon which humanity as a whole depends, have been deeply reconfigured by people.

The report shows that 75 percent of the land area is very significantly altered, 66 percent of the ocean area is experiencing increasing cumulative impacts, and 85 percent of the wetland area has been lost.

“There are of course areas which are harder hit; these are areas which are experiencing extreme drought which makes it even more difficult to sustainably use land resources,” Akhtar-Schuster said.

“On all continents you have the issue of land degradation, so there’s no continent, there’s no country which can just lean back and say this is not our issue. Everybody has to do something.”

Akhtar-Schuster said there is sufficient knowledge out there which already can support evidence-based implementation of technology so that at least land degradation does not continue.

While the information is available, Akhtar-Schuster said it requires governments, land users and all different communities in a country to be part of the solution.

“There is no top-down approach. You need the people on the ground, you need the people who generate knowledge and you need the policy makers to implement that knowledge. You need everybody,” the UNCCD-SPI co-chair said.

“Nobody in a community, in a social environment, can say this has nothing to do with me. We are all consumers of products which are generated from land. So, we in our daily lives – the way we eat, the way we dress ourselves – whatever we do has something to do with land, and we can take decisions which are more friendly to land than what we’re doing at the moment.”

UNCCD-Science Policy Interface co-chair Dr. Mariam Akhtar-Schuster says things are not improving and that the issue of desertification is becoming clearer to different communities. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

UNCCD Lead Scientist Dr. Barron Joseph Orr said it’s important to note that while the four major assessments were all done for different reasons, using different methodologies, they are all converging on very similar messages.

He said while in the past land degradation was seen as a problem in a place where there is overgrazing or poor management practices on agricultural lands, the reality is, that’s not influencing the change in land.

“What’s very different from the past is the rate of land transformation. The pace of that change is considerable, both in terms of conversion to farm land and conversion to built-up areas,” Orr told IPS.

“We’ve got a situation where 75 percent of the land surface of the earth has been transformed, and the demand for food is only going to go up between now and 2050 with the population growth expected to increase one to two billion people.”

That’s a significant jump. Our demand for energy that’s drawn from land, bio energy, or the need for land for solar and wind energy is only going to increase but these studies are making it clear that we are not optimising our use,” Orr added.

Like Akhtar-Schuster, Orr said it’s now public knowledge what tools are necessary to sustainably manage agricultural land, and to restore or rehabilitate land that has been degraded.

“We need better incentives for our farmers and ranchers to do the right thing on the landscape, we have to have stronger safeguards for tenures so that future generations can continue that stewardship of the land,” he added.

The international community adopted the Convention to Combat Desertification in Paris on Jun. 17, 1994.

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the Convention and the World Day to Combat Desertification in 2019 (#2019WDCD), UNCCD will look back and celebrate the 25 years of progress made by countries on sustainable land management.

At the same time, they will look at the broad picture of the next 25 years where they will achieve land degradation neutrality.

The anniversary campaign runs under the slogan “Let’s grow the future together,” with the global observance of WDCD and the 25th anniversary of the Convention on Jun. 17, hosted by the government of Turkey.

A wind farm in Curacao. Caribbean nations such as Jamaica are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change and many are embracing renewable energy. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
KINGSTON, Apr 29 2019 (IPS)

Jamaica and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are embracing renewable energy as part of their plans to become decarbonised in the coming decades.

The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, has committed the island nation to transitioning to 50 percent renewable energy by 2030.

“I believe that we can do better. Jamaica has sunshine all year round and strong winds in certain parts of the island,” Holness said.

Solar Head of State (SHOS), a nonprofit that helps world leaders become green leaders by installing solar panels on government buildings, has been assisting Jamaica and other Caribbean countries with their renewable energy transition.

James Ellsmoor, the group’s Director and Co-Founder, said they partnered with the Jamaica’s government to install and commission a state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic (PV) array at Jamaica House—the Office of the Prime Minister.

“Following similar installations by the President of the Maldives and Governor-General of Saint Lucia, Jamaica’s prominent adoption of solar, sets an example for other nations around the world that renewable energy can make a global impact,” Ellsmoor told IPS.

“While island nations such as Jamaica are the most vulnerable to the effects of climate change, this project is a reminder that they are also leading in finding solutions.”

Holness heralded the solar installation on his office as emblematic of the clean energy technologies that must be deployed by Caribbean nations to decarbonise economies, reduce regional fossil fuel use, and combat climate change.

“I have directed the government to increase our target from 30 percent to 50 percent, and our energy company is totally in agreement. So, I believe that by 2030, Jamaica will be producing more than 50 percent of its electricity from renewables.”

The installation of the state-of-the-art solar photovoltaic (PV) array at Jamaica House—the Office of the Prime Minister. Courtesy: Solar Head of State

Peter Ruddock, manager of renewable energy and energy efficiency at the state-owned Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica, hailed the prime minister’s decision as a step in the right direction.

“We do have to look at our indigenous sources—the wind, the sun—it shows good leadership for the Office of the Prime Minister to be outfitted with solar panels, which will reduce their consumption,” Ruddock said.

Due to a historic lack of diversification of energy resources, Jamaica has been heavily reliant on imported fossils fuels, resulting in CO2 emissions and high electricity prices that are up to four times higher than the United States.

Caribbean nations are also vulnerable to hurricanes and extreme weather. Renewable energy increases islands’ resilience—stabilising electricity supply in the wake of natural disasters.

“We emit negligible greenhouse gases but when the impact comes we are most impacted,” Una May Gordon, Jamaica’s Director for Climate Change, told IPS.

“The prime minister believes in what we are doing. He believes that renewable energy has a role and a place in the Jamaica energy mix. A commitment has been made for transformation.

“We are building the resilience of the country. We have to transform a number of our production processes and the only way to do that is with renewables,” Gordon added.

SHOS believes the region’s youth can play a vital role in the climate change fight and has also conducted a solar challenge in partnership with Jamaica-based youth groups, which invited young people from across the island to create innovative communications projects to tell their communities about the benefits of renewable energy.

On the heels of a successful programme in Jamaica, SHOS is collaborating with the Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) to launch the Guyana Solar Challenge—a national competition in Guyana to engage and educate youth nationwide about the benefits of renewable energy.

“With our partners at CYEN we will run a Solar Challenge in every Caribbean country to educate young people about the benefits of renewable energy for their communities,” Ellsmoor told IPS.

“The economic and environmental conditions for the Caribbean are very specific to the region and often information coming from outside the region does not represent that. Launching this challenge in Guyana is particularly important as the country starts its journey into petroleum, and we want to show that the best opportunity is to invest these new funds into the sustainable development of the economy, and renewable energy is central to that,” he said.

The Guyana Solar Challenge is open to young people between 12 and 26 years of age. Competitors are asked to harness their creative energies (in any form such as a song/video, art installation, performance piece, viral meme, sculpture) towards raising awareness about renewable energy, specifically its potential to deliver long-term economic benefits, reduce harmful environmental impacts, and increase energy security and independence for Guyana. Winning projects will demonstrate creativity and an ability to educate the public about the specific benefits of solar energy for Guyana.

Sandra Britton, Renewable Energy Liaison at Guyana’s Department of Environment said she’s happy that young people are now taking the initiative to share the concept of renewable energy and to promote it as Guyana transitions to a green economy.

“We have developed the Green State Development Strategy, which will be rolled out shortly, and within the strategy it is envisioned that Guyana will try to move towards 100 percent renewable energy by 2040,” Britton said.

With approximately 90 percent of Guyana’s population living below sea level, the country says it needs to adapt and build resilience. But Janelle Christian, head of the Office of Climate Change in Guyana says unlocking needed financial support is a major challenge. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Mar 26 2019 (IPS)

In 2008, the then president of Guyana, Bharrat Jagdeo, established within the Ministry of the Presidency the Office of Climate Change. Guyana became the first country in the region to do so. A year later, Jagdeo set out a vision to forge a new low carbon economy in the Caribbean nation.

Jagdeo’s vision was translated into a national strategy as outlined in Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS) after more than a year of review and consultation within Guyana, coupled with input from climate change negotiations at the United Nations.

The aim of the LCDS was the achievement of two goals: transforming Guyana’s economy to deliver greater economic and social development for the population by following a low carbon development path; and providing a model for the world of how climate change can be addressed through low carbon development in developing countries, if the international community takes the necessary collective actions, especially relating to REDD+.

Head of the Office of Climate Change Janelle Christian told IPS that the office continues to fulfil its mandate even though there has been a change of administration.

“We have started the process for preparation of our national climate change policy,” Christian said.

“We have concluded work on the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action for Greening of Towns.”

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Janelle Christian, head of the Office of Climate Change in Guyana. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Inter Press Service (IPS): What is the government doing to develop national climate change strategies?

Janelle Christian (JC): When the government changed, back in 2015, the new government advocated the vision for Guyana to become a green state and so the Department of Environment has been working over the last two years to elaborate the Green State Development Strategy. That strategy is looking at low carbon development across all sectors. When compared to the LCDS, which is looking at our mitigation contribution through sound management of our forest resources, the Green State Development Strategy is looking at advancing what we have started under the LCDS but also looking to maximise our renewable energy potential through the full mix of the opportunities available in that field, and also to ensure that our future development as we proceed as a country would ensure that we pursue that development on a low carbon path.

IPS: How different are the strategies and plans being developed on the President David Granger administration compared with those under the Jagdeo administration?

JC: We have been, and continue to work in crafting and in some instances revising some of our existing strategies so that they’re aligned with the new vision. So, what we have been working on, specifically with support from many of our multilateral partners – we have started the process for preparation of our national climate change policy. We are in the process of revising our climate resilience strategy and action plan and the output will be our National Adaptation Plan (NAP) aligned with the Green State Development Strategy main pillars. We have concluded work on the Nationally Appropriately Mitigation Action for Greening of Towns. We’ve also completed our Technology Needs Assessment.

IPS: Who are some of the development partners you’ve been working with to get projects off the ground?

JC: We have largely been working with existing global facilities for the mobilisation of climate finance to not only address some of the gaps and strengthen some of our existing programmes, but mobilise resources for sector-specific initiatives. We have been engaging very closely with the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and have successfully been able to mobilise what is called readiness support. The first one that we would have implemented was what is called the NDA [National Designated Authorities] strengthening through the GCF and that was with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre and that work has concluded. That really set the tone for further engagement and how we engage with the GCF.

Since then we would have successfully worked with the FAO [Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations] and we would have been able to mobilise some resources specifically through the GCF, again focusing on getting the agriculture sector ready and also working with the sector to develop a concept proposal for submission to the GCF for investment-type support to the sector given its priority. We received notice of approval from the GCF for readiness support for our energy sector – largely renewable energy and also some private sector support. Because, we know, for climate solution it requires both public and private sector investment.

IPS: What else do you have going on in terms of climate change adaptation and mitigation?

JC: We have advanced work for support of the president’s vision for Bartica, which was identified as a model green town. We have just concluded all of the baseline data-type studies that were required for Bartica as we get ready to plan and identify specific type investments for that community.

IPS: Going forward, what would you say are the main challenges facing Guyana and other developing countries in fighting climate change?

JC: Support…They talk about the developed providing support to developing. And when we talk about that support, we’re talking about financing, which is the top challenge because these interventions for adaptation to increase our resilience require lots of investments. So, financing. While they will tell you that there are lots of established climate financing mechanism, to unlock those resources is really a challenge in itself. So, then the capacity of the country to be able to understand the systems, the modalities; to be able to elaborate the proposals that would then be successful and allow for their approval – those allow you to implement.

So, the financing and then the capacity in-country to unlock the financing, or the capacity in-country to have the right skill set in specialised areas, and of course we need technology also. Of course, technology requires money again. But even when you have technical support for the deployment of technology, again you have to be able to use the technology correctly. Then as a country you have to ensure that you have the sustainability component incorporated into your national systems so that those can be successfully infused as part of your operation over the long term. Those are the main things I would say for countries such as ours. How do you make a decision when you have limited finance to address the realities of what is before you?

An aerial view of a mangrove forest along the Guyana coast. Approximately 90 per cent of Guyana’s population lives on a narrow coastline strip a half to one metre below sea level. Courtesy: Ministry of the Presidency/OCC/Kojo McPherson

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Mar 8 2019 (IPS)

For several decades, Guyana has been using mangroves to protect its coasts against natural hazards, and the country believes its mangrove forests should be included in programmes like the REDD+ of United Nations, in order to access financing to continue their restoration and maintenance, as they complement miles of seawalls that help to prevent flooding.

In recent years, the seawall barriers, which have existed since the Dutch occupation of Guyana, have been breeched by severe storms. This resulted in significant flooding, a danger which scientists predict could become more frequent with climate change.

The seawalls must also be maintained, and this is at an enormous cost for Guyana which has been spending an average of 14 million dollars a year to maintain and strengthen the defences.

Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the President of Guyana, said given the importance of mangroves, they should factor more in discussions about financing to help countries build resilience to natural hazards and climate related risks.

“While we look at climate change, while we look at sustainable livelihoods, we have a forest that is so inaccessible, but the areas that are accessible are also threatened,” Harmon told IPS.

“The fact that we’re on a low coastal plain, the issues of environment and environmental funding must cater for mangroves as well.”

Approximately 90 percent of Guyana’s population lives on a narrow coastline strip a half to one metre below sea level, and Harmon said almost 80 percent of the country’s productive means are on the coast as well.

“We’ve actually started, several years ago, with the establishment of mangroves as a form of defence from rising sea levels,” he said.

“We would want to posit that in the way in which forest coverage calculations are done, that mangrove protection, which protects the persons on the coast, that must also be a feature of your forest coverage because it does the same thing as the forest in the hinterland.”

According to the Nature Conservancy and Wetlands International, mangroves don’t always provide a stand-alone solution, and may need to be combined with other risk reduction measures to achieve high levels of protection.

As is the case with Guyana, appropriately integrated mangroves can contribute to risk reduction in almost every coastal setting, ranging from rural to urban and from natural to heavily degraded landscapes.

The benefits offered by mangrove forests include timber and fuel production, productive fishing grounds, carbon storage, enhances tourism and recreation as well as water purification.

Janelle Christian, the Head of the Office of Climate Change in Guyana, said the mangrove forests provide livelihood opportunities for residents of many coastal communities.

“There are a lot of coastal community women’s groups involved in beekeeping and honey production,” Christian told IPS.

“Along where many of the mangrove forests are located you also have fishing communities. So, for us, it is important both as a form of natural protection and also because of the livelihood opportunities tied to that.”

Mangrove trees grow along the bank of the Demerara River which rises in the central rainforests and flows to the north for 346 kilometres until it reaches the Atlantic Ocean. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

In 1990, the total area of mangrove forest in Guyana was estimated at 91,000 hectares, according to a country report to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. By 2009, this figure stood at 22,632 hectares, notes the same report.

But the country has been on an intensive campaign to protect and restore its coastal mangroves. Christian said in 2010, Guyana started a mangrove restoration project funded by a partnership between the Government of Guyana and the European Union.

The project’s overall objective was to respond to climate change and to mitigate its effects through the protection, rehabilitation and wise use of mangrove ecosystems through processes that maintain their function, values and biodiversity, while meeting the socio-economic development and environmental protection needs in estuarine and coastal areas.

More than 141 hectares of mangrove forest has been restored along Guyana’s coastline since rehabilitation efforts began. The country has about 80,000 hectares in place and continues to accelerate the growth of mangroves, many of which were lost 30 years ago.

“Going along the coast you will see mangrove regrowth in several areas where they were diminished,” Christian said, pointing to the success of the project.

