Dr. David Smith, coordinator of the Institute for Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies (UWI), believes the Caribbean and other small states should look into payments for ecosystem services. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Peter Richards
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Apr 7 2014 (IPS)

Most Caribbean countries are famous for their sun, sand and warm sea breezes. Far fewer are known for their wide use of solar, wind and other forms of renewable energy.

It is one of the failings of the region, which is characterised by high external debt, soaring energy costs, inequality, poverty and a lack of human capital."Rather than have us just looking inside our own borders for solutions, we can look at other people’s solutions - or indeed other people’s mistakes." -- Dr. David Smith

The 53-member Commonwealth grouping is now trying to fill this knowledge gap with a new green growth analysis that circulated at last week’s third Biennial Conference on Small States in St. Lucia, although the formal launch is not until May.

Titled “Transitioning to a Green Economy-Political Economy of Approaches in Small States,” the 216-page document provides an in-depth study of eight countries and their efforts at building green economies.

Dr. David Smith, one of the authors, notes that none of the eight, which include three from the Caribbean – Grenada, Guyana and Jamaica – has managed on its own to solve the problem of balancing green growth with economic development.

The other case studies are Botswana, Mauritius, Nauru, Samoa and the Seychelles.

“What is useful about this book is that rather than have us just looking inside our own borders for solutions, we can look at other people’s solutions – or indeed other people’s mistakes – and learn from those and try to tailor those to our own situations,” said Smith, the coordinator of the Institute for Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies (UWI).

Smith said that all the countries studied revealed that high dependence on imported energy and its associated costs are major factors constraining growth of any kind. Progress in greening the energy sector would have the great advantage of benefitting other sectors throughout the economy.

“Within our constraints we have to try and change that. We have to try and make sure we are much more energy sufficient and our diversity in terms of our sources of energy is increased,” he said.

St. Kitts residents welcome solar streetlights in areas they say have been dark and prone to crime. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Grenada’s Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell wants his country to become a “centre of excellence” for a clean and green economy that will result in the dismantling of an electricity monopoly with a high fossil-fuel import bill.

He said that despite help under the Venezuela-led PetroCaribe initiative – an oil alliance of many Caribbean states with Caracas to purchase oil on conditions of preferential payment – Grenada has one of the highest electricity rates in the region.

“We are now engaging with partners on solar, wind and geothermal energy to make Grenada an exemplar for a sustainable planet,” he told IPS.

Mitchell believes that the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) conference in Samoa this September must advance small states’ quest for energy that is accessible, affordable and sustainable.

“The threat of climate change is real and poses a clear and present danger to the survival of SIDS. We call on the international community to release long-promised resources to help small states like Grenada move more rapidly on our disaster risk mitigation and reduction efforts,” he added.

Last month, the University of Guyana announced that it was teaming up with Anton de Kom University of Suriname (AdeKUS) and the Beligium-based Catholic University of Leuven to be part of an 840,000-dollar programme geared at capacity-building in applied renewable energy technologies.

The overall objective is to improve the capacity of the Universities of Guyana and Suriname to deliver programmes and courses with the different technologies associated with applied renewable energy.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Robert Persaud says that one of the biggest needs for the local manufacturing sector is the availability of cheap energy.

“For us, it is an economic imperative that we develop not only clean energy, but affordable energy as well, and we are lucky that we possess the resources that we can have both,” he told IPS. “The low-hanging fruit in this regard is hydro.”

When he presented the country’s multi-billion-dollar budget to Parliament at the end of March, Guyana’s Finance Minister Dr. Ashni Singh said that with the intensification of the adverse impacts of climate change, the government would continue to forge ahead with “our innovative climate resilient and low carbon approach to economic development backed by our unwavering commitment to good forest governance and stewardship”.

Guyana has so far earned 115 million dollars from Norway within the framework of its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS). Singh said that this year, 90.6 million dollars have been allocated for continued implementation of the Guyana REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) + Investment Fund (GRIF).

“Guyana is on track to have the world’s first fully operational REDD+ mechanism in place by 2015. This will enable Guyana to earn considerably more from the sale of REDD+ credits than we do today,” he told legislators.

But the case studies showed that locating suitable and adequate financing for greening was a major constraint, even in those countries that had allocated government resources to green activities.

The study on Jamaica for example, noted that the country is still dependent on natural resource-based export industries and on imported energy, with debt servicing equalling more than 140 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). It said all these factors also contributed to constraining implementation of new policies.

With regard to financing, Smith argues that it wouldn’t be a bad idea for the World Bank to consider allowing countries to access concessional financing up and until their human development index hits 0.8.

“We want to look at renewable energy and lower cost energy. We want to make sure that the human and environmental capitals that we have within our countries are maintained,” he said.

Smith said the countries could look at the payment for ecosystem services, charging realistic rents for the use of their beaches and looking at ways debt can be used creatively.

He believes that the repayment should “not always [be] to reduce the stock of debt but at least to use the payments for something that will build either human capital or financial capital…that can be used for real growth and development.”

Seychelles Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adams (centre), flanked by Commonwealth Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma (left) and another Commonwealth official. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Peter Richards
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Mar 31 2014 (IPS)

As they fine-tune preparations for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Conference in Samoa and the United Nations post-2015 development framework meeting in September, Commonwealth states are focusing on getting the international community to pay more attention to the challenges they face.

“One of the key reasons that climate change is actually a substantial topic in terms of the international arena is because of the advocacy of island states,” Seychelles Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adams told IPS at the 53-member Commonwealth‘s third Biennial Conference on Small States last week."We are vulnerable, but we are not weak." -- Seychelles Foreign Minister Jean Paul Adams

“I think we are vulnerable, but we are not weak. We’ve got a lot to offer, we have a lot of strengths and we must use those strengths,” he said.

The two-day meeting targeted five key areas of concern for small states, including redirecting funding for climate change initiatives.

“Exposure to environmental shocks, together with the deeply integrated nature of small states’ economies, social wellbeing and the natural resource base, make environmental management an important element of resilience building in these countries,” the Commonwealth said in an outcome statement.

It said the meeting shared ideas on environmental governance indicators for resilience-building and reviewed approaches to ocean governance to maximise the benefits accruing to small states from their extensive marine areas.

St. Lucia’s Foreign Minister Alva Baptiste said it was impossible to speak about development “if we do not consider sustainability and protecting our patrimony for succeeding generations.

“Less than 20 years ago, some of the most powerful nations on the planet were trying to dodge the warnings about climate change because they felt it was a problem of poor countries, but today as the devastation of climate change continues its decimating march across Europe, North America and other parts of the globe, the inescapable reality seems to be finally hitting home,” he said.

“So America has acknowledged that colder winters are not climatic accidents. Russia has accepted its warmer winter as a phenomenon of climate change, and Europe has recognised its wetter rains as climate change in action,” he said.

“There must be a recognition, especially among the richer nations, that regardless of our GDP (gross domestic product) status, we are resource-poor and in need of financial resources to undertake resilience-building work,” he said.

Delegates also highlighted the need for ocean forecasting to predict impacts from climate change; action on land-based sources of pollution; and efforts to strengthen oceans and seas issues in the Third International Conference on SIDS process (SIDS 2014).

Secretary General Kamalesh Sharma said the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat has the capacity to represent small island states within the international community on their concerns.

“The Commonwealth is the preferred interlocutor for the group of 20 working group on development and they look forward to all the input that we can bring from the outer world,” he told IPS.

“We say very often that 90 percent of the world’s GDP is on the table of the G20, but 90 percent of the world’s countries are outside [that bloc of large economies]. So who is going to make available the dilemmas and the anxieties and the expectations of the outside world? The Commonwealth does it in a variety of ways.”

Sharma said the grouping is in the process of developing a financial instrument that would stem the economic “free-fall” of any economy should it suffer from the downsides of global development.

“The instruments that we are developing now…are both on the concept of resilience as well as the practical tool kit for various types of counter cyclical loans; which means that once an external shock is experienced, your financial obligations get naturally and immediately readjusted’, Sharma said, hinting at a debt swap for climate change, “a practical suggestion now being considered by the international community at large”.

Adams said that small island states are among the first to feel the impact of climate change “whether it be through extreme weather events or sea level rise or other issues that affect basically how we are able to create wealth that can be shared amongst our people.

“We don’t have huge natural resources that we can suddenly start exploiting. We don’t have huge populations to get economies of scale so we have to look at the things that we are able to offer…and create a framework which is more conducive for those issues,” he told IPS.

Recalling the devastation caused by heavy rains to his island, Dominica and St. Vincent and the Grenadines over the Christmas holidays, St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony said the question remains how much longer small states will have to lobby for an internationally accepted differentiated approach to aid for small states.

“You can turn to Grenada with Hurricane Ivan in September of 2004, where damages were well over a billion U.S. dollars, or nearly 200 percent of GDP,” he said. “You can go through nearly all the islands of the Caribbean and you would see the impact of such extreme weather events.”

The problems confronting the region are not limited to extreme weather events, he noted. Last week, the regional countries participated in a simulation for a tsunami.

“We have seen the earthquake destruction of Haiti in the year 2010 and the volcanic disaster of Montserrat. We have been warned to expect a ‘big one’, an earthquake of immense destructive power,” he added. “In response to these calamities, the pledges are often many; the delivery of the promises, not so many.”

He said the realities of climate change must catapult small states to be leaders in climate change adaptation, “because we exist largely as coastal populations threatened by sea-level rise, the bleaching of coral reefs and the desertification of some territories.”

“The economic and environmental imperative is that we commit more forcefully to renewable energy and energy efficiency,” Anthony said.

A man stands outside the ruins of a house in Buccament Bay, on St. Vincent’s southwestern coast, Dec. 26, 2013. Nine people were killed by Christmas flooding in St. Vincent and the damages estimated at millions of dollars. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Peter Richards
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Mar 13 2014 (IPS)

Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, says the promises of money by the “biggest polluters in the world” for small island developing states (SIDS) like his to adapt to climate change are a mostly a “mirage”.

But as chair of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) grouping, Gonsalves will be playing a lead role in getting the region to coordinate a united front on climate finance."The big polluters, they make commitments of all sorts of monies but it is a mirage and the closer you get to it you realise it is not there, it recedes." -- CARICOM Chair Ralph Gonsalves

“We agreed on the establishment of a task force on climate change and small island developing states to provide guidance to Caribbean climate change negotiators, their ministers and political leaders in order to ensure the strategic positioning of the region in the negotiations,” he told IPS following the CARICOM summit that ended here on Tuesday.

Gonsalves said the region is now preparing for two important meetings in September – the U.N. Climate Change Summit and the Third U.N. SIDS International Meeting in Samoa.

Guyanese President Donald Ramotar, who made a presentation at CARICOM’s closed-door summit, told IPS that it was important for the leaders themselves to get involved in the negotiations “and to make our voices heard on this matter, because as you know we have been the least contributors to climate change, but we are among the first to feel the big effects.”

Ramotar said the tragedy that occurred when a slow moving low-level trough hit St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Dominica and St. Lucia on Christmas Eve last year, killing more than a dozen people and leaving damages estimated at more than 100 million dollars, “is just the latest reminder how vulnerable our region is”.

The task force must now “find areas where CARICOM can agree on”, he said.

“This is a critical decision by heads [of state] at a time when efforts are underway through the U.N. to have a global climate change agreement by the end of 2015,” he said.

“We need to ensure that as a region, our voices are being heard on this important issue, and not only from our technical people, but from the collective political leadership in the region,” Ramotar said, stressing the need for a globally binding agreement.

“We have to ensure that we push for a climate change agreement by 2015 which is ambitious in terms of emission reduction targets and providing climate financing,” he added.

The communiqué that followed the summit here “lamented the fact that much of the promised resources had not been forthcoming but emphasised the need for the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) to work with member states in order to have projects prepared to access financing when it did become available.”

Guyana, for example, has been playing a lead role with regards to climate change, and priority projects on adaptation are outlined within its Low Carbon Development Strategy (LCDS), which seeks to address the effects of climate change while simultaneously encouraging economic development.

Gonsalves told IPS that on the question of adaptation, there is a whole menu of initiatives which have been established through discussions, technical reports and the like. What is needed most now is the money to pay for them.

“It is a lot a lot of money that is required so that is why…we have to work in a coordinated manner at the relevant international fora to see whether we could identify those areas where the money is more easily available for us to touch,” he told IPS.

“You get governments, the big polluters, they make commitments of all sorts of monies but it is a mirage and the closer you get to it you realise it is not there, it recedes.

“That’s the real difficulty with this and this is why we have to work better, harder on this because this is an exegetical issue it affects the very existence of our countries,” Gonsalves said.

Executive director of the CCCCC Dr. Kenrick Leslie says that waiting will only make solutions more costly.

“Climate change is here, you saw in terms of the frequency of extreme weather events, those are some of the indicators that the climate is changing. But more importantly, people don’t realise that the sea level is rising at this time, at a rate of five millimetres per year.

“They might say five millimetres, what is that? But in 10 years, five millimetrtes will become 50 millimetres, and in terms of the English system that’s two inches, in 30 years that is six inches, now consider the sea level rising a further six inches in Guyana or Suriname or Belize,” Leslie said.

“We need to have our political leaders become very knowledgeable of what is being negotiated…technical people can negotiate at the technical level but the final decisions are made at the political level, and therefore if our political leaders are not cognisant with what is going on, then we will fail in terms of getting what is needed for the adaptation that we have to make,” he told IPS.

Climate-proofing the tiny island of Petite Martinique includes a sea revetment 140 metres long to protect critical coastal infrastructure from erosion. Credit: Tecla Fontenad/IPS

By Peter Richards
SANCHEZ, Petite Martinique, Feb 5 2014 (IPS)

Sanchez is a small central business district in Petite Martinique, the tiny island that forms part of the tri-nation state of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique.

Petite Martinique’s 586 acres are dominated by communal, recreational, artisanal and industrial land in close proximity to each other, and in some cases sharing the same space. The local population of about 900 people use the beachfront land on Sanchez for boat-building, sports, recreation and other outdoor activities."The coastal assets are being degraded at a rate that is clearly visible without measurements using scientific tools." -- Bentley Browne

But over the last two decades, the area has experienced extensive erosion. Authorities say that at least 30 metres have been lost over a 15- to 20-year period – a rate equal to 1.5 to 2.0 metres per year – causing severe destruction to the only level piece of land on the island.

The rocky coast located at the north of the beach shifts to a small coral reef, but it’s not enough to protect all of the shoreline from swells and currents. Incoming waves from the Atlantic Ocean regularly pound the shoreline at Sanchez. As a result, any sand moving along the near shore is automatically swept away and lost from the littoral system.

“Our vulnerabilities to natural disasters are tremendous and while we cannot prevent disasters, we can focus on mitigating and building resilience against impacts,” the minister for Carriacou and Petite Martinique affairs, Elvin Nimrod, told IPS.

The erosion has exposed the soft ash-cinder layers, which are light grey to light brown in colour. Authorities worry that if the erosion is allowed to continue, the roadway leading from the end of the recreational field will be undermined and eventually collapse.

At the northernmost section of this eroded area, the headland has been protected by a retaining wall. However, sections of this wall have failed, and although it was recently rebuilt, even parts of that newer wall are also now failing. In addition, the armour stones that have been used to protect this wall are much too small to withstand storm waves, and this has likely contributed to the failure of this structure.

But Sanchez is finally getting help to deal with the problem. It is the first completed climate change intervention under the 10.5-million-dollar Reducing the Risks to Human and Natural Assets Resulting from Climate Change (RRACC) Project being funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and administered by the St. Lucia-based Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat.

In 2012, Grenada requested support from the secretariat in addressing issues of coastal erosion and reduce compounding impacts from climate change.

The initiative for Carriacou and Petite Martinique was three-fold, outlining a comprehensive approach to address the issues with support from the RRACC.

The coastal restoration works in Sanchez were the first of 11 examples of climate change adaptation interventions to be undertaken under the RRACC Project that will help the nine-member OECS grouping build resilience to climate change and reduce vulnerabilities to its impacts.

The project here included the reclamation of land lost to the sea, as well as the placement of one sea revetment 140 metres long to halt the ongoing erosion of the playing field area and protect critical coastal infrastructure and the armouring of the headland to the north with the construction of a revetment to withstand storm surges and strong wave action.

The director of social and sustainable development at the OECS Secretariat, Bentley Browne, told IPS that these frequent bombardments of the coastlines have resulted in significant loss of fertile land and coastal forestation, including mangroves.

“Today, the coastal assets are being degraded at a rate that is clearly visible without measurements using scientific tools, and it was recognised that this growing problem requires immediate and appropriate mitigation response measures to reduce the vulnerability of these islands to the impacts of climate change,” he said.

Browne said small island developing states (SIDS) like those in the OECS can do little to stop or reverse climate change, and thus “must do all in our power to cope with its consequences”.

“The impacts on small islands have been explored by many scientists and in general, it is expected that sea level rise will lead to greater coastal flooding and damage to shorelines and infrastructure, erosion and threats to livelihoods. As persons who inhabit the small land spaces in the OECS, this is particularly worrisome,” he said at a ceremony in late January marking the completion of the restoration works in Sanchez.

“As a region, we recognise the challenges that confront us. However, we will not be deterred or thrown off our course towards our quest for sustainable development. Our intentions on this matter are clearly etched in pivotal policies and agreements that guide our region’s growth and development.”

He said the OECS Economic Union Treaty, along with the St. George’s Declaration of Principles for Environmental Sustainability in the OECS (SGD), mandate that each member state minimise environmental vulnerability, improve environmental management and protect the region’s natural resource base, thereby increasing its resilience to climate change impacts and allowing continued social and economic benefits.

Mikell O’Mealy, the Eastern Caribbean climate change coordinator with USAID-Caribbean, said the Sanchez project represented a “shining example of a how community can address the very serious issues facing the region with regard to climate change”.

She said once the coral reefs bleach and die, as occurred in Petite Martinique, they no longer provide a critical buffer to protect the shoreline from currents, waves and storms.

“Here, as in so many places in the region and worldwide, the loss of coral reefs and coastal mangroves has led to severe coastal erosion, threatening critical community infrastructure, such as the road that connects your community around the island and the power plant adjacent to the road that supplies the island’s electricity,” O’Mealy said.

She said the restoration project here demonstrates how climate change-induced erosion can be effectively addressed by combining technical expertise and a strong, collaborative community effort.

O’Mealy told IPS that in addition to this project in Petite Martinique, USAID was funding 10 other projects across the Eastern Caribbean and supporting the OECS Secretariat “in helping us all learn from each other … [on] what works best, what didn’t work so well, and how the most successful approaches can be scaled-up in each country and region-wide in the most cost effective way.

“Climate change is unfortunately not going away, and we know at this point that the impacts are predicted to worsen in the coming years. We therefore must continue to try new approaches, learn from each other, and scale-up what works,” she added.

Volunteers aid an oil-slicked seabird. Photo Courtesy of Papa Bois Conservation

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Dec 23 2013 (IPS)

Whether it is a case of sabotage or simply poor management practices by the state-owned PETROTRIN, as the union claims, a mysterious oil spill in south Trinidad is wreaking havoc on homes and wildlife in the area.

PETROTRIN claims it has no idea as to the source of the spills, and Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine, who toured La Brea and other affected areas on Sunday, said “the mystery remains where this oil is coming from.”"Shut it down, if you don’t know where it is coming from." -- Gary Aboud

The Environmental Management Authority also said it had been unable to ascertain the source and that its immediate concern was the protection of life and the environment.

Gary Aboud, president of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea, told IPS that the only solution was to shut down all oil production in the area.

“As we speak, more and more oil is being pumped into the sea. Why doesn’t the minister order the shutdown of all oil being transported in the Gulf of Paria? Shut it down, if you don’t know where it is coming from,” he said. “We find it totally unbelievable.”

According to the head of the La Brea Fisherfolk Association, Alvin La Borde, “[Local] fishermen cannot go out to work. They need to buy things for their families for Christmas. They would not be able to leave until this oil is cleared.

“The fishermen have also lost nets and ropes used to secure their boats,” he told IPS.

In a statement, the EMA said it “will continue to closely monitor clean-up efforts and ensure that environmental best practices are carried out.

“Once the source of the spillage is determined, the EMA will be assessing the situation from a legal and compliance perspective to ascertain whether there is any breach in environmental legislation.”