“It’s an important natural mechanism against floods. It also helps in terms of land reclamation because over time the roots of the mangrove allow for sedimentation and so there’s a build-up of land.”

The restoration project also provides employment for residents.

At the various restoration sites, local women – often single mothers – were paid 50 cents for each 14-inch mangrove seedling they grow. It also provided temporary employment opportunities for seedling planters and site monitors.

“So, there are livelihood opportunities that are tied to mangrove-type forests,” Christian said.

Other traditional applications include using the bark of red mangrove trees for tanning leather. It sells for approximately 100 dollars per pound. The leaves of black mangrove trees are used by locals in cooking.

Ronald Jackson, Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), told IPS in an interview that the ambitions around establishing strong early warning systems in the Caribbean date back to the early 2000s. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Mar 3 2019 (IPS)

Caribbean countries have been signalling their willingness to dedicate time and resources to implement and sustain effective multi-hazard early warning systems.

Most countries located in the hurricane belt face being impacted during the yearly Atlantic Hurricane Season. But all Caribbean countries face another challenge—climate change

Ronald Jackson, Executive Director of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), told IPS in an interview that the ambitions around establishing strong early warning systems in the Caribbean date back to the early 2000s.

But he said, “it still remains incipient, despite the fact that there has been some level of investment in the area over time.”

“I think Jamaica would have been the farthest advanced way back in the 90s with the Rio Cobre warning system which included a community warning infrastructure as well as telemetre gauges linked to the met offices and to the National Disaster Management Office,” he said

Jackson believes countries “have gotten more caught up . . . in the opportunities of climate change . . . and less so with advancing what is considered to be adaptation.”

The CDEMA head said his unit has been working with its partners to look at framing a common vision, recognising the need for a more comprehensive investment in establishing people-centred early warning systems at national level.

“We have so far delivered a solutions package for four of our members—Antigua & Barbuda, Dominican Republic, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines—looking at their gaps and using that to define the priority areas for investment to establish these early warning systems.”

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Inter Press Service (IPS): What is the state of early warning systems in the Caribbean?

Ronald Jackson (RJ): We are trying to implement interventions around an integrated early warning systems agenda in all our 18 states by 2024, which is the sort of end cycle of this particular strategy. We’ve broken that up into bite size amounts from the point of view of how we are going to try to attract investments at a specific juncture over the life of that strategy, but by 2024 certainly to address the needs of the 18 [Caribbean Community] CARICOM member states as it relates to integrated people-centred early warning systems.

In Guyana for example, they don’t have hurricanes, but they do have flood issues which would require them looking at a flood warning system that is linked to tropical cyclonic events. A country not faced with challenges related to significant flood events may also want to look at their tsunami warning systems. So, we are targeting having a full system in each of our states by 2024.

IPS: What, if anything, would you like to see countries do differently?

RJ: We have gotten more caught up I would think in the opportunities of climate change, which is really the energy aspect of it, and less so with advancing what is considered to be adaptation. There is more of a heavier occupation on the opportunities of climate, which is good.

The opportunities are in the area of renewable energy and how best we can capitalise on that and I think it is a necessary process that we must embark on and embark on fully because of the benefits to be derived.

You can reduce the cost of energy, allowing you to release additional resources into areas of resilience building—one of which is early warning. But the area which is categorised as adaptation in climate change, which is where you will see people use the language more around risk reduction and prevention, is an area that has not gotten the same level of focus as the climate mitigation aspect which is where you look at clean energy, reductions of emissions and so on. That for us is where the greatest threat is. The human security element of climate change is where we should be focusing heavily because we’re talking about people being displaced. You’re talking about floods, you’re talking about the loss of livelihoods. That’s where the greatest threat for Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), and in fact any developing island nation, lies. They have to face the challenge of having limited land masses and resources and having that constantly being impacted by the changing climatic conditions—sea level rise, saline intrusion, water scarcity, flood conditions and other environmental and health related issues—all aligned to climate change.

IPS: Given the challenges Caribbean countries have been facing, could it be that there still exist some misconception regarding adaptation?

RJ: As it relates to adaptation, we seem to think a lot of the interventions required are new. They are not new, we’ve been grappling with those things that are packaged under the theme of adaptation for some time. These are largely programme areas at national level which if you look at the analysis they have never, in my mind, in the last 20 years or decade or so received very strong budget allocations. That’s what the analysis is showing us. There could be a lot of questions or reasoning around that. It could be how countries determine what are the main priorities of the day given the limited resources and the fiscally strangling environment in which they are operating.

IPS: Which takes us to the issue of funding. As is the case with almost everything else, procuring funds is an issue. What has been the experience of countries getting funds for sustaining Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems?

RJ: There is programme support from international sources. The challenge there is that it’s been ad-hoc—either financing one element or two elements of the four elements of people-centred early warning. Part of it is also sustainability because there are different elements that exist. The problem also is, can you maintain the infrastructure? Can you replace the parts in a timely manner? So, there is also a sort of maintenance issue that is linked to budget allocation.

*Interview edited for clarity.

Suriname’s First Lady Ingrid Bouterse-Waldring says the Caribbean nation has been affected by climate change as it has experienced many destructive floods. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
PARAMARIBO, Feb 21 2019 (IPS)

Two of the most prominent women in the Caribbean nation of Suriname are speaking out about developed countries that release large volumes of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.

First Lady Ingrid Bouterse-Waldring and Speaker of the National Assembly Jennifer Geerlings-Simons say Suriname and other countries in the region are feeling the brunt of the effects of climate change.

“If we go to the interior of our country, then we see that we have had a lot of floods in those areas. These floods are destructive for the people who are living there. The effects are clearly noticeable especially to the women and the children,” Bouterse-Waldring told IPS.

“In the coastal area . . . we have had a lot of very strong winds. These winds, actually we never had them before, so it’s also new to us. These are all things that we are facing now with climate change.”

In the aftermath of Hurricanes Maria and Irma that devastated Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and others in 2017, many countries are still struggling to recover.

Geerlings-Simons told IPS: “Some of our countries have seen devastation and we have seen examples in 2017 and 2018 of what will happen to our countries if at any point in time, a hurricane or any other type of disaster happens.”

“You can start rebuilding your economy . . . but next year another hurricane might come and wipe you out again. Did you contribute to clime change? No, you just get hit by it. How would Suriname recover from one hurricane? Seventy-five percent of our people live on the coast and 75 percent or more of our economy is right here. How will we recover? Our homes are not built for hurricanes,” Geerlings-Simons said, adding that

The Speaker of Suriname’s National Assembly said that more than 1,000 homes lost their roofs in extreme weather conditions over the last 10 years. Previously, this sort of destruction to homes due to the weather was unheard of.

“So, we’re feeling the effects right now,” she said.

Jennifer Geerlings-Simons Suriname’s Speaker of the National Assembly says poor and even highly forested countries have no way to defend themselves against this onslaught of climate change which is already happening. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Geerlings-Simons said countries like Suriname, whose forests are actually aiding many other parts of the world, should get something in return. Not only do forests provide oxygen to the world, but according to the World Wide Fund For Nature two billion people either directly or indirectly rely on them for food, shelter and food security etc.

“We have no way as poor countries or even a highly forested countries to defend ourselves against this onslaught of climate change which is already happening, and which is actually threatening our future in the relatively short term of a few decades,” Geerlings-Simons told IPS.

“We as highly forested countries should . . . have an international fund in which we put some money if we push carbon into the air, and we get some money if we take it out of the air.”

Geerlings-Simons said this has already been tried and proven in Costa Rica. Twenty-two years ago, Costa Rica was the first in the world to start a nationwide scheme for compensating landowners for preserving their forests when it embarked on its national programme of payment for environmental services (PES).

“If you pay someone to keep the forest standing, they will keep it standing because they don’t have to give it to someone to cut it down to get something to eat,” Geerlings-Simons said.

“I am sure that if Europe, the United States or China would develop some kind of mechanism, some kind of machine, everybody would gladly be paying for it because it would strengthen their economy.

“But now, finally after a few hundred years, some money has to come to this part of the world, at this moment where we are facing a very dire situation. The [International Panel on Climate Change] IPCC is not some kind of scaremongering organisation and they really gave us a stern warning. You do something, you get paid for it. Why is this an exception?” she added.

Last year, the IPCC released a report assessing the impacts of global warming of 1.5 degrees C.

But as global emissions continue to rise, hopes of containing the planet’s warming well below 2 degrees C–the headline target of the Paris Agreement–are fading.

“Why do we have to beg for money while delivering a service that put carbon into the air? The only way that some people will start reducing their carbon is when they have to pay. This is the way this world works,” Geerlings-Simons said.

High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) nations hosted a major conference in Suriname earlier this month.

The conference ended with the Krutu of Paramaribo Joint Declaration on HFLD Climate Mobilisation. Krutu—an indigenous Surinamese word—means a gathering of significance or a gathering of high dignitaries, resulting in something that is workable.

Suriname’s President, Desiré Delano Bouterse, who this week gathered the High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation nations in Paramaribo for a major conference to discuss the way forward. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
PARAMARIBO, Feb 15 2019 (IPS)

At the Bonn Climate Conference in 2017, Suriname announced its aspirations to maintain its forest coverage at 93 percent of the land area.

For Suriname and other High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) nations, maintaining forest coverage is their contribution to saving the planet from the effects of climate change, something they did not cause.

But HFLD nations have faced a challenge finding a development model that balances their national interests while continuing to deliver eco-services to the world. They say the valuable contribution of especially HFLD developing countries to the climate change challenge is not reflected in climate finance.

These countries – which also include, among others: Panama, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Belize, Gabon, Guyana, Bhutan, Zambia, and French Guiana – now have a champion at the forefront of their cause.

He is Suriname’s President, Desiré Delano Bouterse, who this week gathered the HFLD nations in Paramaribo for a major conference to discuss the way forward.

The three-day conference ended with countries adopting the Krutu of Paramaribo Joint Declaration on HFLD Climate Finance Mobilisation.

“The declaration is one of significance,” Bouterse told IPS in an interview.

“What I want to communicate to the world community is that we should first and foremost note that our planet is in danger and that it calls for common action.”

Bouterse said HFLD developing countries have set themselves on a new path, and that Suriname takes its new assignment very seriously and pledges its dedication.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Inter Press Service (IPS): Mr. President, what was your vision when this conference was being conceptualised?

Desiré Delano Bouters (DDB): It’s more than 30 years that we are facing this issue, and what we have looked at is that countries that are facing the issue of high forestry have difficulties getting financial opportunities. So that is basically the main reason for the conference.

We have forest cover of approximately 94.6 percent. Our commitment to the world is that we will maintain a forest cover of 93 percent. That is a commitment we made.

What we know is that there is a contention between the interest and will to maintain the forest cover, on the one hand. On the other hand are the development challenges with scarce financial resources. Thirdly is the difficult to access financial opportunities. So, what has to happen is that the world community has to understand this commitment and seek a mechanism for easier accessibility to financial mechanisms so that we can therefore get training, we can get capacity building – access to finances in order to maintain this commitment. So, it’s crucial to get that access.

IPS: We have seen so many declarations made before, is there a reason to be optimistic about the Krutu of Paramaribo Joint Declaration on HFLD Climate Finance Mobilisation?

DDB: Yes, there have been declarations but here’s what I think is necessary coming out of this process. There is a need for precise scientific research which will allow us a truthful picture of what we can be given for the offer we make; so that there is a very precise calculation so to speak, so that we don’t estimate but rather know what the value is of the offer we have made.

IPS: What does this declaration mean in terms of financial resources and also benefits to the people of Suriname and other HFLD nations?

DDB: Firstly, the declaration is one of significance, such that we have gathered as like-minded countries to basically face the coming challenges together and therefore approach the world community with one voice in order to overcome the hurdle that we commonly face. And so you should see the declaration in that sense, that we have brought the many heads of countries with similarities together to get mileage out of what we offer.

IPS: You have been charged with championing this cause on behalf of the HFLD nations – You are speaking directly to the international community, what message are you sending right now?

DDB: What I want to communicate to the world community is that we should first and foremost note that our planet is in danger and that it calls for common action. If we neglect coming together to address this danger, we may face a very tragic situation which will then leave our planet worse than we have met it for our children and their children.

IPS: Now that you have adopted the Krutu of Paramaribo Joint Declaration, what is the next step?

DDB: Firstly, what we have to do or know is that the group of countries have identified Suriname as the leader to communicate what we have agreed upon in this conference and as such we have to use each international opportunity to let the world know what we have agreed upon and what we are expecting from them.

We have to, from a common position, reason. We have to reason from a common position and therefore we should approach our position, not from a point of view that the other developed countries should take the lead. No, we should look at it from our point of view.

You should see it as this, politically and economically, being in the Caribbean and South America, we should approach it from a common and joint position. Let me give an example. When you look at CARICOM, even if it’s the United States, CARICOM works together as one. It’s the same when it comes to China, Canada, India or even Europe. Why? Because we’re joined together. We have a common strategy. So, when you’re alone, it’s very difficult. But when you have your structure, they will take you more seriously. That’s why I give the example of CARICOM. There are different, small nations but the big countries – if it’s Russia or India – everybody wants to talk with the 14 CARICOM countries.

IPS: Is there a role for the youth in all of this?

DDB: Yes, we have in our portfolio in CARICOM, the inclusion of the youth, this is something we are proud of. What we have seen here today is that young people have stepped up to the plate and they have made their voices heard. However, I’m also of the belief that we should make the space and give them the opportunity to assume leadership so that they can learn and make errors, but at the same time don’t make the same mistake that we as leaders have made; because before you know it, it’s their turn to be leaders. It is therefore important to allow them that experience so that they can be part of the process.

Excerpt:

Minister for Foreign Affairs Yldiz Deborah Pollack-Beighle said the adoption of the Krutu of Paramaribo Joint Declaration on HFLD Climate Finance Mobilisation declaration represents a commitment that no longer would HFLD nations be the ones producing the solution to climate change and global warming without the required financial assistance. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
PARAMARIBO, Feb 15 2019 (IPS)

High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) nations ended a major conference in Suriname on Thursday, with the Krutu of Paramaribo Joint Declaration on HFLD Climate Finance Mobilisation.

Krutu—an indigenous Surinamese word—means a gathering of significance or a gathering of high dignitaries, resulting in something that is workable.

“It is with great joy that I announce the adoption of the Krutu of Paramaribo Joint Declaration on HFLD Climate Finance Mobilisation,” Suriname’s President Desiré Delano Bouterse said.

“The adoption of this document is important to jointly continue our efforts and focus on practical results, as it enables us to increase our cooperation at relevant international and multilateral mechanisms.”

In the declaration, HFLD nations made several pledges, among them: to raise international recognition of the significant contribution that HFLD developing countries provide to the global response to climate change by enabling their forests to serve as vital carbon sinks, and look to the international community to provide adequate financial support to help maintain this treasure.

For HFLD developing countries, nature and development are intrinsically connected, Bouterse said, adding they were all confronted with the threats from unsustainable activities, while attempting to plan a sustainable development.

Bouterse said the challenge for these nations had been to find a development model that balances their national interests while continuing to deliver eco-services to the world.

“I look forward to a united voice and innovative models that will shape our mutual interests. Suriname is honoured to have received the mandate to bring the HFLD developing countries’ effort to the international fora. We take this assignment very seriously and pledge our dedication,” the Suriname president said.

“We, as HFLD developing countries, have set ourselves on a new path. We offer to all of our friends and collaborators the Krutu of Paramaribo to lead the way.”

Suriname was the first country that reserved vast amount of its land mass—11 percent—for conservation purposes, when it established the Central Suriname Nature Reserve in 1998.

Bouterse said at that time Suriname had manoeuvred itself into a difficult position because almost half of its land was handed over to logging companies in the early 90s.