Fitzgerald Jeffrey, the member of Parliament for the La Brea region, which is known for having the largest natural deposit of asphalt in the world, told IPS that he is hoping the evacuation is carried out “as quickly as possible”.

“There are young people and it is difficult for them to breathe…and as much as 24 families are directly affected. In addition, there are fishing vessels contaminated with oil. We are seeing crabs and dead fish along the beach.

“Yesterday I was down there and there is a very strong gas scent and people have been advised not to do any cooking in the area,” he added.

On Monday, the environmental group Papa Bois Conservation issued an urgent appeal for paper towels, dishwashing liquid and other supplies to aid birds that are covered in oil.

The Wildlife Orphanage and Rehabilitation Centre (WORC), which is also trying to rescue animals affected by the oil spill, reports “oil in the mangrove as well as a strong hydrocarbon smell”. The WORC also posted on its website a picture of an oil-slicked dead pelican at La Brea.

PETROTRIN, which has been in operation for 100 years, has acknowledged that there are installations across the country engaged in refinery activities and that some of its pipelines may still contain hydrocarbons that can be hazardous to health.

Ramnarine said the authorities were now seeking international assistance in dealing with the oil spill, even as the Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) maintained that PETROTRIN should shoulder the blame for the environmental disaster.

“We do not concur with the company’s offering of the excuse that it is some kind of sabotage or otherwise,” OWTU president general Ancel Roget told a news conference on Sunday.

“We want to say there is a massive cover-up of the PETROTRIN management to shield their friends, the lease operators, who they invited to and in fact gave away some of the lucrative acreage of PETROTRIN assets, and therefore a cloud of silence and secrecy has shrouded the lease operators in the La Brea situation,” he said.

Roget has accused the company of knowingly reducing the level of security in the fields, allowing thieves to roam freely.

“The reduction and removal of morning tower shifts…these shifts provided as a monitoring effort and additional security effort so that if there are any oil spills throughout fields they were reported in real time.”

Roget said PETROTRIN had no emergency response contract to deal with the latest series of oil spills, saying “they violate their own investigation policy which states that investigations of that nature ought to take place within the first 24 hours.”

But Ramnarine said that unmanned platforms were part of the industry globally.

“We can’t put people on every single platform,” he said, adding “in the Gulf of Mexico, there are unmanned platforms.”

Over the weekend, PETROTRIN’s president Khalid Hassanali said one of the company’s lease operators, Trinity Oil and Gas, had discovered several valves open at its operations in Rancho Quemado, allowing oil to flow out of the tanks onto the lands.

“This is of concern because the other spills have been marine. It is extremely disturbing because…the valves were found opened which doesn’t normally happen. All these things happened together,” he said, saying that the company was now investigating whether the oil spills were acts of sabotage.

“To reach that conclusion one needs to go through a process of investigation. It’s early, we can’t reach that conclusion without being fair and without investigating fully,” he told a news conference.

The company issued a statement informing residents in nearby villages that oil had been sighted along the coastline near shore and on land and that they should avoid venturing in or near the sea.

Coastal erosion in Carriacou, Grenada. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Peter Richards
BRUSSELS, Dec 12 2013 (IPS)

As president of the Council of Ministers of the African, Caribbean and Pacific states, Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi had the perfect forum to voice his concerns about the effects climate change has had on his island nation.

Malielegaoi, who chaired a two-day ministerial conference in Brussels, which ended Wednesday, Dec. 11, said that climate change was responsible for the frequency of natural disasters that have befallen Samoa in recent years.

“This is the view shared by most, although sadly we are still waiting for a concerted global response that would at least halt climate change,” he told delegates. Samoa will host the United Nations Conference on Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in 2014.

He said that the extreme danger climate change, ocean acidification and environmental degradation posed to the world could be overstated, adding that “the consequences of this to our island states and all our ACP membership would be devastating” as some observers think “the very existence of low-lying island countries could be in jeopardy.”

Malielegaoi said that assistance from partners such as the European Union (EU) was urgently needed by all ACP countries to support efforts to develop climate resilience through mitigation and adaptation measures “if the sustainability of our development efforts and long-term prospects are to have any meaning.”

Jamaica’s ambassador to the ACP, Vilma Kathleen McNish, told IPS that the Caribbean has had to deal with the impact of climate change and it was “obviously a huge challenge.”

“For some of us … it is existential. We rely so much on our coastline in terms of tourism, which is one of our major economic livelihoods,” she said.

She said that the impact of climate change was evident in the Caribbean with sea levels rising and the resultant depletion of fish stocks. There were also increased occurrences of hurricanes. She said that this disrupted the economy of the Caribbean and the livelihoods of its people.

“So for us, climate change at the individual and regional level is a major challenge.”

Samoa’s Prime Minister Tuilaepa Lupesoliai Sailele Malielegaoi said that his country, like other small island nations, remained highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

She said that the SIDS summit in Samoa would be critical for the Caribbean and other developing countries because it would look not only at climate change but at various issues that affect small island developing states leading up to the post 2015 development agenda.

“Most countries in the region [Caribbean] are now putting in place policies geared towards adaptation and mitigation. We still believe, however, that the international community has a responsibility to support our countries in our development,” McNish said.

South Africa’s ambassador Mxolisi Nkosi told IPS that the ACP’s engagement with the EU on this and other matters should be based on the principle of equality, non-conditionality, non-interference and mutual benefit.

“We should call on the international community to commit to limiting a global temperature rise to below two degrees Celsius in a legal instrument, and agree to a common global goal on adaptation as a way to recognise that, despite its local and context specific needs, adaptation is a global responsibility,” Nkosi said.

Malielegaoi said that Samoa, like other SIDS, remained highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation.

In the 1990s the Pacific Island nation suffered two devastating cyclones that wiped off industries and businesses that contributed 50 percent of GDP. Malielegoa said this devastation reversed “economic progress by more than a decade”.

In September 2009, the island was struck by a deadly tsunami that killed more than 140 people and left thousands homeless. In December 2012, another cyclone struck, killing people and wreaking havoc on the infrastructure and the economy.

“For a small island country with a small population, the losses and setbacks from these natural disasters are hardly bearable,” Malielegaoi told IPS.

He said while he was grateful to the EU and other developmental partners for coming to the aid of the island, “Samoa’s experience is repeated in all our Pacific Island countries and, I am sure, right across the ACP membership.”

Last month, ACP countries agreed on a common position paper on the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change held in Warsaw, Poland.

The 79-member grouping said adaptation to climate change and mobilising funding from a variety of sources were immediate and urgent priorities for ACP member states that should be addressed in a comprehensive manner at the global level with the same level of priority as mitigation.

At the bustling border of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Credit: Dan Boarder/cc by 2.0

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Nov 27 2013 (IPS)

Outraged at a court ruling that would potentially render stateless thousands of Dominican people of Haitian descent, the Caribbean Community on Tuesday suspended the Dominican Republic’s bid to join the 15-member regional grouping.

Dominican President Danilo Medina had reportedly promised that his government would not actually deport any of the persons affected by the Sep. 23 ruling.“It renders an already marginalised section of the Dominican population even more vulnerable to acts of daily discrimination and abuse." -- Prof. Norman Girvan

However, Michel Martelly, Haiti’s president, said that soon after returning from Venezuela last weekend where he held talks with Dominican officials to resolve the issue, the authorities in Santo Domingo deported 300 people “who do not know the country, who do not have family in Haiti and who do not even speak the language.”

Martelly is threatening to stay away from future talks – the next round is scheduled for next week – if the Dominican Republic does not show some form of goodwill.

“We don’t have to keep meeting without them showing some action,” he told IPS, adding that the deportees included children, some “as old as one day”.

Trinidadian Prime Minister and CARICOM chair Kamla Persad-Bissessar vowed to raise the matter with the Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC). A delegation from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is also visiting the Dominican Republic early next month.

“It is especially repugnant that the ruling ignores the 2005 recommendations made by the IACHR that the Dominican Republic adapts its immigration laws and practices in accordance with the provisions of the American Convention on Human Rights,” she said. “The ruling also violates the Dominican Republic’s international human rights obligations.”

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who had written two letters to President Medina on the issue, said he was also prepared to push for the suspension of the Dominican Republic from the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas and the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM).

He told IPS that “quiet diplomacy” has led nowhere and “clearly we have to up the ante for the government and the relevant authority to act”.

At the heart of the controversy is the stripping of citizenship from children of Haitian migrants. The decision applies to those born after 1929 — a category that overwhelmingly includes descendants of Haitians brought in to work on farms.

CARICOM had come under increasing pressure from civil society groups in the region to respond strongly. Caribbean organisations that met in Colombia last week condemned the ruling as “immoral, unjust and totally unacceptable”.

“It renders an already marginalised section of the Dominican population even more vulnerable to acts of daily discrimination and abuse based on the colour of their skin and/or the sound of their names,” former ACS secretary general Professor Norman Girvan told IPS.

Caricom has an opportunity to “prevent a humanitarian catastrophe,” he said.

But efforts to pressure the Dominican Republic to soften the ruling – only the latest salvo in decades of cultural and economic tensions between the two nations – will likely prove an uphill task.

Earlier this month, Anibal De Castro, the Dominican Republic’s ambassador to the United Sates, responding to an article published in a Trinidad and Tobago newspaper, made it clear that his country “does not grant citizenship to all those born within its jurisdiction.”

“In fact, the United States is one of the few nations that maintain this practice. In most countries, it is the norm that citizenship be obtained by origin or conferred under certain conditions. Since 1929, the Constitution of the Dominican Republic has established that the children of people in transit, a temporary legal status, are not eligible for Dominican citizenship,” he wrote.

On Nov. 6, hundreds of people rallied in Santo Domingo in support of the ruling, even suggesting the erection of a wall to ensure the division of Hispaniola that is shared by Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Emilo Santana of the group Night Watch of San Juan claimed that many Dominicans were unable to receive health services because the resources were being used to assist Haitians and urged President Medina to prevent a “silent and massive Haitian take-over of the territory.”

“I feel humiliated and angry, but not by my president, I feel humiliated by those NGOs that negotiate with the poverty of Haitians and it is they who are destroying our country,” Santana said at the rally.

Another speaker, jurist Juan Manuel Castillo Pantaleon, said the Constitutional Court “has aroused all Dominicans to defend as one man our national sovereignty”.

He described the ruling as a landmark “because it clearly defines who we Dominicans are and reaffirms the laws and institutions, as provided in the Constitution.

“The hypocritical international community which offered aid to Haiti never kept their promises and in some cases committed robbery, and intends that we Dominicans should assume responsibility for a failed state,” said Castillo Pantaleon.

A United Nations-supported study released this year estimated that there were around 210,000 Dominican-born people of Haitian descent and another 34,000 born to parents of other nationalities.

The government of the Dominican Republic estimates that around 500,000 people born in Haiti live in the Dominican Republic.

In a statement, CARICOM said it was calling on the global community to pressure the Dominican Republic to “adopt urgent measures to ensure that the jaundiced decision of the Constitutional Court does not stand”.

“The government must show good faith by immediate credible steps as part of an overall plan to resolve the nationality and attendant issues in the shortest possible time.”

President of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS) Gary Aboud is arrested near the International Waterfront in Port of Spain. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Nov 21 2013 (IPS)

The demonstration took place on land and sea simultaneously. In the end, police had arrested three people, including Gary Aboud, president of the Trinidadian NGO Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), but protesters were undaunted. They would be back.

“We are going to re-assemble and go back to the drawing board. The action gave the government a clear indication of how serious we are,” Aboud told IPS. He now faces charges of resisting arrest, obstructing the police and protesting without permission on Nov. 13."Each air gun is emitting almost double the sound of a single jet and is equivalent to sound that occurs when you use explosives." -- Gary Aboud

At the centre of the dispute are the seismic surveys in which energy companies searching for oil and hydrocarbons in the seabed deploy air guns, which are towed behind ships and release intense impulses of compressed air into the water.

According to the U.S. -based Natural Resources Defence Council, seismic surveys have been shown to cause catch rates of some commercial fish to plummet – in some cases over enormous areas of ocean.

“What we are asking is for is the same thing every country in the world has asked for,” Aboud said, noting that the issue has become controversial enough that the International Maritime Organisation and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) will convene a meeting in London next February to highlight ways of minimising the impact of seismic surveys.

FFOS also says a government-appointed committee is skewed heavily in favour of people closely affiliated with the energy sector here.

“It only has two fisherfolk representatives and 14 government representatives – that is an imbalance. We are recommending one scientist be appointed by the fisherfolk, one scientist by the government and the two scientists appoint a third scientist,” he said.

“The government has appointed a lot of yes men and people who work for the energy sector. If you work for the energy sector we can’t expect justice,” Aboud told IPS.

Food Production Minister Devant Maharaj, speaking at the end of the weekly cabinet meeting, disputed these assertions.

“Seismic surveys are routinely conducted as part of the exploratory process in an effort to obtain information on the location and the quantum of raw hydrocarbon in the various strata of rocks,” he said.

Maraj said that several studies have been done regionally and internationally, and documentation on the effect of seismic surveys on different species of fish can be found in a policy document titled “The National Seismic Operations of Trinidad and Tobago.”

“A draft version developed in July 2010 was circulated to committee members and other major stakeholders for comment. The policy document was also submitted to the Ministry of Energy for its consideration,” Maharaj said.

Critics argue that there should be a moratorium on seismic testing while the government creates a regulatory framework that will include making it mandatory for companies to submit an independently-conducted Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before testing.

“All the oil companies know that the EIA is a standard procedure…so it is not just something we are saying, it is standard procedure around the world,” Aboud told IPS.

He added that a judge in Mexico recently ruled “that you cannot do seismic bombing where the fishes are spawning (and) where there is a migratory path”.

The fisherfolk here have directed their anger mostly at British Petroleum (BP) and the state-owned Petroleum Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited (PETROTRIN). Aboud said he has already started talks with the trade union movement here.

He also plans to hold talks with religious leaders in the hope they would empathise with what he called the “national plight” of the fishing industry.

But PETROTRIN has hit back, saying that its plans for an Ocean Bottom Cable (OBC) seismic survey was being undertaken in “conformance with the licence requirements” from the relevant authorities as well as putting in place “measures to ensure that the seismic survey is conducted in conformance with international safety and environmental best practices”.

In a full page-newspaper advertisement this week, PETROTRIN said that research has indicated that the “effects of seismic surveys on fish stock have indicated little or no negative impact” and that the mortality caused by air-emitting devices on fish eggs and larvae might amount to an average of 0.0012 percent a day.

“In comparison to the natural mortality rate of 5-15 percent per day, the seismic induced damage is insignificant,” the oil company asserted, adding “we stand by our statement that the decibel levels of the underwater pulses are similar to the naturally occurring sounds in the ocean.

“The sound from the survey does not exceed 250 decibels which can be compared to a ship sound, close to the hull, which emits 200 decibels and a bottlenose dolphin click which emits 229 decibels.”

At the start of the year, BP conducted a 275-million-dollar seismic study that the company’s regional president Norman Christie said “has given reason for even more confidence in the future of Trinidad and Tobago’s hydrocarbon industry.

“This survey will allow us to improve our understanding of our existing acreage to ensure we are maximising the recovery of the resources. The survey has stirred up quite a bit of excitement as it is the first time we are using this specialised seismic technology in the BP world,” he added.

Aboud says the oil companies’ arguments simply don’t hold water.

“They are saying they are not using explosives. We never say they are using dynamite. We say that the air gun blasts are 260 decibels. A jet aircraft is 140 decibels and human ordinary pain is 130 decibels.

“We are also saying the seismic ships are using 20 to 35,000 individual air guns and each air gun is emitting almost double the sound of a single jet and is equivalent to sound that occurs when you use explosives,” he told IPS.

Tractors have already begun clearing parts of Trinidad's Orange Grove Savannah watershed for a sporting complex. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Oct 7 2013 (IPS)

Trinidad’s Orange Grove Savannah sits at the foothills of the Northern Range, whose watersheds provide copious volumes of fresh water into the aquifers – natural underground water storage areas – lying below these green spaces.

“This natural savannah plays a key ecological function in reducing flooding to surrounding communities, as surface waters are absorbed through grass fields into the aquifer providing a 24/7 water supply to thousands of households in east Trinidad,” Dr. Carol James, a retired United Nations policy advisor who specialised in sustainable development, told IPS."We have to do a simple thing and go in front of the tractors and let them run us over." -- Prof. Selwyn Cudjoe

James says plans by the government to build a multi-million-dollar sporting complex there “would spell disaster” for an area which many view as the lungs and principal water source of East Trinidad.

“Indeed, it is the only uncontaminated set of aquifers of this size anywhere along the east-west corridor responsible for supplying water needs of significant communities,” she said.

James added that nearby Aranguez “has already been contaminated with saltwater and pesticides due to a lack of critical planning in that ecologically sensitive water-storage area.”

The Orange Grove Savannah has served as a major sport and recreational space for an estimated 250,000 residents of Tacarigua and nearby communities for more than 125 years.

Peter Burke, chair of a group called Save our Green Space, told IPS, “London has its Hyde Park, New York its Central Park and Port of Spain its Queens Park Savannah. Orange Grove Savannah represents an oasis and mecca for hundreds of persons daily.”

In recent years, local residents have watched the savannah dwindle from its original 125 acres to 39, with the construction of several sporting facilities and private homes.

James said significant development in greater Tacarigua over the last 50 years has caused occasional serious flooding as the capacity of the savannah’s aquifer to absorb rapid runoff of water from roads, roofs and driveways has been compromised.

“Thousands of roofs shed water more rapidly than through vegetation, but with the existence of the savannah the severity of flooding disasters has been minimised,” she said.

“The community needs to understand, appreciate and protect this rich natural inheritance if its quality of life is to continue,” she told IPS.

Sports Minister Anil Roberts defends the decision to construct the community sporting complex, insisting that the project would actually enhance the green space.

“This facility is going to serve over 200,000 citizens,” he said on a recent television programme, denying that consultations were not held with the community.

Roberts said that the thousands of residents who signed a petition against the project had been misled by James and others because they were not told that what was being constructed would “enhance their sporting facilities and their family lives”.

“I would sign something that says do not take away my green space. It is not taking away anything,” Roberts said, noting that the project at Tacariqua is one of nine to be constructed across the country.

Meetings involving Save our Green Space, the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Minister Roberts have so far failed to forge a compromise.

“We are not opposed to this project at all but we are opposed to the site, given the history, given the impact it is going to have,” Burke insists. “We have a mandate from the residents of the area.”

Selwyn Cudjoe, a prominent lecturer and historian based in the U.S., is also vehemently opposed to the project.

“My family and I have lived all of our lives in Tacarigua,” he told IPS. “My great-grandfather, Jonathan Cudjoe, and my great grandmother, Amelia Cudjoe, were born in Tacarigua in 1833 and 1837, respectively. This means that my family has been a part of this community even before slavery ended.

“As a scholar, I have devoted my entire life to documenting the importance of Tacarigua and its savannah to the village, the country, and the world,” he said.

In 1995, to mark the 350th anniversary of Tacarigua’s founding as a village, Cudjoe wrote the book “Tacarigua: A Village in Trinidad” arguing “about the importance of our common green space that is so necessary for the mental, physical, and aesthetic development of our people.

“We have had many fights to maintain our green spaces,” Cudjoe told IPS.

“We are saying we do not want this and the government is saying in spite of what we say, they are our bosses. Then we have to do a simple thing and go in front of the tractors and let them run us over,” he said.

Trinidad’s Orange Grove Savannah sits at the foothills of the Northern Range, whose watersheds provide copious volumes of fresh water into the aquifers – natural underground water storage areas – lying below these green spaces.

Tractors have already begun clearing parts of Trinidad’s Orange Grove Savannah watershed for a sporting complex. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

“This natural savannah plays a key ecological function in reducing flooding to surrounding communities, as surface waters are absorbed through grass fields into the aquifer providing a 24/7 water supply to thousands of households in east Trinidad,” Dr. Carol James, a retired United Nations policy advisor who specialised in sustainable development, told IPS.

James says plans by the government to build a multi-million-dollar sporting complex there “would spell disaster” for an area which many view as the lungs and principal water source of East Trinidad.

“Indeed, it is the only uncontaminated set of aquifers of this size anywhere along the east-west corridor responsible for supplying water needs of significant communities,” she said. James added that nearby Aranguez “has already been contaminated with saltwater and pesticides due to a lack of critical planning in that ecologically sensitive water-storage area.”