However, he said that the strategic establishment of the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, with a total area of 1.6 million hectares, put an immediate halt to these activities.

“This decision was specifically taken for protection reasons. A decision without even having the foresight of what this Nature Reserve’s intrinsic value would be in the years to come,” he said.

“Now, 20 years later, we owe it to ourselves to evaluate and question the impacts of this decision. Are the ecosystems in the Nature Reserve intact or enhanced as originally intended?

“Do the conservation efforts contribute to our economic development? Do we invest enough in our own capacity to be a player on the world environment stage? Do we make sufficient use of available multilateral funds and financial mechanisms? And, to what extent does our fellow Surinamese man or woman benefit from having a Nature Reserve that comprises 11 percent of their land?”

Meanwhile, Bouterse said Suriname will improve its legislation, align policies to their aspirations and improve even further.

“It is with great satisfaction that I announce that Suriname has deposited the instrument of ratification to the Paris Agreement on Feb. 13. We look to the international community to assist us with appropriate financial instruments, technology and training, for only together we can attain our common objectives.”

With the Declaration being adopted on Valentine’s Day, Panama’s Vice Minister for the Ministry of Environment Yamil Sanchez said, “Today we declare our love to our forests and ecosystems.”

Suriname’s Minister for Foreign Affairs Yldiz Deborah Pollack-Beighle said the declaration represents a commitment that HFLD nations no longer will be the ones producing a solution to climate change and global warming without the required financial assistance.

“The conversation needs to change, and it should be that we should be paid for maintain or our forests,” Pollack-Beighle told IPS.

“It was not an easy conversation, but we’ve had a breakthrough and the breakthrough resulted in the fact that we will be leaving this conference with this document.”

She said at the end of the day, it’s the people of HFLD nations that will benefit from the three days of talks.

The Krutu Declaration will result in tangible benefits for the communities that are living and are resident in these forested areas, Pollack-Beighle said, adding that the countries as a whole will also benefit.

“For Suriname, we need to arrive at the point where we will no longer have to beg for the fact that we have presented the world with a solution, but we will be sought out and provided with opportunities that are existing,” she said.

“We are leaving here with a commitment that needs to translate itself in such a way that . . . we see significant changes immediately after this conference.

“Suriname has been given the role of advocate and champion to make sure that this declaration finds its way at the highest level of the global agenda, bilateral agendas, but also the regional agenda,” Pollack-Beighle added.

Dr. Armstrong Alexis, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative for Suriname tells IPS High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) nations need support as they continue to protect their forests. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
PARAMARIBO, Feb 14 2019 (IPS)

As High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) nations meet in Suriname at a major conference, it is obvious that the decision made by these countries to preserve their forests has been a difficult but good one.

“It is a choice that governments have to make to determine whether they want to continue being custodians of the environment or whether they want to pursue interests related only to economic advancement and economic growth,” Dr. Armstrong Alexis, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) resident representative for Suriname, tells IPS in an interview.

The UNDP and the U.N. Department for Economic and Social Affairs (UN-DESA) have been instrumental in the coming together of the group of countries under the HFLD umbrella.

Both U.N. bodies have supported countries with the design and implementation of national policies and measures to reduce deforestation and manage forests sustainably, hence contributing to the mitigation of climate change and advancing sustainable development.

Forests provide a dwelling and livelihood for over a billion people—including many indigenous peoples. They also host the largest share the world’s biodiversity and provide essential ecosystem services, such as water and carbon storage, which play significant roles in mitigating climate change.

Deforestation and forest degradation, which still continue in many countries at high rates, contribute severely to climate change, currently representing about a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.

Amid this, Alexis says HFLD countries need support as they continue to protect their forests.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

For a long time Suriname has maintained 93 percent forest cover of total land area which has been providing multiple benefits to the global community, in particular, combatting climate change for current and future generations. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Inter Press Service (IPS): Can you give a brief synopsis of the work of the UNDP in Suriname?

Armstrong Alexis (AA): The UNDP is a partner in development in Suriname. We specifically focus on resources. We cover a whole spectrum of issues around climate change, renewable energy, the reduction of fossil fuels and adaptation and mitigation measures. We also focus on the issue of forests.

IPS: Why is this meeting important for Suriname, and what was the UNDP’s role in collaborating with the HFLD nations?

AA: Suriname is the most forested country on earth. Approximately 93 percent of the land mass of Suriname is covered by pristine Amazonian forests. So, with 93 percent forest cover, Suriname has traditionally, for centuries, been a custodian of its forests and have preserved its forests while at the same time achieving significant development targets for its people.

Given the role of forests as they relate to climate change and in particular the sequestration of carbon, Suriname genuinely believes, and the science will back that up, that Suriname in fact is a carbon negative country. It stores a lot more carbon than it emits. And there are a number of other countries in the world that the U.N. has defined as Heavily Forested Low Deforestation countries. These are countries that are more than 50 percent covered by forests and at the same time they have the deforestation rate which is way below the international average which I think is .02 percent of deforestation per annum.

These countries have come together through a collaborative effort supported by the UNDP and the UN-DESA.

We’ve brought these countries together because they all have a common purpose, they all have a common story and they all are working towards finding common solutions to ensure that there is:

1. Recognition of the fact that these countries have traditionally maintained their forests and have not destroyed the forests in the name of development;
2. Given the relevance of trees and forests to combatting climate change, that these are actually the countries that provide a good example and the best opportunity for serving the earth with high forest cover.

IPS: What is the way forward for the protection of forests?

AA: In every country where there are forests there are activities that result in two things – deforestation, where the trees are cut down and usually not replaced; and you also have what it called forest degradation where the forest is not totally destroyed but it is not as thick, it does not have as many trees and sometimes the trees are much younger for many different reasons, including timber production. So, you might be degrading the quality of the forest but not necessarily deforesting in total.

Those countries that form the HFLD have made commitments with the international community that they will continue to pursue their development objectives without necessarily destroying their forests. And destroying here means either deforestation or degradation.

It’s a challenge because in Suriname for example, the small-scale gold mining sector is the largest driver of deforestation—not timber production, not palm oil as in some countries, and not infrastructure.

IPS: So, what do you say to a country that has gold in the soil? That they should not mine that gold?

AA: It’s difficult to say that to a country when the economy depends on it. How do you say to a country don’t produce timber when the economy of the country depends on it?

There are ways and means of doing it [small-scale mining or timber production] in a sustainable way. There are ways and means of ensuring that in granting concessions whether it be for timber production or small-scale gold mining, that you take into consideration means and approaches for rehabilitation.

You have to take into consideration the biodiversity and the sensitivity of some of those forests and whether or not you value more the biodiversity of that area or the few dollars that you can make by destroying that area’s forests and extracting the gold and extracting the timer.

So, conscious decisions have to be made by governments and our role as UNDP is to provide the government with the policy options, which usually is supported by sound scientific research and data to indicate to them what their real options are and how they can integrate those options in the decisions that they make.

So, it is a difficult choice indeed, but it is a choice that governments have to make to determine whether they want to continue being custodians of the environment or whether they want to pursue interests related only to economic advancement and economic growth.

So far, they’ve done a good job at it. One of the areas that I want to emphasise is that a lot of this work cannot be done by the countries alone, because if you think about it, the market for the timber is not Suriname. The market for the gold is not Suriname.

Usually the companies that come into those countries to do the extractives, they are not even local companies. They are big multinational companies. A country like Suriname or Guyana—those countries cannot take on this mammoth task alone. They need the support of the international community, they need the support of agencies like the U.N., they need the support of the funds that have been established like the Green Climate Fund, the Global Environment Facility, the Adaptation Fund, and they need the support of the bilateral donors and the countries that have traditionally invested in protecting the forests.

Excerpt:

Engineer Roberto Wong Loi Sing says technology has a very crucial role to play in fighting climate change and deforestation. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
PARAMARIBO, Feb 14 2019 (IPS)

At 51, Roberto Wong Loi Sing has spent nearly half of his life working in the field of engineering. But as he spends his days designing more efficient stormwater management systems, or water purification systems, for instance, the child in him comes alive as he combines his skills to find “win-win” solutions for the environment.

“On a practical scale, I am talking about things like water purification,” says Wong Loi Sing, who specialises in land and water management. “The child in me lives when we can combine things for a win, win. So, if I can design, if I can work in making better stormwater management systems but at the same time contribute to better land management, that would be ideal.”

He currently serves as the Leader of Projects at ILACO—an engineering firm in Suriname which is active in a wide range of studies and planning of development projects, among other things. The firm is also one of the local sponsors of a major international conference on climate financing for High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) countries, which the Caribbean nation of Suriname is hosting.

Wong Loi Sing, who spoke with IPS on the sidelines of the conference, says technology has a very crucial role to play in fighting climate change and deforestation.

At the macro level, he says technology can also help big polluters in the world reduce their pollution and become much more environmentally friendly.

“On a large scale, we, as experts in the field of technology, definitely have to take the lead role—not politicians, not economists, not financiers—but technologists, engineers, the scientists. [We] should make it so attractive for investors to be willing to invest in cleaner technology, greener technology,” Wong Loi Sing tells IPS.

“You have to invent. Your mind is the biggest asset that you have, and we are able,” he affirms.

Trinidad & Tobago-based KVR Energy Limited is one company that has taken military technology of Forward Looking InfraRed Optical Gas Imaging (FLIR OGI) and found innovative uses for it—such as using it to find hazardous gases.

The company uses an optimal gas imaging camera, which is considered a highly-specialised version of an infrared or thermal imaging camera, to find gas leaks “which would be otherwise impossible to find using conventional methods,” KVR’s regional manager Vikash Rajnauth tells IPS.

“The technology is not new, it has been used for military and defence, but this aspect of it is very special because it uses a specific tuning of a detector to find hazardous gases. We have worked on a methodology to use footage from the camera to quantify this gas . . . so this way we can put an actual dollar value to it,” Rajnauth says.

Most importantly, Rajnauth says they can also now put a value as to how many credits companies are using by producing hazardous gases and emitting them into the environment.

He explains that his company has already implemented the technology at British Petroleum (BP) and Shell, noting that they were able to get Shell in Tunisia to come onboard long before getting buy-in for the technology from Shell in Trinidad & Tobago.

“At the end of March this year, we will be entering into our first exercise with the Atlantic LNG facility in Trinidad to quantify gas leaks,” Rajnauth says.

But he also admits the technology does not come cheap.

“It has a spectral filter inside the camera. It also has a cryogenic cooler that cools a FLIR Indium Antimonide (InSb) detector inside the camera down to -321 degrees F. The technology is not cheap, but it pays back for itself in no time when we consider loss of containment, prevention of catastrophic failures and harm to the environment,” Rajnauth says.

Information technology consultant Camille Pagee says there are also low-cost solutions available to countries in the Caribbean to gather data. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Meanwhile, information technology consultant Camille Pagee points out that there are low-cost solutions available to countries in the Caribbean to use to collect data as they address climate change.

Pagee, the Managing Director at Connect Consulting Limited, has worked in IT in the Caribbean since 2004, following software development experience in Canada. Over the years she has gained experience in dozens of businesses, from large breweries to small companies and public agencies.

She says that in the Caribbean region, costly solutions and projects by both business and government have a high rate of failure, and she recommends that countries use the tools they already have at their disposal and to also start on a small scale.

“The truth is that climate finance is a subject that is very abstract, but it’s founded 100 percent on data. We are speaking as the HFLD countries and stating that we’re delivering a service and we’re demanding that services have a particular value,” Pagee tells IPS.

“How does business work, how does finance work? It wants to measure value. There’s a value to everything that we purchase and so we have to present a value to everything that we want to receive, sell, market or manage. And where does that come from? Data.”

Pagee says she has found that there are two main myths that have contributed to the high rate of failure of IT projects. The first is that collecting data is a very technical exercise.

“The truth is, every single day in our businesses, in our offices, at client service counters for government public service we are collecting data, some [of it is through] using simple tools like the old fashion ledger, while others conduct face to face surveys.”

Using her own company as an example, she says they have collected data from around the Caribbean trying to make use of simple every-day tools.

“We conduct face-to-face surveys to collect primary, real, current information about a range of things. It could be public opinion, it could be state of projects, it could be impact,” she tells IPS.

“My company [comprises] under 10 people, we have had clients in nine countries around the Caribbean, and in the past eight years we have collected 100,000 face-to-face interviews on points of data ranging from short questions–10 points to as long as 50 points.”

Pagee says the second myth is that data collection is a technical activity and complex projects require complex and advance project structures.

But she says most people, even in developing countries and HFLD nations are already preparing to collect data.

“We’re not lacking any of the tools. I am calling on those who are in a position to make decisions about big projects, especially relating to data which is especially related to the success of climate financing, climate measurements and carbon measurements – let’s think about the importance of small steps and small projects, community level activities,” Pagee says.

“Data is a product which continue to have value. It doesn’t lose the value if you collect it in small portions compared to collecting it in large portions. It all tells you the reality of your process, the success of your business efforts,” she adds.

Winston Lackin, Suriname’s Ambassador for the Environment, told IPS that developed countries need to step up and have a conversation with countries like his, as they are experiencing the brunt of climate change impact while their own greenhouse gas emissions are negligible. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
PARAMARIBO, Feb 13 2019 (IPS)

The Caribbean nation of Suriname may be one of the most forested countries in the world, with some 93 percent of the country’s surface area being covered in forests, but it is also the most threatened as it struggles with the impacts of climate change.

Suriname, which has a population of just over half a million, holds its forests as “a central component of its economic, social and cultural life,” according to REDD +.

But the low-lying nation, which is one of a few countries in the world to be classified as a High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) country, has faced various impacts of climate change which includes increased temperatures, drought and sea level rise. Some 75 percent of Suriname’s people live along its low-lying coast and according to a USAID report on the Caribbean, the “anticipated sea level rise of 17 to 44 centimetres by 2050, combined with greater risk of flooding due to increased tropical storm strength, will put significant stress on infrastructure and population centres.” 

Winston Lackin, Ambassador for the Environment for Suriname, told IPS that developed countries need to step up and have a conversation with countries like his, as they are experiencing the brunt of climate change impact while their own greenhouse gas emissions are negligible.

Lackin spoke to IPS on the sidelines of a major international conference on climate financing for High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) countries, which Suriname is hosting.

“So, if business as usual continues in the industrial world we will face serious problems even when we are maintaining our forests. But we took the decision that the forest, the environment is in the first place our responsibility. It’s our life, it’s our survival. So, that’s why we commit ourselves to that,” he said.

The objectives of the conference are to strengthen cooperation, collaboration and exchange of knowledge and experience among HFLD countries. It also aims to develop joint strategies and positions to help HFLD countries maintain their intact forests and preserve forest cover, and make international communities more aware of the significant global importance these countries and their productive landscapes play in combating climate change.

Lackin said it was import to preserve and maintain forests and usage in a sustainable way that would guarantee they remained sustainable for future generations. He added that it is important that “a healthy forest, ecosystem, biodiversity, water supply, food security, job creation is in place and maintained.”

Excerpts of the interview follow: 

Inter Press Service (IPS): What issues, if any, do you have with the Paris Climate Agreement and its link to forests?

Winston Lackin (WL): The Paris Agreement is focusing, in our view, too much on mitigation for HFLD countries. We are not part of that. We are a carbon negative country. So, we feel that the focus of the Paris Agreement is too much on mitigation and less on adaptation. Adaptation is our issue because adaptation would guarantee us that the lands are okay, that we can continue with agriculture.

We should do smart agriculture, there are technologies for that, but adaptation is our real challenge. Since, for example, we are a continental country we’re not in the group of the SIDS [Small Island Developing Nations] but still we have challenges when it comes to adaptation. We feel that the Paris Agreement should focus a little bit more on adaptation and direct more finance to adaptation in our specific case, which is the case for most of the HFLD countries.

IPS: So, what are the specific challenges faced by your country as a result of climate change?

WL: The first one that we are facing is access to finance. What we are seeing happening as a result of climate change in certain parts of Suriname, especially the western part, we see the line where salted water was in the beginning, it’s moving further. So, the very important productive area where we have our rice and banana crops, is in danger. We’ve seen that in the interior of Suriname where our indigenous people have their crops, problems with the soil—it is too dry, or they have flooding. They are having serious problems in guaranteeing the food supply. So, we see this affecting directly our people and their environment.

What we are trying to do all the time is to get access to climate finance, but it has been very difficult, too complicated.

They have classified us as one of the middle-income countries, which creates more problems for us to get access to concessional loans. That’s why we thought [that it is] time that we have a new kind of discussion.

We are contributing to the mitigation of the negative effects of climate change, which are not caused by us and still when we look at our social, economic development that we have to guarantee people, we cannot meet our obligations because of a lack of finance.

The money that we don’t have for agriculture, education and health; we are forced now to put into coastal defence. We don’t feel that this is right. We have a feeling that we are being punished by behaving well, so we want to change that.

IPS: What role should the developed countries play in assisting your country and also the SIDS?

WL: The message we are bringing is that if I am helping you by making sure that my forests . . . are contributing to mitigation of the negative effects, now it’s time for you to help me take care of my sustainable development and make sure that what I need comes to me.

I’m helping you, it’s time for you to help me in a different way. We feel that there is too much red tape for countries like Suriname to get finance – the resources we need. And we are feeling the results of the actions which incidentally are not taken by us. We are not part of the making of that.

IPS: Are the HFLD countries speaking with one voice or is there need for a more unified approach?

WL: That is one of the things that we are looking at this conference. And I am happy about the reaction that we received [assurance] from the director of the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] Patricia Espinosa that the outcome of this conference will be part of next steps discussions in the international fora when it comes to the environment.

We feel that the HFLD countries deserve another kind of treatment because of the role they are playing. We are looking also to connect more with the Coalition for Rainforest Nations to create a platform within the structure of the United Nations that when these issues are discussed that we are there in a group.

There are 33 HFLD developing countries where like 24 percent of forests in the world is located in these countries. So, the contribution that we are making is enormous and it is time that we have a louder voice; that we join forces, that we have these durable partnerships to call the attention of the world to access to finance for the challenges that the HFLD developing countries are facing.

Vice President of Suriname, Michael Ashwin Adhin, addressed delegates during the opening of the conference of a major international conference on climate financing for High-Forest Cover, Low-Deforestation (HFLD) countries. Courtesy: Desmond Brown

By Desmond Brown
PARAMARIBO, Feb 13 2019 (IPS)

Suriname, the most forested country in the world, is this week hosting a major international conference on climate financing for High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation (HFLD) countries.

Among other things, the Feb. 12 to 14 conference aims to make the international community more aware of the significant global importance of HFLD countries and the role their productive landscapes play in combatting climate change.

HFLD countries also include, among others: Panama, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Peru, Belize, Gabon, Guyana, Bhutan, Zambia, and French Guiana.

This conference also aims to strengthen the payment structure for ecosystem services that will be used to advance sustainable development, while mitigating the risk of forest destruction and biodiversity loss.

“Forests bring pleasure to our lives. Next to culture and leisure, it provides us with, among other things, food, timber, clean air and oxygen. But [it] also has important benefits such as mitigation and the adaptation to climate change,” Suriname’s Vice President, Michael Ashwin Adhin, said at the opening of the conference.

“I would like to stress the fact that Suriname has long maintained 93 percent forest cover of its total land area which has been providing multiple benefits to the global community, in particular, combatting climate change for current and future generations.”

Adhin said climate change and sea level rise presents huge threats to the Caribbean nation—a low-lying coastal state where more than 75 percent of the population and the majority of its economic and social infrastructure is located along the coast.

“We are faced with finding remedies to these problems which we did not cause. We are aware of the similarity of the situation for many other countries,” he said.

Adhin reiterated Suriname’s aspirations to maintain a High Forest Cover and Low Deforestation rate. He noted that based on the country’s record, they feel obliged to champion this cause on international and multi-level agendas.

“We have taken the initiative for this conference as we recognise that together as HFLD countries we can stand stronger and create a critical mass, leading a movement for recognition of our contribution to the global community and cooperate to increase the debt contribution while we enjoy equitable and sustainable economic growth,” he said.

But he admits that “the challenges are huge,” especially with regards to the mobilisation of financial and other resources.

For a long time Suriname has maintained 93 percent forest cover of total land area which has been providing multiple benefits to the global community, in particular, combatting climate change for current and future generations. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Winston Lackin, Suriname’s Ambassador for the Environment, said the government took the decision two years ago to commit to maintaining its position of being the most forested country in the world, and to continue being one of the few carbon negative countries in the world.

“When we committed ourselves in November 2017 at the UNFCCC [United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change] meeting in Bonn, we also said that we will not be in a position to do this alone, we would need technical cooperation, expertise, financial support, durable partnership, and political will at the national level but also at the international level,” Lackin told IPS.

“We know that 30 percent of the land area of the world is covered by forests. From this 30 percent, nearly a quarter is in the HFLD developing countries. And when we know the value and role of forests when it comes to mitigation and adaptation and the added effects of climate change, then we feel that it is time for a different kind of discussion when it comes to accessing finance.”

Pointing out that only eight percent of international financial resources has been directed to HFLD developing countries in the last decade, Lackin said one cannot expect these developing countries to meet their commitments when it comes to the Paris Agreement. The goals of the Paris Agreement include boosting adaptation and limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2°C.

He said a very important fact is that the HFLD countries have been contributing to the mitigation of the negative effects of climate change even before the existence of the climate change conferences.

He said these countries were facing serious problems to meet their daily economic and social development challenges, while at the same time being the victims of the negative effects which were not of their making.

Lackin said the expectation is that the conference will help Suriname and other HFLD countries meet the challenges, facilitate access to financial resources, meet their commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and in 2020 when the Paris Agreement is enforced, countries should be able to meet their ambitions.

“I’m convinced that this conference will help us, will guide us to the next step. The environment is not only our life, it is our survival,” he told IPS.

“We have an obligation to leave a world behind for the youth, for the next generation. So, it is our common responsibility, the joint responsibility of us all.”

Meanwhile, Shantanu Mukherjee, Chief at the Policy Analysis Branch, Division for Sustainable Development, from the U.N. Department of Economic and Social Affairs, said the Suriname conference has the full support of the U.N.

He said the conference is the fruit of close collaboration between the Suriname’s government and multiple entities of the U.N. family. He added that the conference is very timely because latest research clearly shows that HFLD countries contribute significantly to the health of the planet but unfortunately also constitute a major gap in climate finance. This, he said, is something which has been overlooked for many years.

“The crucial role that forests in HFLDs play in storing carbon as well as providing food, water, shelter and livelihoods to tens of millions of people is now at stake,” Mukherjee told IPS.

“If this gap is not addressed soon, developing HFLDs may be forced to be in the unfortunate position of choosing between their global role in combatting climate change on the one hand and their legitimate development aspirations of their people on the other. Many are already in dire need of financial support to pave their roads towards a green and more sustainable future in which none are left behind.”

Mukherjee said the conference follows on the very latest scientific discoveries on the important contribution of forests in HFLDs in combatting climate change and that it comes at the beginning of a year replete with milestones and international discussions on climate change.

“The message which delegates of HFLDs present here wish to convey to the world is theirs to craft. But whatever the contents may be, the U.N. fully stands with countries in their commitment to both the SDGs and the Paris Agreement. We will do our utmost to bring the messages coming out of this conference to all of the climate-related events and other development meetings that are coming up,” he added.

A fisher in Barbados. The Caribbean’s fish stocks have been affected by climate change. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Feb 5 2019 (IPS)

In recent years Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries have experienced escalated climate change impacts from hurricanes, tropical storms and other weather-related events thanks to global warming of 1.0 ° Celsius (C) above pre-industrial levels. And it has had adverse effects on particularly vulnerable countries and communities.

CARICOM countries and other small island and low-lying coastal developing states have long been calling for limiting the increase in average global temperatures to below 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels by the end of the century in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.

Regional countries have also noted with grave concern the findings of the  Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5 °C. The report noted that climate-related risks for natural and human systems including health, livelihoods, food security, water supply, human security and economic growth are significantly higher at an increased global warming of 1.5 °C than at the present warming levels of 1 °C above pre-industrial levels.

Particularly worrisome for small island developing states (SIDS) is the finding that 70 to 90 percent of tropical coral reefs will be lost at a 1.5 °C temperature increase and 99 percent of tropical coral reefs will be lost at a 2 °C temperature increase.

Dr. Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General at the CARICOM Secretariat, told IPS that they have been working closely with the Alliance of Small Island States grouping. “The CARICOM SIDS grouping is considered a very important link and we are really leaders in the SIDS movement,” he said.

He said that at last year’s 24th Conference of the Parties (COP24) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the region had been able to ensure, to some extent, that the procedures for the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement were clearly outlined.

Excerpts of the interview follow:

Dr. Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, says the region needs to recognise the importance of implementing some of the measures as recommended by technical institutions that will help to build climate resilience. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Inter Press Service (IPS): How is the CARICOM region doing with its climate change fight?

DS: Starting from COP21 in France, certain decisions were made. The region thought that [at COP24] we needed to ensure that the procedures for the implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement and the modalities were clearly elucidated and outlined. To some extent I would say that that was achieved.

Another issue that we took [to COP24] and lobbied hard for, was a response to the IPCC 1.5 study.

The world is already looking to limit global warming to below 2 °C. We insisted that it should be no more than 1.5°C. Now, it might sound like they are close, but the differences are so significant, especially as it relates to us.

I must say that we had a hard task convincing them to accept the language of the findings of the IPCC. In fact, majority of the parties supported the findings and the actions to respond to it. But there were some major players [who did not] and because we work on consensus, it couldn’t find its way into the outcome document in a forceful way that was supportive of what we wanted.

There were four main countries, some real heavy rollers—the United States, Russia, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia—who resisted that. We will continue and there will be other opportunities. In fact, there is a meeting in May of this year where we’ll continue to push.

IPS: Were there any other tangible outcomes?

DS: We did get some language that will encourage parties to work towards what we want. There is also the issue of the Talanoa Dialogue, which was decided from the previous COP Presidency—Fiji. The word suggests working together in an inclusive cooperative way to ensure that a lot of issues, including the Nationally Determined Contributions, are adjusted to meet the times. That had some challenges being accepted wholesale too, but I think it is correct to say that Parties acknowledged what was happening and gave some commitment to increase the ambition to reduce greenhouse gases.

But it is a continuing struggle and we have to keep sounding our small but powerful voices because climate change is existential to us. Already, coming out of the hurricane season in 2017, we have had first-hand experience of what can happen to us and we don’t want a repeat of that.

IPS: Given the political cycle in the Caribbean where you could have a change in administration every five years or less, do you find that when an administration changes the drive and level of attention to climate change also changes?

DS: It is my feeling, based on my observation over the years, that the political parties in the region understand the impact that climate change can cause on us and in general are strongly supportive. So, it’s not a major issue. It might just be degrees of emphasis or so, but I don’t think there’s a challenge there. I think it is clear to all of our political leaders that climate change is a reality and it can devastate our sustainability, especially economic sustainability.

In my opinion, it doesn’t matter which administration is there, the policy should be aimed at addressing resilience to climate change and I think by and large that has been happening.

IPS: What major challenges remain for individual countries in the region or as a collective of SIDS? 

DS: I think we need to recognise the importance of implementing some of the measures as recommended by our technical institutions that will help to build resilience. Let us take hurricanes, for example. One of the reasons why you get significant damage is that the building codes that we have been using need updating. I think if we do that it will build a more resilient region. I think the message is there, but the implementation takes some time due to a lack of resources.

We have been working on that.

I know Dominica, especially post Hurricane Maria, are really working assiduously to build the first climate-resilient country probably in the world. That augers well for the region. We are hoping whatever we can gain from that experience can be disseminated in the entire region.

I am particularly concerned about some individual member states of CARICOM. Such as, for example, Haiti. I [bring up] Haiti because of land degradation and its impact, which we are dealing with now. We hope that Haiti can adjust to understanding the need for reforestation because that is a resilience measure.

I think if our individual member states can work with the various ministries and the regional institutions and we can mobilise the resources, that is the big challenge.

We know in general what we need to do. There’s a willingness to do it, the challenge is having the resources to.

We have some excellent institutions like CDEMA [Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency] which really is on the ball, but they need resources sometimes to respond to some of the challenges.

We are working with some international organisations and some other international development partners to see how we can pull that together. But it’s a work in progress.

*Interview edited for clarity.

Excerpt:

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD’s) is focusing more on a drought preparedness approach which looks at how to prepare policymakers, governments, local governments and communities to become more drought resilient. Credit: Campbell Easton/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Feb 1 2019 (IPS)

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD’s) Drought Initiative is in full swing with dozens of countries signing up to plan their drought programme.

The Drought Initiative involves taking action on national drought preparedness plans, regional efforts to reduce drought vulnerability and risk, and a toolbox to boost the resilience of people and ecosystems to drought.

“As of right now we have 45 countries who have signed on to our drought programme,” UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary Dr. Pradeep Monga told IPS.

He said UNCCD is focusing more on a drought preparedness approach which looks at how to prepare policymakers, governments, local governments and communities to become more drought resilient.

UNCCD says that by being prepared and acting early, people and communities can develop resilience against drought and minimise its risks. UNCCD experts can help country Parties review or validate existing drought measures and prepare a national drought plan to put all the pieces together, identify gaps and ensure that necessary steps are taken as soon as the possibility of drought is signalled by meteorological services. It is envisaged that such a plan would be endorsed and eventual action triggered at the highest political level.

UNCCD Deputy Executive Secretary Dr. Pradeep Monga said UNCCD is focusing more on a drought preparedness approach which looks at how to prepare policymakers, governments, local governments and communities to become more drought resilient. Courtesy: Desmond Brown

“Drought is a natural phenomenon. It’s very difficult sometimes to predict or understand when it happens or how it happens. Yes, prediction has become better with the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) so we know in advance that this year there can be more drought than last year so we can prepare communities better,” Monga said.

He said the more resilient communities are, the better they can face the vagaries of climate change.

“They can also preserve their traditional practices or biodiversity, and most importantly, they can help in keeping the land productive,” Monga said.

“This is also important to migration – whether it’s migration of people from urban areas to borders and then to other countries and regions. We believe that addressing drought, preparing communities, governments, policymaker and experts better in drought becomes very relevant for addressing those issues which otherwise will have cascading effects.”

He spoke to IPS at the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation of the UNCCD (CRIC 17), which wrapped up in Georgetown, Guyana on Jan. 30.

Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency Joseph Harmon says Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean are faced with their own problems with drought.

He said that Guyana is looking at the utilisation of wells in the communities which have been hit the hardest.

Harmon said Guyana and the Federative Republic of Brazil have signed an agreement where the Brazilian army, working together with Guyana Water Incorporated, Civil Defence Commission and the Guyana Defence Force are drilling wells in at least eight major indigenous communities in the southern part of the Rupununi.

“That will now allow for them to have potable water all year round and that’s a major development for those communities,” Harmon told IPS.