The Orange Grove Savannah has served as a major sport and recreational space for an estimated 250,000 residents of Tacarigua and nearby communities for more than 125 years. Peter Burke, chair of a group called Save our Green Space, told IPS, “London has its Hyde Park, New York its Central Park and Port of Spain its Queens Park Savannah. Orange Grove Savannah represents an oasis and mecca for hundreds of persons daily.”

In recent years, local residents have watched the savannah dwindle from its original 125 acres to 39, with the construction of several sporting facilities and private homes.

James said significant development in greater Tacarigua over the last 50 years has caused occasional serious flooding as the capacity of the savannah’s aquifer to absorb rapid runoff of water from roads, roofs and driveways has been compromised.

“Thousands of roofs shed water more rapidly than through vegetation, but with the existence of the savannah the severity of flooding disasters has been minimised,” she said. “The community needs to understand, appreciate and protect this rich natural inheritance if its quality of life is to continue,” she told IPS.

Sports Minister Anil Roberts defends the decision to construct the community sporting complex, insisting that the project would actually enhance the green space. “This facility is going to serve over 200,000 citizens,” he said on a recent television programme, denying that consultations were not held with the community.

Roberts said that the thousands of residents who signed a petition against the project had been misled by James and others because they were not told that what was being constructed would “enhance their sporting facilities and their family lives”.  “I would sign something that says do not take away my green space. It is not taking away anything,” Roberts said, noting that the project at Tacariqua is one of nine to be constructed across the country.

Meetings involving Save our Green Space, the Sports Company of Trinidad and Tobago and Minister Roberts have so far failed to forge a compromise. “We are not opposed to this project at all but we are opposed to the site, given the history, given the impact it is going to have,” Burke insists. “We have a mandate from the residents of the area.”

Trinidad's artisanal fishers have welcomed the ban on shrimp trawling. Credit: Courtesy of Fundación Proteger/IPS

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Sep 18 2013 (IPS)

Dianne Christian Simmons recalls the days when she would head out with her husband on fishing expeditions in the Gulf of Paria, a 3,000-square-mile shallow inland sea between Trinidad and Tobago and the east coast of Venezuela.

“We would come back with at least five barrels filled with fishes,” Christian Simmons, the president of the Fish Market Association, told IPS. “Now if we are able to fill one, it is a miracle.”"What you are doing is killing your future catch of shrimp." -- Gary Aboud of Fishermen and Friends of the Sea

Gary Aboud, an environmental activist and secretary of a local group called the Fishermen and Friends of the Sea (FFOS), blames the industrial shrimp trawlers, which he says use methods banned in many countries, for creating “deserts” in Trinidad and Tobago’s territorial waters.

Aboud said that as far back as 1996, the U.S.-based World Resources Institute was warning that shrimp trawling was comparable to dynamite fishing in terms of sustainability.

“In other words, shrimp trawling kills everything. Shrimp trawling is the most destructive and unsustainable type of fishing in the world,” he told IPS, applauding the decision earlier this month by the government to ban trawling in local waters.

Minister of Food Production Devant Maharaj, worried at the declining seafood stocks and the environmental damage associated with shrimp trawling, said the government is considering an amendment of the Fisheries Act to give teeth to the new measures.

He said a committee would be appointed to consider a “relief package” for displaced fishers who will be affected by the ban.

Late last year, the president of the Trinidad and Tobago Trawlers Association, Shaffi Mohammed, said his members were prepared to call it quits if the government came up with an adequate compensation package. The group, which has vigorously protested the ban, now has until Oct. 26 to submit a proposal on sustainable fisheries management to the government.

Christian Simmons believes the estimated 5,000 people working in the industry must accept the necessity of halting the outdated mode of catching shrimp.

“We are not saying to stop catching shrimp, we are saying to change your method. There are other more sustainable methods of catching shrimp,” she added.

Trawling involves the manual or mechanised towing of a “trawl net” through the water or along the sea bed. Nets vary in size but can span tens of feet and run behind the boat for miles (drift nets), indiscriminately dredging the water and sea bed.

“This state of affairs has resulted in serious conflicts amongst competing fishers and has also been used by environmentalists as compelling justification for immediate and strong action to be taken to address trawling activities,” Maharaj said.

Aboud told IPS the nets attached to the industrialised trawlers are heavily weighed down and dig deep into the seabed, capturing everything.

“The depth they are fishing at and the fact that they are such large and powerful vessels, they cover an area the size of 50 football fields in a day. That is a lot of desert they are creating so the destruction is immense,” he added.

He said the nets also capture minnows and juvenile fish, resulting in a drastic reduction in the fish population.

“So what you are doing is killing your future catch of shrimp,” he said. “You are also killing the food source of all the other fishes.”

Studies have shown that Trinidad and Tobago has the highest rate of discard of babies caught compared to any other part of the world, he added.

“We have 14.73 pounds of babies caught and discarded for every one pound of shrimp,” Aboud said, adding that sea grass, which provides shelter and food for small fish, is also destroyed.

The practice has been banned or restricted in several countries, including Australia, Brazil, Canada and Malaysia.

A major proportion of the discards includes commercially important species, such as carite, king fish, snappers and groupers, Maharaj said. As a result, he noted, “Conflicts have arisen between artisanal and non-artisanal trawl fishers concerning habitat destruction resulting from the dragging of the trawl gears on the sea bed during trawling operations.”

Aboud believes that an environmentally friendly way of catching shrimp without disturbing the environment would be the use of shrimp pots, small traps that resemble wire cages.

The president of the Trinidad and Tobago Unified Fisher-folk (TTUF), Peter Glodon, sent a letter to Maharaj stressing that the 52,000 artisanal fishers of the twin-island state welcomed the crackdown on shrimp trawling, which has “completely destroyed the ‘battalie’ species of turtles in the Columbus Channel and many more species are on the brink of extinction”.

But he said that the ban should not be only for industrial trawlers, but should cover the “semi-industrial and the artisanal fleet that indulge in shrimp trawling”.

“By not doing so you will hasten the collapse of the fishing industry. Whether big medium or small, they all contribute to the mauling of juveniles,” he wrote.

St. Kitts (pictured here) and its northern neighbour Jamaica are increasing their energy efficiency with solar streetlights. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Peter Richards
BELMOPAN, Belize, Aug 23 2013 (IPS)

Every year, the Caribbean’s electric sector burns through approximately 30 million barrels of fuel. Overall, the region imports in excess of 170 million barrels of petroleum products annually.

Dr. Al Binger, technical coordinator for the recently launched multi-million-dollar Energy for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Caribbean Buildings Project, said that the region must now focus on ways to reduce the amount of fuel used to generate electricity, and in the process save millions of dollars.

He told IPS that building modifications, such as replacing windows and doors, installing solar water heaters and other retrofitting activities, are among the major components of the EDS project, which he hopes will eventually be embraced by all 15 members of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).

“Improving the efficiency of energy use in the building sector is a project priority. We’re looking for a 10 to 15-percent improvement across the whole electricity sector in this pilot project, which means we could save the equivalent of about 400,000 dollars per year for the pilot project [in five countries]. So you see, energy efficiency pays back quickly. It’s a good investment,” he told IPS.

Belize will be the first to begin implementation of the ESD project, which seeks to slash greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent in the near term and increase the use of renewable energy.

Antigua and Barbuda, Grenada, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago are next in line to participate in the four-year, 12.4-million-dollar project that was launched by the Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) this week.

“The participating countries expressed interest in collaborating, which is exceptional as countries usually do these activities individually,” said the CCCCC in a release, noting that each country will establish a national steering committee, a project manager and an executing agency.

The centre says the EDS project will do a range of things to support the Implementation Plan, the landmark policy document that guides the Caribbean’s climate change response. This includes boosting capacity to perform audits, introducing new building codes, labelling appliances as energy-savers, and creating best practices for how the private sector can reduce its energy consumption.

A major focus is resilience, and helping economies adapt to new weather conditions.

Binger noted that Jamaica, for example, had to give up its banana industry after 100 years because it became unsustainable due in part to climatic changes.

“Jamaica built an entire railroad just to grow banana… So the Implementation Plan is about the economy of tomorrow, what will it look like, and that starts with the energy sector,” he said.

Earlier this month, the architect Brian Bernal, addressing a workshop hosted by the Jamaica Institute of Architects in association with the Caribbean Architecture Students Association of the University of Technology (UTECH), said that overhauling the island’s energy use profile would not be enough to protect it from rising sea levels, increased air temperature and more intense storms and hurricanes.

He argued that the effort has to be coupled with a deliberate move to ensure that buildings can withstand the anticipated shocks.

“We need to change the way we use energy resources to reduce our CO2 emissions, while simultaneously increasing our ability to resist the effects of climate change,” Bernal said.

“Robust and enforced building codes are highly effective in ensuring a better quality of building and when employed in conjunction with green building standards or practices will significantly increase the functional resilience of our buildings,” said Bernal, whose company serves as the lead consultant of the multi-disciplinary team for the “Build Better Jamaica — Developing Design Concepts for Climate Change Resilient Buildings project”.

That project is sponsored by the Inter-American Development Bank and the Institute of Sustainable Development and is aimed at helping Caribbean countries prepare for climate change, particularly in the design and construction of buildings that are more resilient to disasters, but which do not compromise the natural environment.

The CCCCC said that the main aims of the ESD project, the “first regional project of its kind in CARICOM”, are to increase the number of successful commercial applications of energy efficiency and conservation in buildings as well as expand the market for renewable energy technology applications for power generation.

“We will be primarily using photovoltaics, [and] some wind energy to a lesser extent,” said Binger.

At a 2010 Caribbean conference, the Climate Studies Group at the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies (UWI) in Jamaica, noted that small-scale wind for domestic use offers an advantage over total reliance on grid-supplied electricity if net metering is allowed and also for standalone systems where the wind is fairly consistent.

The slaves brought to the Caribbean lived in inhumane conditions. Above are examples of slave huts in Bonaire provided by Dutch colonialists. About five feet tall and six feet wide, two to three slaves slept in these after working in near by salt mines. Credit: V.C.Vulto/GNU license

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jul 29 2013 (IPS)

As Caribbean countries prepare to observe Emancipation Day on Aug. 1, they are also caught up in an ongoing debate over reparations for slavery.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who has stated publicly that he will “take no quarter on those issues”, told IPS, “We have in my view a very strong case to put to an appropriate tribunal.”