“Here in Guyana we speak about the Green State Development Strategy and part of our promotion is that we speak about the good life for all Guyanese. So, when we are able to provide potable water to a community that never had it before, then to them, the good life is on its way to them.

“This is what we want to replicate in every part of this country where people can be assured that drought will never be a factor which they have to consider in planning their lives, in planting their crops, in managing the land which they have again,” Harmon added.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut said droughts are becoming more and more prevalent. For this reason, she said it is even more crucial for countries to prepare.

“We see them more and more, and if you look at all the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] IPCC reports, we know that they are going to become even more severe and more frequent. This is the reality we are faced with, whatever increase of temperature we get,” Barbut told IPS.

“We have been looking in NCCD at what we do on drought. Last year, I did propose a new initiative to the Parties because we noticed that only three countries in the world had a drought preparedness plan. Those three countries are the United States, Australia and Israel.”

Barbut said while preparedness planning will not stop drought, it will mitigate its effects if it is well planned.

“We launched an initiative last year and we’ve got the resources to help 70 countries with their planning. They are now in the process of doing that exercise and we hope that at the next Conference of the Parties in October, we will be able to report on those 70 countries and extend it to the rest of the world.”

According to the latest report from the IPCC, without a radical transformation of energy, transportation and agriculture systems, the world will hurtle past the 1.5 ° Celsius target of the Paris Climate Agreement by the middle of the century.

Failing to cap global warming near that threshold dramatically increases risks to human civilisation and the ecosystems that sustain life on Earth, according to the report.

To keep warming under 1.5 °C, countries will have to cut global CO2 emissions 45 percent below 2010 levels by 2030 and reach net zero by around 2050, the report found, re-affirming previous conclusions about the need to end fossil fuel burning. Short-lived climate pollutants, such as methane, will have to be significantly reduced as well.

More than 1.5 °C warming means nearly all of the planet’s coral reefs will die, droughts and heat waves will continue to intensify, and an additional 10 million people will face greater risks from rising sea level, including deadly storm surges and flooded coastal zones. Most at risk are millions of people in less developed parts of the world, the panel warned.

Hazel Halley-Burnett, head of Women Across Differences in Guyana (left); and Ruth Spencer, GEF Focal Point for Antigua and Barbuda, attended the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation (CRIC 17) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in the Guyana capital Georgetown. Hazel-Burnett and Spencer are two Caribbean champions for gender equality issues. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Jan 31 2019 (IPS)

In parts of the world where the gender gap is already wide, land degradation places women and girls at even greater risk.

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) framework for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), highlights that land degradation in developing countries impacts men and women differently, mainly due to unequal access to land, water, credit, extension services and technology.

It further asserts that gender inequality plays a significant role in land-degradation-related poverty hence the need to address persistent gender inequalities that fuel women’s poverty in LDN interventions.

Against this background, Dr. Douglas Slater, Assistant Secretary General Human and Social Development at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, said gender mainstreaming is very important in all aspects of sustainable development for the Caribbean.

“We know in agriculture, that on several occasions our women are very much involved in some of the work and we have to ensure that they continue to be so, but that the resources are placed at their disposal to get them to really be fully engaged,” Slater told IPS.

“I think that at the same time, because we are small countries, technology that is utilised in agriculture has to be looked at for us to be most efficient and we need to see how all genders can get involved.”

He noted that particularly with regards to the training of agricultural workers and the use of agricultural equipment, there was too much bias towards the male gender.

He added that more needs to be done to convince young people that agriculture can provide a good livelihood and women are capable and should be involved too.  Slater spoke to IPS at the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation (CRIC17) of the UNCCD in Georgetown, Guyana.

“When conducting training at our agricultural institutions, we should expect our women to be operating tractors, be managers of greenhouses. They have demonstrated they can do it, we have to encourage them to do more of it,” Slater said.

Globally, women comprise 43 percent of the agricultural labour force, rising to 70 percent in some countries, and UNCCD has cited the importance of taking gender roles into account when making policies and laws to promote land degradation neutrality.

In Africa, for instance, 80 percent of agricultural production comes from smallholder farmers, who are mostly rural women.

Despite their majority in the smallholder agricultural sector, women typically don’t have secure control over their farmland or over its productive resources, especially commercially marketable produce.

This lack of control is linked to land ownership rights in rural areas, which habitually favour men. Women’s access to the land, meanwhile, is mediated by their relationship to the male owner.

Climate change is a compounding factor in land degradation that increases uncertainty with regard to women’s production, accessibility and utilisation of food, as well as in relation to food systems stability.

Late last year, UNCCD organised a technical workshop on the Caribbean sub-regional LDN transformative project – Implementing Gender-Responsive and Climate Smart Land Management in the Caribbean.

The workshop, which was held in St. Lucia, sought to build and strengthen capacity on gender mainstreaming. It also addressed how to refine and finalise a project concept note with the involvement of all key stakeholders prior to seeking financial support from the Green Climate Fund.

A key focus of the project is to build synergies between the on-going activities to the LND initiative, and the workshop was designed to embed gender perspectives in the synergistic implementation of activities in the Caribbean.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut says women are the first to be affected by the main indirect causes of land degradation – population pressure, land tenure, poverty and lack of education

“If you look at all those, generally it’s the women who are the first target of all those things. It is absolutely abnormal. In many countries, women do not have any property rights,” Barbut told IPS.

“So how can you ask a woman who is managing land to manage it well, to think of the future when the land will never be hers? That’s a real question.”

As it relates to education, Barbut said women are usually less educated than men, adding that that is something that also has to be looked at.

She said UNCCD is highlighting all of these issues in its gender plan, while stressing the “for very positive action towards them.”

The UNCCD Executive Secretary also pointed to how LDN interventions can bring positive change to the lives and women and girls.

She cited a planned project in Burkina Faso to transform 3,000 of the country’s 5,000 villages into eco-villages, noting that this will provide solar ovens and also potable water.

“Just by doing that we are taking out six hours of work of women because it takes them about three hours per day to go get food to cook and three hours per day to go get water,” Barbut told IPS.

“We want to have those women get out of that so that they can go to agroforestry programmes which will on top of everything give them revenue. We will make sure that the revenue that they get will go mainly into education of the children and into health facilities for both children and women in particular.”

“So clearly, there is a direct link between the consequences of land degradation and the wellbeing of women in most countries. It’s not as severe in some countries but in every single country we see how things change when we empower women on the land management,” Barbut added.

The UNCCD says gender equality for rural women should include equal ownership rights to family land since security of tenure could be a catalyst for grassroots land management prioritising land degradation neutrality.

It adds that ensuring equality is also about decreasing the burdens of rural women and enabling them to access vital services and goods.

Land degradation and drought affect more than 169 countries today, with the severest impacts being felt in the poorest rural communities.

Previous estimates projected that by 2025, approximately 1.8 billion people – more than half of them women and children – would be adversely affected by land degradation and desertification. These estimates have already been significantly surpassed, with 2.6 billion affected today.

When St. Vincent was hit hard by flooding and landslides in recent years, it was blamed on climate change and deforestation. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Jan 30 2019 (IPS)

The United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) has debunked the notion that there is no funding available for countries to prevent, reduce or reverse land degradation.

UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut says there are millions of dollars available for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) projects that are based on sound scientific guidelines and human rights principles, as set out in the Convention’s Scientific Conceptual Framework for LDN.

The LDN concept represents a paradigm shift in land management policies and practices by providing a framework to counterbalance the expected loss of productive land with the recovery of degraded areas.

To date, more than 100 countries have embarked on national processes to set and implement voluntary LDN targets as part of their contribution to the third target under Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 15 (life on land).

“We have about 125 countries which have decided to set what we call their LDN targets. But we are difference from many other conventions. We have decided to also follow up on the implementation,” Barbut told IPS. She was speaking to IPS at the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation (CRIC17) of the UNCCD which opened in the Guyana capital on Monday, Jan. 28

“We have said targets are not enough. We would like now for the countries to go for what we call the transformative projects. This is where the funding discussion comes up because those transformative projects are usually large scale. We are not taking about pilot projects of 200,000 dollars here and there.”

The Executive Secretary said countries can rest assured that if they want to go into major projects, UNCCD will finance the pre-feasibility exercise.

She explained that “major projects” are which cost a minimum of 5 million dollars and can run into hundreds of millions of dollars. She pointed to China and India as examples where large scale transformative projects have been implemented.

“Nobody can say that the funding is not available. None of those transformative projects is yet at a stage that we are going for the funding outside,” Barbut said.

“I have been, prior to this position, the CEO of the GEF (Global Environmental Facility) which is the largest funding mechanism of the world; and I am going to tell you something which might surprise you. The lack of funding is never a problem. The problem is to get the right project. If you have a good project, I can tell you that the funding is always available.”

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Executive Secretary Monique Barbut says t says there are millions of dollars available for Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN) projects. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Barbut said UNCCD wants to help countries identify and build projects, as well as help them go for the funding at a later stage “to all those big international multilateral and bilateral institutions.”

“To give you an example, we are working with Burkina Faso in Africa. They have decided to transform 3,000 of the 5,000 villages that they have into what we call eco-villages. By doing that, they will restore two million hectares of degraded land and they will give jobs to almost one million people,” she said.

“This project is going to be between 150 million to 300 million dollars and I have no doubt that we will raise funds because it’s going to be done in a way that donors will accept.”

“Many developing countries say there is no funding, I am saying no. The project that you are presenting are not right or rightly presented to attract the donors. Our job is to help you to make them attractive enough,” Barbut added.

She cited the Gambia as another example where the necessary political will was demonstrated when the entire government, including the president, decided to go for a very large-scale project and put their full GEF allocation into it.

“It means, already, we have about 12 million dollars secured. Just by doing that, showing the world that they were willing to put their full allocation into that, we have already got IFAD, a big global multi-lateral financial institution which has said, we’re ready to add 45 million dollars,” Barbut explained.

“So, without even yet having the project being designed, we know that we have about 55 million dollars for that project that we are going to set up in the Gambia.”

Meanwhile, Dr. Richard Byron-Cox, action programme alignment and capacity building officer at UNCCD, also said that funding is available, but he said Caribbean countries have several problems.

The first of these problems, he said, is that in the Caribbean, most people are not trained to deal with the ramifications of applying for these funds.

“Sorry to say this, but some of these funds they have such a bureaucratic procedure and our people are not trained as to how you prepare projects and how you beat that bureaucracy,” he told IPS.

“The second problem is that we are not interested. We really don’t go out and look for it. In other words, it is there for the taking but we are not aggressive towards it.”

Additionally, the Guyanese national said that until recently, Caribbean countries always thought that their problem was only climate change and so their only focus was on climate change and getting money for it.

But Byron-Cox said there was yet another problem which Caribbean countries faced.

“A lot of those who give us money never really want to give us money for land. They would prefer to give you some money to build a hospital because when you build a hospital, everything comes from the donor abroad – the windows, the doors, the toilet and the engineers who build it. So, they give you 10 million dollars and the 10 million dollars goes back to them,” he explained.

“Outside of that, whenever anything breaks in the hospital or if you need new machinery you have to go back to them again. So, at the end of the day they gave you 10 million dollars but they end up getting 20 million dollars.”

Byron-Cox said because Caribbean countries know that donors are not usually willing to give money for land, they do not bother to ask.

He said the time has come for governments in the Caribbean to appoint an environmental overseer who covers the entirety of the environment in each country.

“One of the roles of this environmental czar would be to find the necessary resources. If we had a regional approach where the expertise is shared it might be easier to tackle this question,” Byron-Cox said.

“I have no doubt that the funding can be found. It is there and if we go searching for it, we can get it. It is there, we have to go out there and aggressively look for it.”

Members of Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN) Guyana chapter. CYEN is on a drive to empower youth to address big issues, like climate change, facing their generation. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Jan 30 2019 (IPS)

A group of youngsters in the Caribbean who promote environmental protection in the region is on a drive to empower other youth to address some of the big issues facing their generation.

National Coordinator of Caribbean Youth Environment Network (CYEN), Kiefer Jackson, says the organisation has been working to gather the youth perspective, build capacity at a grassroots level and fill the gaps that would have been missed by government initiatives or plans.

“The Ministry of Presidency’s Office of Climate Change has recognised the work being done by this chapter of CYEN and has asked us to join with them this year in facilitating their climate change awareness in schools around Guyana,” Jackson told IPS.

“We believe this partnership to be one step in the direction of ensuring that young people play an active role in climate action and ensure non-governmental organisation and government partnership for the betterment of our people.”

Jackson said CYEN Guyana has been offering young people experiential learning opportunities and internships overseas which help to build the country’s capacity for climate resilience.

As far as capacity is concerned, last year, CYEN was approved by YOUNGO, the Children and Youth constituency to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, to undertake a Conference of Youth in the countries where CYEN operates. CYEN’s website reflects a presence in Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Saint Lucia, among others.

Jackson added that the activity was used to assist in further building the current participatory environmental awareness programmes for young citizens of Guyana.

“We have also been engaging in a series of panel discussions, in an effort to inform and educate young people on the Sustainable Development Goals,” Jackson said.

“The last talk would have been on Goal 13 (Climate Action). Based on the feedback of these activities, we have recognised that young people in Guyana, have robust and innovative ideas and we have been working on creating a platform for them to showcase their ideas or projects that guarantee the strengthening resilience and adaptive capacity to climate change in Guyana.”

In addition to facilitating larger scale education and awareness, Jackson believes more attention should be given to ensuring adequate and appropriate infrastructure and housing that can withstand, as far as possible, the perils of climate change.

Guyana is plagued by poorly-maintained drainage and sea defence infrastructure.

The low coastal plain which houses the capital Georgetown, and where a large percentage of the population resides, is below sea level and at high risk of flooding. “With the effects of climate change becoming even more present through intensifying natural disasters, more should be done to prepare this region for what seems to be inevitable,” Jackson said.

“We can also ensure that there are early warning systems and more accurate forecasts – information that can be passed on to farmers through simple technology.”

In addition to being prone to flooding, Guyana is also affected by drought.

Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency of Guyana, says drought and flooding have proven to be a double-edged sword, especially for the country’s farmers.

“Some people might find it difficult to appreciate that in a country like Guyana, a part of the tropical rainforest, that you can still have portions of this land which have drought,” Harmon told IPS.

“But I can say to you that in the south Rupununi . . . we do have some portions of that land that for a part of the year they have drought, and at other times they have flooding.”

He said government has taken steps to address the problem of flooding with the implementation of projects by the Ministry of Agriculture.

“They are dealing with how to sustainably harvest water so that it can be utilised for farming and other domestic purposes,” Harmon said.

“In the period of drought, we are now looking at the question of utilisation of wells.”

In December 2017, the Guyana Government and the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil signed a technical cooperation agreement for the implementation of a project to reduce the impact of drought in the Upper Takatu-Upper Essequibo, Region 9 of Guyana.

Harmon said the agreement was established to mitigate the historical impact of droughts in the Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo region and its implementation has so far resulted in the drilling of eight wells that are now providing year-round potable water to the indigenous peoples in the south Rupununi.

In its quest to bridge the gap between climate change and climate awareness, Jackson said CEYN is hampered by limited availability of financial resources, particularly for long term projects that could ensure sustainability.

Additionally, she said quite often, urgent need for climate action is hampered by the effects not always being glaring to the public eye.

“So, the challenge is making climate seem real in the context of day to day life in the Caribbean,” Jackson said.

“Hurricane season is once a year. Sea level rise is slow and almost unnoticeable. We try to identify indicators which can catch people’s attention, and which are personal as well as immediate.”