Last week, as he addressed an audience in Cuba marking the 60th anniversary of the attack on the Moncada Barracks that launched the 1953 Revolution, Gonsalves said the Caribbean is demanding reparations from Europe for native genocide and African slavery.

“The principal reason for underdevelopment in the Caribbean and Latin America is the legacy of native genocide and African slavery, and we do so with the spirit and with the examples, in this new period, of the combatants of Moncada,” he said.

At the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) summit here earlier this month, Gonsalves presented his fellow leaders with three position papers, including one by Professor Hilary Beckles, the pro-vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies, who recently published the book “Britain’s Black Debt: Reparations owed the Caribbean for Slavery and Indigenous Genocide”.

Gonsalves is pushing for a common position on reparations and has welcomed the decision to establish a committee under the chairmanship of the Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart to drive the issue.

The committee, which will oversee the work of a CARICOM Reparations Commission, will include Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Haiti, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Suriname, the chairs of national reparations committees, and a representative of the University of the West Indies.

Kafra Kambon, chair of the Emancipation Support Committee in Trinidad and Tobago, told IPS it is important for non-governmental organisations and the Caribbean population in general to support the initiatives of regional governments.

Kambon, whose grouping organises the annual Emancipation Day activities here, said that the support is necessary since he believes “European governments are going to try to corral them [Caribbean leaders] or even pressure them to abandon the idea.

”We have to give the strength to that call for reparations as a principle,” Kambon told IPS, calling the slave trade “massive crimes that go beyond the human imagination”.

“People have been damaged psychologically, we came out of slavery suffering extreme trauma,” he said.

“We were not behind Europe at the time of the contact and some people think of slavery as a rescue mission. It was not,” he said, adding that “slavery represents a generation of people that have been wiped out”.

In the Dutch country of Suriname, the National Reparations Committee said it would seek consensus and awareness for the correct version of history.

“We’re going to bring this dead information about reparations for slavery and about the genocide of our country’s first inhabitants to life,” said the committee’s chair, Armand Zunder, who has applauded the move by CARICOM.

“We thought we would be fighting this fight on our own, but we know now we have full support. We have made big strides,” said Zunder, an economist, who earlier this month filed the first ever petition to The Netherlands for reparations to the descendants of slaves in Suriname.

Zunder said that previously published research results that showed that the Netherlands earned some 125 billion euros from Suriname during slavery.

Meanwhile, the Pan-Afrikan Reparations Coalition in Europe (PARCOE) has written a lengthy letter to Caribbean leaders warning that their “top down approach” will “end up not achieving the reparations aspirations of the masses of Afrikan descendants and indigenous citizens in the Caribbean.”

PARCOE co-vice chairs Esther Stanford-Xosei and Kofi Mawuli Klu wrote that the Caribbean should seek to avoid “the same errors that were made with the former Organisation of African Unity’s (OAU) Group of Eminent Persons (GEP) in failing to effectively consult on reparations strategies, be informed by and act in the best interests of the various Afrikan countries respective citizenries”.

They cited the work of the U.S. activist and law professor, Mari Matsuda, who argues that approaches to reparations incorporate a more grassroots, “bottom-up” approach.

“By ‘bottom’, Matsuda refers to the lived experience of those individuals and groups who are alleging the violation of rights rather than those who have traditionally defined the scope of legal redress such as judges, lawyers associations and other groups who are part of upholding the existing social, legal and economic status quo,” they wrote.

PARCOE is also urging Caribbean countries not to be taken in by the recent “historic victory for the Mau Mau survivors of British colonial era torture and abuses in detention committed between 1952 and 1963 during Britain’s suppression of the Mau Mau war of liberation”.

PARCOE said the “the financial compensation aspect of the settlement represents a paltry sum and is not commensurate with the torture and suffering of Mau Mau patriots considering that the British Government paid out £20 million, the modern equivalent of around £16.5 billion, to compensate some 3,000 slaveholding families for the loss of their ‘property’ when slavery was purportedly abolished in Britain’s colonies in 1833.”

Severe flooding is one of many devastating effects of climate change, as the Caribbean island nation Dominica experienced in 2011. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Peter Richards
CASTRIES, St. Lucia, Jul 15 2013 (IPS)

If the studies conducted by the International Code Council (ICC) are true, then by 2025, Caribbean countries will witness a significant increase in Category 4 and 5 hurricanes from the present level of 1.4 annually to four.

And if the studies by the ICC – which focuses on safe building designs – are not frightening enough, another recent study conducted by the Mona campus of the University of the West Indies  is projecting an increase in rainfall during tropical storms and hurricanes.

Against this background, the Caribbean last Friday launched a seminal online support tool that it hopes will promote climate-smart development by helping to embed a risk management ethic in decision-making processes across the region.

“The timing of this launch is opportune. To begin with, it comes during the 2013 Tropical Atlantic hurricane season, which, according to scientific predictions, will see above-normal hurricane activity,” said St. Lucia’s Sustainable Development Minister Dr. James Fletcher.

Fletcher told IPS that the Caribbean can expect, due to climate change, an increase in the severity of hurricanes and, therefore, an increase in the ability of these weather systems to inflict serious harm on the region.

“Studies point, for example, to the future inundation of a number of sea ports and airports across the region and some estimates point to the cost of climate change claiming as much as 21 percent of gross national product (GDP) in some Caribbean countries by 2100.

“Already, constraints such as geographic location, small size and open and relatively undiversified economies have colluded to render our countries particularly susceptible to external shocks. Only now, climate change has superimposed another layer of risk as a result of sea level rise, elevated temperatures, changes in precipitation and more intense hurricanes,” he added.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Scripps Institute of Oceanography said recently that greenhouse gas concentrations in the earth’s atmosphere have crossed the 400 parts per million (ppm) threshold.

For many years, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) has been calling for greenhouse gas concentrations to be stabilised at well below 350 ppm in order to ensure that their countries are not swallowed by the rising seas.

“Now that our planet has achieved this dubious milestone, the outlook is for more pronounced, and prolonged, climate change,” Fletcher said.

Myrna Bernard of the Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, who also spoke at the launch of the new initiative, said that a recent study conducted by the regional governments-owned Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) indicates that losses caused by weather-related natural catastrophes in the Caribbean account for six percent of GDP and that figure could increase by as much as three percentage points by 2030.

The Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) has developed the Caribbean Climate Online Risk and Adaptation Tool (CCORAL) with funding from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and the London-based Climate and Development Knowledge Network (CDKN) that operates in 40 countries trying to respond to the gap “of what we call climate compatible development”.

“We know climate change is a global phenomena, we know the provision of more public goods and knowledge around it is very critical at multiple levels, and I think this is a tool that can play a critical role in this,” said the CDKN’s Sam Bechoseth.

He said the passage of Tropical Storm Chantal through the Lesser Antilles last week “reminded me of some of the threats your region faces”.

“The point is we have to integrate climate change into our development trajectories. It is absolutely non-optional and we need risk assessment tools that can help us in that process.”

He told IPS that both the private and public sectors have long been assessing risks “but we need to look at this in a different way and in a different light in the face of the current and expected future impacts from climate change”.

CCCCC executive director Dr. Kenrick Leslie said the development of CCORAL is a direct response to one of the actions defined in the Regional Framework for Achieving Development Resilient to Climate Change.

The framework and the regional implement plan were endorsed by Caribbean governments between 2009 and 2012, and Leslie said CCORAL is a crucial element of the region’s emerging strong early action framework for building climate resilience.

“CCORAL will aid the region in defining approaches and solutions that will provide benefits now and in the future by adapting no-regret actions and flexible actions and flexible measures. CCORAL is a practical approach to cost-effective climate resilient investment projects,” he added.

CCCCC Programme Development Specialist Keith Nicholas, who was praised for his work with CCORAL, said “the development of the risk assessment tool emerged after an extensive consultative process with regional stakeholders to ensure authenticity, relevance and ownership”.

The CCCCC said that CCORAL will help boost the capacity of the Caribbean countries to assess their risk amidst a variable and changing climate, while creating pathways for the identification and implementation of adaptation and mitigation options.

In one of the brochures handed out at the launch of the project, the CCCCC noted that the pilot country participants involved in the development of CCORAL gave a clear message that the biggest driver and barrier to using the online tool in decision-making will “be a positive mandate from ministers, policy makers, politicians and senior government officials.

“This will only be secured if the economic, social, environmental and therefore political, challenges of current climate viability and climate change are recognised and acted upon as an integral element of national development planning.”

Bechoseth has described the CCORAL as a “fantastic tool” but warned that “a tool is only useful when we start to utilise it and turn it into solving real life problems”.

The Dominican Republic first expressed interest in joining the 15-member Caribbean integration grouping CARICOM in 1989. Now, 14 years later, the Spanish-speaking country with a population of nearly 10 million may finally get its wish.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro wants to see greater cooperation between his country and the 15-member Caribbean Community. Credit: Agência Brasil/cc by 3.0

In the words of President Danilo Medina, “We have come with open arms, promising to work hard to make the region a better place.”

Medina made his pitch to Caribbean Community leaders who met here over the past four days for their annual summit. He praised the “visionary leaders” from Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Jamaica, who 40 years ago signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas that paved the way for the establishment of the regional integration movement.

“They built the foundation on sound principles which has allowed 15 full members and five associate members. We must have the political will and, therefore, we have decided to have open-arm dialogue to gain entry to CARICOM,” Medina said.

The new CARICOM chair and prime minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad Bissessar, said Caribbean leaders had some reservations related to immigration, as well market size in the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that allows for the free movement of goods, skills, labour and services across the region.

“I believe in principle that the heads [of state] were not adverse to the Dominican Republic joining. However, there remain issues some heads wanted clarification on and that matter has now been put forward to the inter-sessional [to be held in February] for a more targeted discussion,” she told IPS.

CARICOM leaders are concerned that with a population of 9.5 million, the Dominican Republic’s entry could adversely impact the economies of some of the smaller member countries, she added.

Medina was not the only visitor to the four-day summit here.

Newly elected Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro may not have the charisma so strongly associated with his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, but he too came to the summit promising “goodies” for regional leaders in a bid to solidify the relationships that Chavez himself would have enhanced.

Guyanese President Donald Ramotar told IPS that during his closed-door half-hour meeting, Maduro made a presentation “offering some very concrete areas in which we could cooperate and Venezuela is ready to work with CARICOM…including on the vexing issue of transport.”

Ramotar said he would describe the talks as “a re-affirmation of the Chavez policy”, adding “that he [Maduro] is continuing that strong solidarity trust President Chavez had made in the past.”

Prime Minister Persad Bissessar said Maduro proposed the re-activation of the Joint CARICOM-Venezuela Commission “based on the long-standing trade and investment agreement which could lead to increased trade, investment and economic and other activities.

“In this regard, several proposals were put forward touching on security, air and sea transportation, energy, a social and cultural plan and developing ties between CARICOM and Mercosur,” the Common Market of the South which was founded in 1991 by Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, she said.

Ramotar said there was a general consensus that Caracas needed to work with the region given its close proximity.

“I think working together would help us to pool our resources,” he said, telling IPS that regional leaders had welcomed the support for transportation given that Caracas has its own airline and cheaper fuel.

“Those are, of course, things that have not yet been thrashed out, but these are areas I can see where we have great possibility,” Ramotar said, adding that security was also another area for cooperation because “the fight against drugs affects all of us and drugs pass through the region.”

The CARICOM summit here was expected to focus on air and sea transportation, as a bedrock component of the integration movement.

“Transportation is key to the integration process and we have to make sure we get it right this time. If the whole question of integration is going to make any sense we need to address this issue frontally,” Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer told IPS.

His counterpart from Grenada, Dr. Keith Mitchell, making a return to regional politics after a five-year absence, told IPS, “The fact is that while we are trying to advance the CARICOM Single Market and Economy, we still do not have transportation to effect those changes.”

The CARICOM chair said the leaders had agreed to the re-introduction of the single domestic space (SDS), which expedites regional travel for citizens from member nations. They have also given their full support to a proposal by Haiti to convene a high-level meeting on persons with disabilities and special needs, and on the issue of genocide and slavery reparations.

“We have in my view a very strong case,” said St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who has been pushing for reparations from Europe for the slave trade.

A Caribbean Airlines Airbus A340-300 takes off from London Heathrow Airport, England. The airline has come under fire from other regional carriers for its fuel subsidies. Credit: Adrian Pingstone/public domain

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Jul 1 2013 (IPS)

Four decades after they signed the treaty establishing the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), government leaders are gathering in Trinidad and Tobago, the birthplace of the integration process, as they seek to give greater meaning to the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) that encourages the free movement of nationals across the 15-member grouping.

“There is no doubt that efficient transportation within the region, especially in the context of fulfilling the dream of unfettered movement of people and goods within the CARICOM Single Market, and facilitating the growth of tourism that is so germane to the development of the Caribbean, is of critical importance,” the Guyana-based CARICOM Secretariat said in a statement."Everywhere in the world you have airline alliances...in our region we don’t have it. These things defy logic." -- CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque

The special session of the 34th summit slated for Jul. 3-6 in Trinidad and Tobago will be largely devoted to transportation, particularly what it called “the vagaries of air and sea transport and border control policies”.

The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) is now assisting in the development of a comprehensive regional transportation plan.

However, for as long as the regional integration grouping has been around, Caribbean governments have found it extremely difficult to establish a single airline to facilitate trade and the movement of people, even though there are at least six national airlines traversing the region.

“We are trying to find solutions and in my own personal view it defies logic why is it we have all these airlines, all of them struggling, and they can’t cooperate,” CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque told IPS.

“There ought to be cooperation between the airlines. For whatever reasons, perhaps the business models, and there is a notion of airlines just like currency being a symbol of nationhood, which is a lingering thing from the past,” he added.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda and Dominica, the owners of the island-hopping airline LIAT, have long been unhappy with oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago, which provides a subsidy to its own national airline, Caribbean Airlines (CAL).

While he insists that he does not want a public squabble with Port of Spain, St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, the chair of the LIAT shareholder governments, said he intends to raise the matter during the summit here with Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar, who will also assume the chair of the regional grouping for the next six months.

“I just want to say that I have received a confidential legal opinion concerning the fuel subsidy…so we can have an informed discussion on this. Not a fight, but to have an informed discussion on this question,” Gonsalves told IPS.

Gonsalves said LIAT paid an average of 127 dollars per barrel of jet fuel over the 2008-12 period, while CAL for the same period paid an average price of 53 dollars.

“That is on the fuel subsidy side. It is estimated by the management that during that five-year period we lost 78,000 passengers to CAL because of their subsidy, and the revenues which we would have lost as a result of that unfair competition would have been 10.2 million dollars,” he added.

Earlier this year, Trinidad and Tobago Finance Minister Larry Howai said CAL received a subsidy of 40 million dollars in 2012, a situation Gonsalves said is a violation of the CARICOM treaty and Common Air Services Agreement among member countries.

La Rocque told IPS that the summit will consider recommendations from a special Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), comprising transport ministers from the region who met last month to discuss the issue.

“Everywhere in the world you have airline alliances…in our region we don’t have it. These things defy logic and I don’t think we are going to get a solution at the heads (regional governments) but at least a process for bringing it forward.

“One of the recommendations is that the shareholders of the respective airlines be encouraged to sit and have a discussion,” he said. “Rather than working at odds with each other, they ought to sit down and have a discussion and come up with a model. The bigger airlines are doing it, so why can’t we do it in our Caribbean?”

Transportation woes aside, the regional integration process also faces an uphill task to convince the Caribbean population of its relevance in a changing global environment.

“I simply say, just think about it – if there wasn’t a CARICOM. We do not have a perfect situation, but if we did not have a CARICOM for us to cooperate and do all the many things that we put in place to do. This year is 40 years since the Caribbean Examination Council has been around, it is the same heads of government that created CXC,” La Rocque said.

“We have had some successes. We tend to forget that because obviously there is an impatience given the pace of integration, one recognises that…CARICOM is here to stay.”

In an editorial critiquing CARICOM’s record, the Jamaica Observer newspaper noted that despite being the world’s second oldest integration movement after the European Union, the bloc has been unable to advance significant trading opportunities among the 15 countries.

“The facts show that intra-regional trade has grown in every trade bloc except CARICOM,” the paper said, asking the question “will CARICOM remain the bloc that the builders reject?”

La Rocque disagrees. He said the movement has always “recognised that because of the nature of our economies that trade would be limited and it could never be as high as what obtains in the European Union”.

He told IPS there are many factors for that, such as small economies, small productive bases and, in most cases, economies that are similar “in terms of what we produce”. Despite that, intra-regional trade has grown by 16 percent, “but there is still room to grow and now we have to focus on what are these elements that would allow it to grow,” he said.

The agenda for the four-day summit will for the first time pay special attention to the differently-abled community in the region, as well as discuss possible reparations for slavery.

Regional leaders will also hold talks with the newly elected President of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro, as well as President of the Dominican Republic Danilo Medina and President of Equatorial Guinea Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo.

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden in Port of Spain, Trinidad on May 28, 2013. Credit: Peter Richards

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, May 30 2013 (IPS)

First it was U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, who travelled to Trinidad and Tobago Tuesday to speak with “our friends” in the Caribbean.

And on Friday, China’s newly elected president, Xi Jingping, will arrive in Port of Spain for talks with eight Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders that Beijing says will “further increase political trust and consolidate friendship and cooperation with the entire region”.

Biden left here on Tuesday after a 21-hour visit during which time he held “frank and cordial” discussions with leaders of the 15-member CARICOM grouping, a precursor to a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama.

“I am hoping that the meeting with President Obama will take place this year,” St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas told IPS.

“The Caribbean has never downplayed the importance of the United States to its growth and development and I think direct conversations with President Obama will also signal our importance to our big neighbour up north,” said Douglas.

He will not be among those attending the meeting with the Chinese leader as his twin-island federation, despite China’s insistence on a “One China” policy, maintains diplomatic relations with Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a renegade province.

Newly re-elected Grenadian Prime Minister Dr. Keith Mitchell said that in talks with both Biden and Obama, officials will bring up the issue of deporting Caribbean-born criminals back to the region.

“Clearly this is an issue we have to deal with but we have accepted the fact the U.S. government made that decision and we are not going to get that changed,” he told IPS, adding that “Mr Biden wants a serious story to go home with.”

Biden has made it clear that Washington wants to “able to play a part in the overall development of the region” and that the trade investment framework agreement (TIFA) which he signed before his departure should be viewed “as a vehicle that would overcome special specific practical barriers to trade and investment and accommodate those changes as rapidly as possible.

“Our goals are not simply growth but it is growth that reaches everybody, and we spoke today from poverty measures to support for small businesses to greater opportunities for all citizens regardless of their gender and their sexual orientation,” Biden said.

Washington has promised the region assistance in a wide range of areas including security, immigration and renewable energy, as well as dealing with the impacts of climate change.

“There is probably no group of nations better situated to take advantage of renewable energy possibilities than here in the Caribbean,” Biden said.

On the issue of security, Biden said he made it clear to the regional leaders that Washington approaches “this as a shared responsibility” even while acknowledging that the “successful” policies of the past may now be forcing those involved in the illegal drug trade to target the Caribbean.

The United States has spent more than 200 million dollars through the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI) launched in 2009 and 30 billion dollars on reducing drug demand.

“We were so successful collectively in the decades of the 80’s and 90’s that the preferred route to get to the United States from South America of cocaine, and some heroin and other products was no longer through the Caribbean but through the Isthmus and Central America,” he said.

“Now because of the significant initiatives we have with our Central American friends, the concern legitimately served by many is that it may move back into the Caribbean and on a greater scale than they exist now.”

The Chinese president, who will also travel to Washington for talks with President Obama on Jun. 7, is hoping that his discussions with the Caribbean leaders will further promote cooperation and inject new vitality into their bilateral ties.

“China always holds that all countries, no matter big or small, rich or poor, strong or weak, are equal members of the international community,” the Chinese Embassy said in a statement ahead of the visit, adding that Beijing would “like to expand our exchange and cooperation in politics, economic, culture, etc, so as to advance bilateral relations in a sound and healthy way”.