Zainab Samo, along with her son and daughter, planting a lemon seedling on her farm in Oan village in Pakistan’s southern desert district of Tharparkar, to fight desert’s advance. New data shows that globally two billion hectares of land—roughly twice the size of China—have been degraded. Credit: Saleem Shaikh/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Jan 29 2019 (IPS)

New data show that globally two billion hectares of land—roughly twice the size of China—have been degraded. And of this amount, 500 million hectares are abandoned agricultural lands. 

The 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation (CRIC17) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) opened in the Guyana capital on Monday, Jan. 28, with the release of this staggering data in relation to land degradation and desertification.

“We know also that every year we destroy totally, 12 million hectares of land. So, clearly all those lands that we destroy we have a potential for restoration,” UNCCD Executive Secretary Monique Barbut told IPS. It’s for this reason that Barbut said that land degradation and desertification is “a subject of hope.”

Desertification is the process by which fertile land becomes desert, typically as a result of drought, deforestation, or inappropriate agriculture.

UNCCD says desertification is a silent, invisible crisis that is destabilising communities on a global scale, and more should be done to combat it, reverse land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought.

But unlike the finality that comes with the loss of biodiversity, Barbut said humans get second chances when it comes to land degradation and desertification.

“When you have lost a species, you have lost a species. Land does not work like that, and can be restored, everywhere, in every single country,” she told IPS.

“So, it’s not just a subject of depression like many other subjects on the environment. The more you restore land, the better a number of things to come.”

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) Executive Secretary Monique Barbut says new data show that globally, two billion hectares of land have been degraded. But unlike the finality that comes with the loss of biodiversity, Barbut said humans gets second chances when it comes to land degradation and desertification. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

She pointed to China’s Loess Plateau—the biggest programme of land restoration in the word that can be referred to as an example of what is possible.

“They restored in one go, 400 million hectares of land and transformed it into an agroforestry programme,” Barbut said.

“This programme has helped [uplift] out of poverty, 6.7 million people. Secondly, we have seen now that the rain patterns have changed. Where there was no rain before, rain is coming back, so there are many positive impacts of land restoration.”

The new data also show that there is a direct link between land restoration and the reduction in the number of people living in poverty in rural areas.

Barbut said the data show a 27 percent decline in the number of people in rural communities living in poverty.

“This is a positive signal,” she said, while noting that at the same time urban poverty is increasing.

“That’s something interesting to note, that instead of sending people to cities, you better restore the land, make sure they can live on the land.”

Barbut said the data show that the main human causes of land degradation are deforestation, overgrazing and improper soil management.

There are also other indirect human causes like population pressure, land tenure, bad governance and lack of education.

The Caribbean has its own example of desertification with one scientist telling IPS that Haiti is the Caribbean’s desert.

Dr. Richard Byron-Cox, action programme alignment and capacity building officer at UNCCD, said more than 100 years ago, Haiti had the best soils and was also the Caribbean’s leading producer sugarcane.

“As you know, Haiti is one of two countries on the island of Hispaniola. When you fly over Hispaniola, one part is green, and the other part is brown. Why? Because one has desertification, that’s Haiti,” Byron-Cox told IPS.

“That same country, 150 years ago, had the best soils in the entire Caribbean. Today it is a desert. Desertification has nothing to do with natural deserts. So, when you talk about combatting desertification, this does not include natural deserts, it’s good land becoming bad.”

In addition to deforestation, devastating floods and landslides have left bare many areas in Haiti which were once covered with forests.

In 2013, World Vision Australia carried out a scoping mission to examine the potential for natural regeneration of forests through Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR). This was inspired by the success of a similar programme in Ethiopia, developed under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM).

The CDM allows for reforestation projects to earn credits (Certified Emission Reductions or CER’s) for each tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent sequestered or absorbed by the forest.

Joseph Harmon, Minister of State in the Ministry of the Presidency in Guyana says when it comes to sustainable use of land and other resources, Guyana aspires to be a success story and example for fellow countries and parties. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Desertification was also on the mind of Guyana’s Minister of State Joseph Harmon, as he welcomed representatives from 135 countries to the capital for CRIC 17.

In his speech at the opening, he told a packed hall at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre that in its implementation of the UNCCD Guyana aspires to be a success story and example for fellow countries and parties.

“While Guyana’s context may not be seen as extreme to be considered ‘desertification,’ the impact of land degradation is being taken into consideration as we plan and strategise for the sustainable use of our land resources.”

He later told IPS that Guyana is deeply conscious land represents a link between people and the environment and that it connects economic, social, cultural and geographical spheres.

“Guyana is fully committed to the protection and conservation of its natural patrimony, including its land resources. Our record of environmental protection and conservation of land and its resources provides a global model for good practice,” Harmon told IPS.

“Guyana endorses and fully support UNCCD’s vision which is to support the development and implementation of national and regional policies, programmes and measures to prevent, control and reverse desertification and land degradation and mitigate the effects of drought.”

Guyana has finalised its Land Degradation Neutrality Target Setting Programme and its aligned national plan to combat land degradation.

Harmon said they have also operationalised the Sustainable Land Development and Management project, which seeks to establish an enabling environment for promoting sustainable and climate-resilient land development, management and reclamation in support of Guyana’s Green State trajectory.

The planet is losing 12 million hectares of prime land yearly due to degradation. This photo taken in 2013 records efforts to green portions of the Kubuqi Desert, the seventh largest in China. Credit: Manipadma Jena/IPS

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Jan 28 2019 (IPS)

The link between desertification, land degradation and climate change is among several issues occupying the attention of the 197 Parties to the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) for the next three days.

Guyana, a member-country of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), is hosting the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation of the UNCCD (CRIC 17) from Jan. 28 to 30. It’s the first meeting of a subsidiary body of UNCCD to be held in the English-speaking Caribbean.

Troy Torrington, director of multilateral and global affairs within the Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the meeting is an important one for the Caribbean as it will highlight the role of land in combatting the climate challenge.

“It is critical that we place greater emphasis on land if we are going to be successful in meeting the global climate challenge,” Torrington told IPS.

“In fact, land has several important contributions to the climate. One of the foremost of those is in terms of the sequestering of carbon. The sequestration of carbon enriches the land . . . and with good land use planning, management and practices, you can in fact significantly advance the solutions to the global climate challenge.”

Troy Torrington, director of multilateral and global affairs within the Guyana Ministry of Foreign Affairs, says in order to be successful in meeting the global climate challenge, greater emphasis must be placed on land. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

In 2009, Guyana made a deal with Norway, where the Nordic country agreed to pay up to 250 million dollars over the course of five years if Guyana maintained its low deforestation rate. It was the first time a developed country, conscious of its own carbon-dioxide emissions, had paid a developing country to keep its trees in the ground.

Under the initiative, developed by the United Nations and called REDD+ (for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation), Guyana was able continue logging as long as biodiversity is protected.

Melchiade Bukuru, chief at the UNCCD New York liaison office agrees with Torrington on the issue of sequestration, noting that carbon, which once belonged to and serves as a fertiliser in the soil, is a polluter in the air.

He said that in order to achieve Land Degradation Neutrality (LDN), some 500 million acres of degraded land must be reclaimed and made fertile once more.

“Unless we harness the capacity of our soil to sequester carbon, to bring back the carbon where it belongs, we will not be able to achieve even the UNFCCC goal of 2° C,” Bukuru said. UNFCCC or the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change is a global intergovernmental treaty formed to address climate change. The Conference of Parties (COP), the highest-decision making body of the Convention, meets annually to discuss progress and adopt new decision in combating climate change. 

At COP21 the Paris Agreement was formed, which committed to hold the increase in global average temperature to well below 2° C, to pursue efforts to limit the increase to 1.5° C, and to achieve net zero emissions in the second half of this century.

Bukuru said land degradation also remains a major challenge for countries, adding that each year, the planet is losing 12 million hectares of prime land due to degradation.

Meteorologist with the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) Dr. Andrea Sealy (right), says severe Sahara dust episodes significantly affect air quality especially in Eastern Caribbean countries. Sealy shakes hands with Melchiade Bukuru, chief at the UNCCD New York liaison office (left). Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Meanwhile, the issue of sand and dust storms will also come up for discussion. Dr. Andrea Sealy, a meteorologist with the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), said severe Sahara dust episodes significantly affect air quality, especially in Eastern Caribbean countries.

“If you have a lot of dust, it also compromises solar panels. Once the solar panels are covered with dust, the amount of radiation they absorb is decreased. So that’s another issue we would need to look at because in the region we are very dependent on solar energy and we will be becoming more dependent as well,” Sealy told IPS.

“There are also issues with the marine ecosystems with dust affecting them. It’s possible the dust could be affecting terrestrial ecosystems. I know for sure studies have been done on the Amazon where it shows to have a positive effect on the soil. In terms of the marine ecosystems though, there are negative effects because you get the algae blooms.”

With several countries experiencing periods of extreme drought in recent years, Guyana’s lands and surveys commissioner Trevor Benn said land and water are inextricably linked.

He pointed to neighbouring Barbados. Benn explained that the island nation is running out of water, but he added that some people fail to see the link between land use and water scarcity.

“I believe if Barbados begins to look more seriously at how they utilise the land, what type of cultivation [they do], what type of infrastructure they put where, you will see that the issues relating to water may subside,” Benn said.

“The importance of land cannot be overstated. It is the pinnacle of everything we do.”

According to the UNCCD, CRIC 17 will review the first global assessment of land degradation based on Earth observation data reported by governments. The assessment, which was conducted by reporting countries using a harmonised approach, shows the trends in land degradation between 2000 to 2015 based on data provided by 145 of the 197 countries that are party to the Convention.

The assessment is expected to provide a baseline for assessing progress in the reduction or reversal of land degradation globally, going forward. It will also contribute to country efforts to achieve LDN, which is Sustainable Development Goal target 15.3.

CRIC 17 will also conduct interactive dialogues on three related emerging issues – the gender action plan as a tool to improve the living conditions of the people affected by land degradation; new and innovative sources to finance initiatives to combat land degradation; and the progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target on land degradation neutrality, for which the Convention plays a lead role.

At the end of the session, CRIC 17 will propose recommendations that will be considered by its governing body, COP.

CRIC meets once in between the sessions of the COP to review country reports submitted in compliance with the COP decisions.

Rising sea levels have resulted in the relocation of houses and erection of this sea defence in Layou, a town in southwestern St. Vincent. Credit: Kenton X. Chance/IPS

By Desmond Brown
ST. GEORGE’S, Nov 28 2018 (IPS)

The Caribbean will not be left out of the negotiations at COP24 – the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – that will take place from Dec. 3 to 14 in Katowice, Poland.

The event will be attended by nearly 30,000 delegates from all over the world, including heads of governments and ministers responsible for the environment and climate issues.

Two of the region’s lead negotiators say the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) must be present, given that the plan for the COP24 summit to adopt a full package implementing the Paris Agreement.

“I agree with the saying that if you’re not at the table then you’re on the menu, and our priorities will suffer. We’ve got to be there to ensure that the special circumstances and unique vulnerabilities of small island states are protected. We need to be there for that,” Spencer Thomas, Grenada’s Special Envoy for Multilateral Environmental Agreements, told IPS.

“I think we need to be there to ensure that the resources are available to address the scourge of climate change, to build resilience in the Caribbean region. We need to be there to ensure that significant mitigation actions are taken in line with the 1.5 report. We need to be there to ensure that adaptation efforts are of the level to ensure that we have real activities on that line.”

The Paris Agreement is the first international agreement in history, which compels all countries in the world to take action on climate protection. The implementation package will allow for the implementation of the agreement in practice. It will thus set global climate and energy policy for the coming years.

Thomas pointed to recent devastating hurricanes and their impact on the region, saying the Caribbean must attend the COP to work towards resilience building, to make progress on; the issue of loss and damage, and the issue of technology development, especially since it relates to the changing energy sector.

“So, we need to be there to protect all of those gains that we have made so far and to consolidate our actions going forward in terms of climate action for the Caribbean,” he said.

“Resilience is key. Building resilience across the Caribbean or across all Small Island Developing States is a key issue we need to be working on at the COP.”

Thomas said the Paris Agreement is a framework agreement, setting out the platform for global action on climate change.

He said the Paris Agreement deals specifically with the framework for mitigation, but also has a framework for adaptation, a framework for loss and damage, a framework for gender, a framework for agriculture, one for transparency, and it also has a technology framework.

“In my view, what needs to be done now is for us to elaborate and to implement those frameworks and to create the rules and guidelines for those frameworks,” Thomas explains.

“So, in a sense, it is the platform for going forward. It changed the dynamics of the previous negotiations and it has centralised the issues, to the extent that all parties now, all countries have taken a commitment based on their own domestic situation to deal with the issue of climate change.”

Meanwhile, Leon Charles, Advisor in Grenada’s Ministry of Environment, said there are two outcomes that will result from the 2018 negotiations.

He said the first is the elaboration of the framework for implementation of the Paris Agreement.

“The last two years we spent elaborating on what are these day-to-day rules to implement the agreement. So, for example, in terms of the national contributions of countries, we’re negotiating how should these contributions be defined; what information should be presented so that we can actually measure that people have done what they said they are going to do. Then how do you report on what you said you’re going to do, how is it validated and so on,” Charles told IPS.

“There’s a system called the compliance system for example, how do we measure whether or not countries have delivered what they said they were going to deliver, and more importantly, what’s going to happen to those who have not met their targets. We’re supposed to come up with something that’s facilitative and should help them in future years to improve their targets.”

Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Patricia Espinosa says with the devastating impacts of climate change increasingly evident throughout the world, it’s crucial that parties achieve the primary goal of the COP24: finalising the Paris Agreement Work Programme.

This will not only unleash the full potential of the Paris Agreement, but send a signal of trust that nations are serious about addressing climate change, she said.

Like Thomas, Charles agrees that it is important that the Caribbean is represented at the COP24.

“If we want to be successful and get the 2018 outputs to reflect what’s important for us, we have to participate,” he said.

By Desmond Brown
GRENADA, Nov 24 2018 (IPS)

As the 24th Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change – is set to take place from December 3-14 in Katowice, Poland, the Caribbean insists on a seat at the table of negations.

Two of the region’s lead negotiators say the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) must be present. Pointing to recent devastating hurricanes and their impact on the region, they say the Caribbean must attend the COP to work towards resilience building, to make progress on the issue of loss and damage, and to make progress on the issue of technology development, especially for as it relates to the changing energy sector.

With the high demand for fish by the tourism sector, Barbados imports the majority of the fish consumed here. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
CONSETT BAY, Barbados, Oct 24 2018 (IPS)

Allan Bradshaw grew up close to the beach and always knew he wanted to become a fisherman. Now 43 years old, he has been living his childhood dream for 25 years.
But in recent years Bradshaw says he has noticed a dramatic decline in the number of flying fish around his hometown of Consett Bay, Barbados.

“Like in most other places the fishing stock has declined over the years, especially the flying fish,” Bradshaw tells IPS.

As is the case for all Caribbean islands, fishing and associated activities have been integral components of the economic fabric of Barbados for many years. And flying fish, which are common to most tropical seas, are found in the warm waters surrounding Barbados.

In a typical year, flying fish account for around 65 percent of the total fish catch, according to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.

Bradshaw says not all of the fish have gone but there is a definite change and this is negatively affecting the industry.

“The mahi-mahi or dolphin, somehow they have increased in numbers but not in size, in the sense that we have a lot more abundance but smaller ones. There is a lot more juvenile fish around,” Bradshaw says.

He argues that the government needs to step in to save the industry from further collapse.

Allan Bradshaw says he has noticed a dramatic decline in the number of flying fish around his hometown of Consett Bay, Barbados. Courtesy: Desmond Brown

Four years ago, there were just over 1,000 vessels registered and 2,200 fishers involved in harvesting with 6,600 people working in associated businesses – market vendors, processors, traders etc. – according to information provided by the FAO office in Barbados.

FAO reported that approximately 2,500 metric tonnes of fish were caught between 2013 and 2014, and noted that the catch appears to have been going down in recent years.

Flying fish catches have been shrinking due to the influx of Sargassum seaweed.

Barbados mainly exports high-value tuna (approximately 160 metric tonnes) and the exports have been marginal in comparison to the catches.

But with the high demand for fish by the tourism sector, Barbados imports the majority of the fish consumed here.

Since taking office in May this year, the new administration of Prime Minister Mia Mottley has heeded calls for Barbados to look beyond the island’s 166 square miles of land for sources of wealth. The suggestion is that the island needs to look beyond its traditional sugar and banana industries to the sea to develop an economy there.

Mottley has included a Ministry of Maritime Affairs and the Blue Economy (MABE) within her administration, a decision hailed by many. Some have recommended that this ministry should be replicated further afield in the Caribbean.

“FAO supports development of the Blue Economy in Barbados through providing assistance over the coming year for both the fisheries and aquaculture sectors,” Regional Project Coordinator at FAO Dr. Iris Monnereau tells IPS.

“This will be achieved through updating legislative frameworks, assessing the feasibility for utilisation of rest raw material from fish processing for direct human consumption, animal feed or fertiliser, training of 70 small-scale farmers in aquaponics, capacity building of fisherfolk and fisherfolk organisations, and providing assistance to implement sustainable value adding activities throughout fisheries value chains.”

Monnereau says Blue Economy development is considered key to the long-term sustainability of healthy coasts and oceans and is inextricably linked to the long-term management, social inclusive development and improved human well-being of coastal and island populations.

In this approach, oceans and coasts can be seen as “development spaces” whereby traditional uses (e.g. fisheries and aquaculture, transport, ship building, coastal tourism and use of offshore oil and gas) are combined with new emerging sectors (e.g. bioprospecting, marine renewable energy and offshore mining) while at the same time addressing the challenges the oceans and coasts are facing.

“For example: fisheries overexploitation, pollution of coastal waters, [Illegal], Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing, invasive species, habitat destruction, coastal erosion, and climate change impacts,” Monnereau says.

MABE was only developed after the elections, on May 24, and Monnereau says it is too early to measure changes.

However, she says that with this move, the government is clearly indicating they would like to develop the Blue Economy in Barbados.

Over the past few months, the government has been actively seeking partnerships with FAO and other international organisations and private partners to develop Blue Economy activities.

The move comes as Kenya is set to be co-host, along with Canada and Japan, the first global Sustainable Blue Economy Conference from Nov. 26 to 28. The high-level conference will bring together over 4,000 participants who support a global agenda to build a blue economy much in the way Barbados wants to.

Meanwhile, Minister of MABE Kirk Humphrey tells IPS he wants to see a greener and bluer Barbadian economy. This, he explains, will involve the island becoming the centre for seafaring across the Caribbean, an end to overfishing, and greater protection mechanisms put in place to guard the coral reefs.

He further expressed concern that Barbados presently imports 80 percent of the fish consumed locally, and that the sector is affected by overfishing.

He explains that the ministry was presently in the process of building out its strategy, and there was a desire to capitalise on the island’s sea space, which was 400 times greater than its land space.

In terms of the blue economy, Humphrey also stressed the need for a baseline study, so that Barbados could ascertain what is in its oceans and then assign a value to these assets so as to be able to measure the contribution to Gross Domestic Product.

In August Grenada expereinced heavy rainfall which resulted in “wide and extensive” flooding that once again highlighted the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to climate change. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
KINGSTON, Oct 5 2018 (IPS)

In the face of the many challenges posed by climate change, Panos Caribbean, a global network of institutes working to give a voice to poor and marginalised communities, says the Caribbean must raise its voice to demand and support the global temperature target of 1.5 °C.

Ahead of the United Nations climate summit in December, Yves Renard, interim coordinator of Panos Caribbean, said advocacy, diplomacy and commitments must be both firm and ambitious.

He said this is necessary to ensure that the transition to renewable energy and a sharp reduction in emissions are not only implemented but accelerated.

“This is a mission that should not be left only to climate change negotiators. Caribbean leaders and diplomats, the private sector and civil society must also be vocal on the international scene and at home,” Renard told IPS.

“The global response to climate change must not be reduced to a mechanical concept. It needs to be accompanied by a renewed approach to economic development and by a change in mentality, so that it is included in the broader context of people’s livelihoods, social values and development priorities.”

The Panos official said artists, civil society leaders and other actors in the Caribbean should emphasise the need to challenge the dominant approaches to development and to help shape new relationships between people, businesses, institutions and the natural world.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) said community-based and ecosystem-based approaches are critical to build resilience to climate change, especially in Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

“Investing in conserving, sustainably managing and restoring ecosystems,” CANARI states, “provides multiple benefits in terms of building ecological, economic and social resilience, as well as mitigation co-benefits through carbon sequestration by forests and mangroves.”

Renard said as evidenced all over the Caribbean in recent years, it is the poorest, marginalised and most vulnerable who are the most affected by climate change.

These include small farmers suffering from severe drought, households without insurance unable to recover from devastating hurricanes, and people living with disabilities unable to cope with the impacts of disasters.

“Climate change exacerbates inequalities, and adaptation measures must provide the necessary buffers and support to poor and vulnerable groups,” Renard told IPS.

“All sectorial, national and international legal and policy frameworks must recognise the benefits that can be gained from participation and partnerships, including the empowerment of communities, businesses, trade unions and civil society organisations to enable them to play a direct role in the identification and implementation of solutions, particularly in reference to adaptation.”

Yves Renard, interim coordinator of Panos Caribbean, says artists, civil society leaders and other actors in the Caribbean should emphasise the need to challenge the dominant approaches to development and to help shape new relationships between people, businesses, institutions and the natural world. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Additionally, he said the architecture and operations of climate finance institutions must be improved to facilitate direct access by national and regional actors; and to consider the financing of adaptation actions on the basis of full cost, especially in small countries where there is limited potential to secure co-financing.

He said that climate finance institutions also needed to facilitate civil society and private sector involvement in project design and execution; and, increase SIDS representation in the governance of financing institutions.

Renard said that in light of the critical importance of decentralised and community-based approaches to adaptation and resilience building, financing institutions and mechanisms should design and implement facilities that make technical assistance and financing available to local actors, as is being done, with significant success, by the Small Grants Programme of the Global Environment Facility.

He said that even in some of the poorest countries in the region, local actors have been taking the initiative in responding to the impacts of climate change.

“For the Caribbean, a regional coalition of civil society actors is necessary so as to build solidarity, and to share experiences and expertise on climate action in local contexts. These civil society networks must reinforce and build on actions taken by regional governments, and more international support is required for this work to be undertaken,” he said.

“Increased resources and capacities in communications and advocacy are required in order to disseminate the scientific evidence on climate change, to deepen understanding within the region on climate change and its impacts, and to push for more ambitious action on climate change at the global level.”

In addressing the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly debate, Grenada’s foreign affairs minister Peter David called on other Caribbean nations and SIDS to serve as “test cases” for nationwide implementation of climate-related technologies and advances.

David said the Caribbean also represents some of the most globally compelling business cases for sustainable renewable energy investment.

“Being climate smart goes beyond policies,” he said. “It goes beyond resilient housing, resilient infrastructure and resilient agriculture. It means that the region can also serve as a global beacon for renewable energy and energy efficiency.”

“We aim to not only be resilient, but with our region’s tremendous potential in hydro-electricity and geothermal energy, we could also be climate smart.”

Damage caused by Hurricane Irma in Road Town, on the British Virgin Island of Tortola. Caribbean leaders want larger countries to pick up the pace at which they are working to meet the climate change challenge and keep global warming from devastating whole countries. Courtesy: Russell Watkins/DFID

By Desmond Brown
SAN FRANCISCO and ST. JOHN’S, Sep 24 2018 (IPS)

Caribbean leaders want larger countries to pick up the pace at which they are working to meet the climate change challenge and keep global warming from devastating whole countries, including the most vulnerable ones like those in the Caribbean.

Diann Black-Layne, ambassador for Climate Change in Antigua and Barbuda’s ministry of agriculture, lands, housing and the environment, said that at present, most studies show that globally we are on track for a 3-degree Celsius temperature rise before the end of this century.

She pointed to extreme impacts already being experienced, such as greater storms, melting ice caps, increased overall temperatures, species fragmentation, increased invasive species and many other impacts.

“Currently, we need to be below 2 degrees Celsius, preferably at 1.5 degrees, to see a drastic improvement in climate,” Black-Layne told IPS.

“To put this in context, globally we are already 1 degree Celsius warmer than pre-industrial levels.”

Black-Layne added that governments must back words with action and step up to enhance their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by 2020 in line with the Paris Agreement and the ratchet up mechanism.

Although the contributions of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to greenhouse gases are negligible, every little action towards alleviating climate change counts.

“More importantly, a global agreement requires everyone to do their part, to build trust and encourage others to act,” Black-Layne said.

“SIDS can be some of the early movers to decarbonise our economies – that means growing an economy without growing emissions.”

At the recent Talanoa Dialogue held in September in San Francisco, newly-elected prime minister of Barbados Mia Mottley said while the Caribbean countries are not responsible for causing the greatest changes in the climate, they are the ones on the frontline. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Meanwhile, at the recent Talanoa Dialogue held this month in San Francisco, newly-elected prime minister of Barbados Mia Mottley said while the Caribbean countries are not responsible for causing the greatest changes in the climate, they are the ones on the frontline.

“Dominica was hit by [hurricanes] Irma and Maria, in fact devastated to the tune of 275 percent of its GDP last year. And that came on top of [tropical storm] Erica which devastated communities and led to loss of life,” said Mottley, whose Barbados Labour Party won all 30 seats in the May 24 election.

“This is our lived reality in the Caribbean. This is not an academic discussion. This is difficult for us. And therefore, when the discussions took place between whether it is 1.5 or 2 [° C ], others could wallow in the ease of an academic discussion. For us it will have implications for what communities can survive in the Caribbean, in the Pacific and different other parts of the world.”“This is our lived reality in the Caribbean. This is not an academic discussion. This is difficult for us. And therefore, when the discussions took place between whether it is 1.5 or 2 [° C ], others could wallow in the ease of an academic discussion. For us it will have implications for what communities can survive in the Caribbean, in the Pacific and different other parts of the world.” -- prime minister of Barbados Mia Mottley

In 2015, 196 parties came together under the Paris Agreement to transform their development trajectories and set the world on a course towards sustainable development, with an aim of limiting warming to 1.5 to 2° C above pre-industrial levels.

Through the Paris Agreement, parties also agreed to a long-term goal for adaptation – to increase the ability to adapt to the adverse impacts of climate change and foster climate resilience and low greenhouse gas emissions development, in a manner that did not threaten food production. Additionally, they agreed to work towards making finance flows consistent with a pathway towards low greenhouse gas emissions and climate-resilient development.

In June 2017, United States president Donald Trump ceased all implementation of the non-binding Paris accord.

That includes contributions to the United Nations Green Climate Fund (to help poorer countries to adapt to climate change and expand clean energy) and reporting on carbon data (though that is required in the U.S. by domestic regulations anyway).

But the U.S. remains part of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Forty years ago, Barbados commenced the use of solar water heaters through tax incentives.

Today, Mottley says, no one in the country thinks about building a house without a solar water heater.

“That simple example showed us how the change of behaviour of citizens can make a fundamental difference in the output. We aim by 2030 to be a fossil fuel-free environment but we can’t do it just so,” she said.

Explaining that Barbados has recently entered a staff-level agreement with the International Monetary Fund, she lamented that her new government inherited a situation where Barbados is the third-most indebted country in the world today.

“It means that our options for development and financing are seriously constrained but our reality to fight what is perhaps the gravest challenge of our time continues. We cannot borrow from the World Bank or other major entities because we’re told that our per capita income is too high,” Mottley said.

“But within 48 hours, like Dominica, we could lose 200 percent of our GDP. That is the very definition of vulnerability if ever there was one. And unless we change it we are going to see the obliteration or civilisations or we’re going to see problems morph into security and migration issues that the world does not want to deal with.”

The Essequibo River is the longest river in Guyana, and the largest river between the Orinoco and Amazon. As oil production in Guyana is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2020, experts say the increasing environmental risks of more oil wells require increasing capacity to understand and manage these risks. Courtesy: Conservation International Guyana.

By Desmond Brown
GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Sep 3 2018 (IPS)

Recent huge offshore oil discoveries are believed to have set Guyana– one of the poorest countries in South America–on a path to riches. But they have also highlighted the country’s development challenges and the potential impact of an oil boom.

Oil giant ExxonMobil has, over the last three years, drilled eight gushing discovery wells offshore with the potential to generate nearly USD20 billion in oil revenue annually by the end of the next decade.“These are the jeopardies and these are the perils that we have to prepare for. We should not take them for granted or believe that we are dealing with something that is so far removed from our consciousness or our reality that we don’t have to be prepared.” -- minister of natural resources Raphael Trotman

“For Guyana where the current oil sector is located offshore, the direct environmental risks are primarily associated with oil spills, but will also include emissions from the operations, and from seismic activities that can affect marine species,” Dr David Singh, executive director of Conservation International Guyana, told IPS.

“The environmental risk increases with the number of oil wells in any one area.”

Singh said increasing environmental risks require increasing capacity to understand and manage these risks.

From a regulatory standpoint, he said this means building the institutional capacity in step with the development of the industry.

“For civil society, the responsibility is ours to learn about the industry, to contribute to the creation of good policies and laws related to the industry, and to ensure the highest levels of accountability from the industry and from the state towards the environment,” he said.

“It also requires us to support companies and initiatives that are in the business of clean, renewable energy generation, and in supporting efforts to reduce our ecological footprint. Even as we focus on these efforts we are cognisant of the limited human and institutional capacity of the country which will have an impact on the design and application of good and responsible environmental and social safeguards.”

Several commentators have observed that senior government officials here have little experience regulating a big oil industry or negotiating with international companies.

But minister of natural resources Raphael Trotman said Guyana is prepared and has been building and strengthening its capacity to deal with the potential hazards that come with the development of an oil and gas sector.

He said no effort will be spared to ensure that Guyana puts a sound disaster risk reduction and management system in place so that it is prepared to prevent an oil spill or respond effectively should there be an accident in that regard.

“These are the jeopardies and these are the perils that we have to prepare for. We should not take them for granted or believe that we are dealing with something that is so far removed from our consciousness or our reality that we don’t have to be prepared,” Trotman told a national consultation on the drafting of the National Oil Spill Response Contingency Plan at the Civil Defence Commission’s.

“It has to be taken seriously and whilst the industry standards are very high, we do have a risk. We recognise that there is a risk. However, government is making every effort to prepare for that risk. We expect that in 24 months when we go to production in the first quarter of 2020, we will meet not only minimum standards expected, but we will go past that and dare to say to ourselves and particularly to the world that we are ready for any eventuality,” he said.

Meanwhile, Tyrone Hall, a PhD Candidate at York University, is urging those involved in civil society in Guyana, especially its environmental sector, to assess the exemplary efforts underway in Belize.

Hall, who has been studying the issue, notes Belize recently found itself at the centre of rare positive environmental news of global importance.

Its portion of the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef System, arguably the world’s longest living barrier reef and certainly this region’s most iconic marine asset, was removed from the World Heritage Sites’ endangered category after nearly a decade (mid-2009 to June 2018), according to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Centre.

The decision was taken after Belize ditched plans to rapidly expand its nascent oil industry.

“There are lesson we can draw from the Belizean experience for raising the bar and boldly re-imagining environmental responses in the face of a petro-economic reorientation,” Hall said.

“In other words, while oil exploration is unlikely to be halted in Guyana at this point, the environmental community, and broader civil society must not settle into vassal like, aid-recipient disposition.

“It should raise its expectations, and also challenge, contextualise and transcend the singularly economistic conventions being drawn from distance places,” Hall added.

ExxonMobil has made eight discoveries in Guyana’s waters to date.

Production is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2020 with an estimated 120,000 barrels per day. This should increase to 220,000 barrels per day by 2022.

“What the oil revenues will allow us to do is to fulfil these dreams of the Guyanese people and to ensure that the quality of life for every citizen dramatically improves over a period of a few short years,” Trotman said.

Grenada is still tallying the damage after heavy rainfall last week resulted in “wide and extensive” flooding. Courtesy: Desmond Brown

By Desmond Brown
ST GEORGE’S, Aug 8 2018 (IPS)

Grenada is still tallying the damage after heavy rainfall last week resulted in “wide and extensive” flooding that once again highlights the vulnerability of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to climate change.
Officials here say extreme weather events like in 2004 and 2005 are still fresh in the minds of residents. Rising sea levels are leading to an erosion of coastlines, while hurricanes and tropical storms regularly devastate crucial infrastructure.

For three hours, between 9 am and 12 noon on Aug. 1, a tropical wave interacting with the Inter-Tropical Convergence Zone, lingered over the island, dumping several inches of rain, which resulted in rapidly-rising flood waters."We had so much rain over such a short period, the whole system was inundated, and it speaks clearly to the effects of climate change.”-- senator Winston Garraway, minister of state in the ministry of climate resilience.

The Maurice Bishop International Airport Meteorological Office recorded six inches of rain over the three-hour period, and officials said the interior of the island received significantly more rainfall. No recording of the island’s interior was immediately available.

“The flooding was wide and extensive,” senator Winston Garraway, minister of state in the ministry of climate resilience, told IPS.
“St. David and St George [parishes] were badly impacted and we have decided that both areas will be disaster areas.”

In St. David, Garraway said there were 60 landslides, and these have impacted on the road network in the parish which is the country’s main agriculture zone.

A total of nine homes in both parishes have been badly affected and families had to be relocated, Garraway said, adding that disaster officials are looking at either demolishing and rebuilding or relocating homes.
“The national stadium took a bad beating from the flood waters and this is likely to impact on activities going forward in the immediate future,” Garraway said.

Damage to the ground floor of the stadium also led to the postponement of one of the main carnival events.

Garraway, who also has responsibility for the environment, forestry, fisheries and disaster management, said the weather event was another clear remainder that Grenada and other SIDS are among the countries most vulnerable to climate change.

“We have been one of the strong proponents of the impact of climate change, so we’ve been training our people as it relates to mitigation measures. But we had so much rain over such a short period, the whole system was inundated, and it speaks clearly to the effects of climate change,” he said.

“One might ask, was there any chance of us mitigating against some of these challenges that we have seen? In some sense, I think yes, in a large sense, no. The system could not have absorbed the amount of water we had that short time.”

The minister of communication, works and public utilities, Gregory Bowen, agrees with Garraway that events like these highlight the effects of climate change on SIDS.

Bowen said there is an urgent need for grant financing to help at the community level.

“A lot of the flood waters passed through private lands. The state is responsible for state properties, but for private people, the size of drains that would have to run through their properties, they can’t afford it,” Bowen told IPS.

“So that is one area that we have to work on, getting granting financing to help the people. Because the rains come, and it will find its own path and it’s usually through private lands. If you have good drains you could properly channel the run off.

“So that is one critical component that we have to move on immediately. Millions of dollars are needed to be spent on that,” Bowen added.
But he said the island simply cannot afford to cover these costs, noting that Grenada only recently concluded a three-year, International Monetary Fund supported Structural Adjustment Programme.

While the formal impact assessment is still being done by the ministry of works in collaboration with the ministry of finance, officials here have already reached out to regional partners for support.

Garraway said officials at the Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, have been in touch with local disaster management officials to ascertain the extent of the damage and the immediate assistance needed.

Meanwhile, epidemiologist in the ministry of health, Dr. Shawn Charles, has advised residents to stay away from the stagnant water resultant from the flooding. He warned that they may not only be contaminated with debris such as broken bottles and plastics, but pathogens that can cause life-threatening conditions.

“Flood water from the level of rainfall we received from that tropical wave is normally contaminated with all kinds of things and it’s not wise for anyone to expose themselves to it. There are all kinds of contaminants that can impact differently, so swimming, running and doing other things in that type of contaminated water should be avoided,” Charles told IPS.

“One of the life-threatening contaminants in flood water is droplets and urine from rats and that is the main transmitter for leptospirosis, and that disease can cause death. So, it’s not advisable for a person to just go about exposing themselves to flood water. It is just not wise; it can result in sickness. People need to be very cautious. Personal contact with flooded water should be avoided.”

By Desmond Brown
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Aug 7 2018 (IPS)

The Caribbean island nation of Saint Lucia is home to more than 2,000 native species — of which nearly 200 species occur nowhere else in the world. Though less than 616 square kilometres in area, the island is exceptionally rich in animals and plants.

Saint Lucia’s best-known species, the endangered Amazon parrot, is recognised by its bright green plumage, purple forehead and dusty red-tipped feathers.

But a major conservation organisation warns that climate change and a lack of care for the environment could have devastating consequences for Saint Lucia’s healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity.

Sean Southey chairs the Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

He told IPS that urgent action is needed to safeguard the eastern Caribbean island nation’s biodiversity, which is under constant threat.

Other species of conservation concern include the pencil cedar, staghorn coral and St. Lucia racer. The racer, confined to the nine-hectare island of Maria Major, is thought to be the world’s most threatened sake. Also at risk are mangrove forests and low-lying freshwater wetlands, Southey said.

But he said it was not too late to take action. He urged St. Lucia and its Caribbean neighbours to take advantage of their small size.

Grenada has rebounded after being destroyed by Category 4 hurricane Ivan in 2004 which destroyed 90 percent of homes. More than a decade later, the island’s prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell says adjusting to the new normal requires comprehensive and coordinated efforts to mainstream climate change considerations in development planning. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
ST GEORGE’S, Jul 23 2018 (IPS)

In 2004, when the Category 4 hurricane Ivan hit the tiny island nation of Grenada and its 151 mph winds stalled overhead for 15 hours–it devastated the country. But not before pummelling Barbados and other islands, killing at least 15 people.

And again last year, the destruction left behind in several Caribbean islands by Hurricanes Irma and Maria once again highlighted the vulnerability of these island countries.

It has also emphasised the need for a strong natural resource base to protect and make communities and ecosystems more resilient to the impacts of climate change, which are expected to become even more severe in the future.“We have seen first-hand how poverty and social weaknesses magnify natural disasters. This need not be the case.” -- Grenada’s prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell

“Building the region’s resilience to climate change, natural hazards and environmental changes is not only a necessary and urgent development imperative, but it is also a fundamental requirement to ensure our basic survival as a people,” Grenada’s prime minister Dr. Keith Mitchell told IPS.

“We have no choice as a region but to pursue climate-smart development, as we forge ahead to build a climate-resilient Caribbean.”

Grenada is among 10 Caribbean countries getting help from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) to address water, land and biodiversity resource management as well as climate change.

Under the five-year Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (GEF-IWEco Project), countries are implementing national sub-projects at specific sites in order to enhance livelihood opportunities and socio-economic co-benefits for targeted communities from improved ecosystem services functioning.

Project sites include the upper reaches of the Soufriere Watershed in Saint Lucia, the Cedar Grove and Cooks Watershed areas and McKinnons Pond in Antigua, and the Negril Morass in Jamaica.

“Adjusting to the new normal requires comprehensive and coordinated efforts to mainstream climate change considerations in development planning,” Mitchell said.

“In practice, this will require a shift in focus, from sustainable development to climate-smart sustainable development.”

In addition to Grenada―Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago ―are also participating in the project, which also aims to strengthen policy, legislative and institutional reforms and capacity building.

Half of the 10 countries ― Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and; St. Vincent & the Grenadines ― belong to the sub-regional grouping, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS). Their participation in the project is being funded by the GEF to the tune of USD20 million.

IWEco is being co-implemented by United Nations Environment and the U.N. Development Programme and co-executed by U.N. Environment’s Caribbean Regional Coordinating Unit (U.N. Environment CAR RCU), which is the Secretariat to the Convention for the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region (the Cartagena Convention).

All OECS countries are signatories to the Cartagena Convention, a comprehensive, umbrella agreement for the protection and development of the marine environment.

Fresh and coastal water resources management, sustainable land management and sustainable forest management are all challenges to Caribbean SIDS, and more so as the region’s economies face numerous demands and, inevitably, another hurricane season.

Addressing these challenges while improving social and ecological resilience to the impacts of climate change are objectives of the IWEco Project.

Stating that storms and hurricanes do not have to result in catastrophic disasters, Mitchell said in too many instances in the region this has been the case because of the prevailing susceptibilities of communities.

“We have seen first-hand how poverty and social weaknesses magnify natural disasters. This need not be the case,” he said.

“We must redouble our efforts to improve the conditions for the most vulnerable in our societies so that they are empowered and supported to manage disasters and climate risks.”

Grenada, along with all participating countries, will benefit from regional project activities aimed at strengthening policy, legislative and institutional frameworks, strengthening monitoring and evaluation, and public awareness.

At a recent meeting in Montserrat, the regional coordinator of the Cartagena Convention, Dr. Lorna Inniss noted that since the particularly destructive hurricane season of 2017, perhaps even as a consequence of it, the trend in the region towards consolidating several related areas of responsibility into single ministries seems to have grown.

Grenada, for instance, now has the combined ministry of climate resilience, the environment, forestry, fisheries, disaster management and information. Dominica now has the ministry of environment, climate resilience, disaster management and urban renewal.

The most recent projections in climate research all anticipate a significant increase in the frequency and/or intensity of extreme weather events, as well as slow onset climate-related changes, such as sea-level rise, less rainfall and increased sea surface temperatures.

These impacts can disrupt Grenada’s economy and critical economic sectors like agriculture and tourism and damage critical infrastructure and personal property.

The findings of a regional study concluded that climate change has the potential to increase the overall cost to local economies by one to three percent of GDP by 2030 in the Caribbean. It also alters the risk profile of the islands by impacting local sea levels, hurricane intensity, precipitation patterns and temperature patterns.

According to the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF), in absolute terms, expected losses may triple between 2010 and 2030. Climate change adaptation is therefore critical for the economic stability of the tri-island state.

“Charting a course to 2030 is even more an urgent requirement as the impacts of climate change are increasingly affecting CCRIF’s Caribbean and Central American member countries,” CCRIF CEO, Isaac Anthony said.

Climate change and a lack of care for the environment could have devastating consequences for Saint Lucia’s healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Jul 9 2018 (IPS)

Wildlife conservationists consider it to be one of the most striking parrots of its kind. Saint Lucia’s best-known species, the endangered Amazon parrot, is recognised by its bright green plumage, purple forehead and dusty red-tipped feathers. But a major conservation organisation is warning that climate change and a lack of care for the environment could have devastating consequences for Saint Lucia’s healthy ecosystems and rich biodiversity, including the parrot.

Sean Southey chairs the Commission on Education and Communication (CEC) of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

He told IPS that urgent action is needed to safeguard the eastern Caribbean island nation’s biodiversity, which is under constant threat.

“With climate change, countries like St. Lucia [experience] significant weather events. The increase in hurricanes, the increase in bad weather and mudslides – these are incredible consequences of climate change,” Southey said.“As you drive across the landscape of St. Lucia, you see a landscape strewn with old plastic bags," Sean Southey, chair of the Commission on Education and Communication.

Though less than 616 square kilometres in area, St. Lucia is exceptionally rich in animals and plants. The island is home to more than 2,000 native species, of which nearly 200 species occur nowhere else.

Other species of conservation concern include the pencil cedar, staghorn coral and St. Lucia racer. The racer, confined to the nine-hectare island of Maria Major, is thought to be the world’s most threatened sake.

Also at risk are mangrove forests and low-lying freshwater wetlands, Southey said.

But he said it was not too late to take action, and he urged St. Lucia and its Caribbean neighbours to take advantage of their small size.

“The smallness of islands allows for real society to get involved. What it means is helping people connect to the environment,” Southey said.

“It means that they need to know and feel and appreciate that their individual behaviours make a difference. Especially the biodiversity decisions [like] land use planning. If you are going to sell your family farm, do you sell for another commercial tourist resort, do you sell it to make a golf course or do you sell it to [produce] organic bananas? These are the type of individual decisions that people have to make that protect an island or hurt an island,” he said.

Southey added that thoughtful management of mangroves and effective management of shorelines, “can create natural mechanisms that allow you to cushion and protect society from the effects of climate change.”

St. Lucia is exceptionally rich in animals and plants. The island is home to more than 2,000 native species, of which nearly 200 species occur nowhere else. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

The CEC chair said recent extreme weather events have forced people in the Caribbean to understand climate change more than inhabitants from other countries in the world do.

“If you’re over the age of 30 in the Caribbean, you’ve seen a change in weather patterns. It’s not a story that you hear on the news, it’s a reality that you feel during hurricane season every year. So I believe there is an understanding,” he said.

In September 2017, Hurricane Irma tore through many of St. Lucia’s neighbouring islands, including Barbuda.

The category five hurricane wreaked havoc on Barbuda’s world-famous frigate bird colony. Most of the 10,000-frigate bird population disappeared in the immediate aftermath of the hurricane that destroyed the mangroves in which they nest and breed.

While many countries in the Caribbean are working on building natural barriers and nature-based solutions in response to climate change, Southey still believes there needs to be a greater strengthening of that sense that people can actually do something to contribute.

Reducing plastic waste

In June 2016, Antigua took the lead in the Caribbean with a ban on the commercial use of plastic bags.

The island’s environment and health minister Molwyn Joseph said the decision was made in a bid to reduce the volume of plastic bags that end up in the watercourses and wetlands.

“We are giving our mangroves a fighting chance to be a source of healthy marine life, that can only benefit us as a people,” he said.

Antigua also became the first country within the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States and the second within the Caribbean Community, to ratify the Nagoya Protocol to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

The Nagoya Protocol provides a transparent legal framework for the effective implementation of one of the three objectives of the CBD: the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilisation of genetic resources.

On Jul. 3 this year, one of the Caribbean’s largest supermarket chains launched a campaign to discourage the use of single use plastic bags for bagging groceries at its checkout counters, while actively encouraging customers to shop with reusable bags as a more eco-friendly option.

Managing director of Massy Stores St. Lucia Martin Dorville said the company is focused on finding more permanent solutions to reducing plastic waste and its own demand for plastic bags.

He said the decision to encourage customers to use less plastic was bold, courageous and will help manage the adverse impacts of single use plastic on the environment.

“I am very thrilled that one of the number one supermarkets has decided to ban all plastic bags. It’s a small behaviour but it helps everyone realise that their individual actions make a difference,” Southey told IPS.

“As you drive across the landscape of St. Lucia, you see a landscape strewn with old plastic bags, so I was very appreciative of that. But what I really liked is that when I spent over USD100, they gave me a recyclable bag as a bonus to encourage me to use that as an individual so that my behaviour can make a difference,” he said.

He added that if school children could understand the importance of mangroves and complex eco-systems and the need to protect forests, wildlife and endangered birds “then I think we can make a huge difference.”