Beijing said that its “friendly relations with the Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region have been growing significantly stronger in the past ten years” and President Xi’s visit comes at “an important time for both China and the LAC region, and even more so for the English-speaking Caribbean Community (CARICOM) region”.

“China-LAC ties are also flourishing multilaterally in the new global dispensation. LAC states can today access new forms of bilateral and multilateral China aid through the recently established Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), as well as through wider regional economic and financial entities such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). China is a contributing and non-borrowing member of both institutions.”

Professor Andy Knight, director of the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies (UWI), said that the visits of the two leaders send a strong signal.

“The U.S. better realise that if it ignores the Caribbean and Latin American region, China is prepared to fill the power vacuum right in America’s backyard,” he told a local newspaper.

“What is interesting about these visits is that they are occurring within days of each other. The U.S. can be accused sometimes of neglecting the Caribbean…China, in its quest for energy sources wherever it can find them, is paying attention to Trinidad specifically because of this country’s oil and gas deposits.”

Trinidad and Tobago’s Energy Minister Kevin Ramnarine said that while the United States and China are two of the largest consumers of energy in the world, Biden had indicated that the United States had shale gas reserves for 100 years and was on the way to becoming self-sufficient.

Ramnarine said with 63 percent of methanol, 85 percent of ammonia and 39 percent of outputs from the local refinery going to the U.S. last year, Port of Spain will now have to find new markets and that energy issues will feature prominently in the discussions with president Xi.

Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran, speaking, with CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Roque (seated right).

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, May 18 2013 (IPS)

Whether by accident or coincidence, recent days have seen a variety of Caribbean leaders and journalists question whether the region is failing to pursue leadership roles within international organisations – and thus losing its voice in global issues like trade, climate change, and peace and security.

“These days, it is difficult to find CARICOM citizens in top positions, except for Dr. Carissa F. Etienne of Dominica who is director general of PAHO [the Pan American Health Organisation]; Albert Ramdin of Suriname, who is assistant secretary general at the OAS [Organisation of American States]; and Judge Patrick Robinson of Jamaica, who is president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia,” the Jamaica Observer said in an editorial this week.

The paper went on to blame “the complete lack of strategic planning by the political leadership and Caricom Secretariat in positioning our regional citizens for top jobs.”

Earlier in the week, the country’s former prime minister P.J. Patterson, speaking at the launch of the book “Multilateral Diplomacy for Small States” by former Guyanese foreign affairs minister Rudy Insanally, also lamented the fact that few from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) were occupying high-profile positions outside the region itself.

In defence of the 15-member bloc, Trinidad and Tobago’s Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran, who chairs the CARICOM Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR), said the issue was among “strategic matters” discussed during the two-day meeting of Caribbean foreign ministers that ended here Wednesday.

“At the level of Caribbean personalities in international organisations we are conscious of it and we had a long discussion on that and we are devising a process by which we are trying to improve that presence,” he told IPS.

Dookeran, who in his own address to the foreign ministers had also questioned whether “diplomacy in the Caribbean has lost its magic”, said that Caribbean countries need to make “the political statement as necessary in the councils of those bodies that we need to have a higher presence”.

CARICOM Secretary General Irwin La Rocque told IPS that Caribbean countries, despite their seemingly low profile, are still viewed as “prized assets” globally, and points to the presence at the meeting here of delegations from as far away as Japan and New Zealand.

“I am not so sure we have lost our charm, I think it is there. A number of political personalities have expressed an interest in coming to the heads of government meeting in Trinidad in July and I think that in itself speaks volumes,” La Roque said.

He added that there have been recent bilateral discussions with the United Arab Emirates, Turkey and Chile, arguing “the outside world seems to recognise the ability of the CARICOM countries to punch above its weight.

“I don’t think we have lost the charm, I think what we have to do is to be a little certain in terms of harnessing and leveraging our collective voices in the international forum,” he told IPS.

Caribbean diplomacy is expected to benefit from the decision of the Trinidad and Tobago government to fund a diplomatic academy at the University of the West Indies (UWI) that “would provide current and future diplomats, government officials, non-state actors with training and learning facilities on issues and processes that are relevant to the discharge of our diplomacy and the conduct of our foreign relations”.

Dookeran, who has been calling for a “new frontier for Caribbean convergence”, said the academy, which opens in September with an international conference, “will establish a network of cooperation with similar training and learning institutions to benefit from the benefits and offerings from other countries,” and that interest has been shown by countries in North America, Asia, Europe and Latin America.

“We are realising the limitations of being a one-language country,” he conceded. “It will take time to change that…this is part of our British inheritance.”

The CARICOM foreign ministers have also vowed to pursue reforms in the United Nations Security Council to better take into consideration the positions of developing countries.

“Clearly that’s an issue that is very troubling,” Dookeran said, adding that the membership should be “placed on the agenda squarely and frontally at the next [General] Assembly”.

“We have in fact begun to talk with some major countries in the world in order to make sure we have the necessary political clout to make a start,” he said.

The communiqué issued at the end of the meeting here said Japan’s candidature for a 2016-2017 non-permanent seat and reform of the Security Council had been discussed with Minoru Kiuchi, the parliamentary vice-minister for foreign policy, and “welcomed the commitment expressed by Japan to drastically increase assistance” to the region.

Nonetheless, Dookeran insists that small states “should have a political presence in the Security Council”.

“We are not saying in what ways it should be done at this stage, and we are saying that the continent of Africa should definitely be part of that process,” he said. Such changes would be a reflection “of the return to political and moral legitimacy of the body and therefore there is need to establish that so that its views cannot be ignored.

“There is [also] need to have more diplomatic dialogue with international financial institutions” such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) so as to get them to change their lending policies to small island developing states (SIDS), he said.

In this vein, the Caribbean is working on developing new strategic partnerships with other SIDS “so that we can improve the strength of the voice of the small economies of the world.”

Disaster officials are blaming the floods in Trinidad on the denudation of hillsides by builders and "slash and burn” farming. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, May 12 2013 (IPS)

Officially, the Caribbean’s rainy season begins in June, coinciding with the start of the hurricane season. But recently, heavy rains have signalled an early start to the rainy season, flooding streets, swelling rivers and causing widespread damage to crops.

“With global warming, you have to expect anything these days,” Shiraz Khan, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Farmers’ Association (TTFA), told IPS.

He said the situation has been further complicated by the fact that during the dry season, many people were harming “greenery”, destroying water paths and hurting lands farmers use for planting."With global warming, you have to expect anything these days."
-- Shiraz Khan

“This is basically what is happening throughout the country,” he said, warning consumers to brace for increased food prices as helpless farmers watch their crops being destroyed by floods.

Dhano Sookho, president of the Agricultural Society of Trinidad and Tobago, told IPS that the “water channels are not being maintained”. He is calling for the establishment of an inter-agency group including the government to work out solutions to the problem.

The government, which in the past has had to compensate farmers to the tune of millions of dollars for lost crops due to floods, says it will undertake an early assessment of the situation and that “the timely submission of claims will ensure a speedy disbursement of relief”.

Devant Maharaj, food production minister, said that as soon as claims are lodged with the necessary authorities, then a schedule of payments will be made, even as Khan noted that in some areas, farmers’ losses were as high as 100 percent.

Harmful practises

But disaster officials are blaming the floods on the denudation of the hillsides by builders and on the practises of so-called “slash and burn” farmers to clear lands for cultivation.

Hills have a natural cycle of replenishment during the dry season, said Stephen Ramroop, head of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), while addressing a meeting of the Inter-Governmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean here last week.

Because of this natural cycle, fires cannot be stopped altogether, he said, adding that people must not be allowed to build their homes illegally and in a manner that allows them to be in the path of danger.

He told the meeting of a recent aerial reconnaissance of the hillsides in Trinidad and Tobago.

“What we saw was that a lot of the water that was spilling onto the roads because people put gravel and sand in the drains… clogging waterways and causing flooding,” he said, noting that in the past few months, the authorities cleared several waterways only for the situation to be repeated.

“We can’t keep clearing the drains that people are blocking up,” he warned.

The coalition People’s Partnership government has warned that it will adopt a tough stance against those building structures and not following to various codes.

Those “bad developers” would have no choice but to adhere to the standards once the National Spatial Strategy is developed and implemented, said Bhoendradatt Tewarie, the minister of planning and sustainable development.

“When I became minister, I did not want to go for any kind of heavy enforcement because the situation was unclear, the rules were not clear, [and] it was so arbitrary,” he said. Now, he said, once national and regional strategies are in place, “we are going to be very strict about new development and the standards they adhere to.”

“I am not joking about this,” he told IPS.

Tewarie said that 12 new enforcement officers and other officials have already been employed and are in training to “align” enforcement with “the new spatial development strategy and the new regional and community development strategies”.

He has warned that if contractors behave “like citizens who do not care,” then strong action will be taken.

The government intends to introduce a planning and development bill that would focus on “big development”, such as those projects undertaken by the state or private developers. It would also hand local governmental bodies approvals for housing developments in the communities.

The greenhouse option

But even as the authorities grapple with the causes of the floods here, a local marketing and distributing company says it can provide the technology that would allow farmers to produce higher quality and increased food crops throughout the year.

The company says it has teamed up with the U.S.-based Atlas Manufacturing to install affordable greenhouses following requests from farmers who had been exposed to the technology before.

“The farmers told us the problems they were having. They wanted us to retrofit a greenhouse suited to our climate,” said Fareed Rahaman, the technical director within the agricultural and industrial department of the local company M&D.

“[The] greenhouse will have a tonne of opportunities and benefits to farmers,” he told IPS.

Speaking during a demonstration exercise last week, he said a single farmer can produce roughly 1,000 pounds of tomatoes weekly from 1,000 plants, indoor production that significantly outweighs that of the outdoors.

“In the rainy season, what you find is that prices of crops tend to go up. If you want to maintain crops at reasonable prices throughout the year, you would have to go undercover,” he said. He pointed out that during the rainy season, soil nutrients diminish and erosion increases, factors that work against farmers and decrease overall output.

Ricardo Bharath-Hernandez, like most citizens of Trinidad and Tobago, has probably lost count of the millions of dollars being spent to renovate the Greek revival style “Red House” that serves as the parliament building in the oil-rich twin island republic.

In fact, renovation work began more than a decade ago on the building, constructed in 1907 to replace the one destroyed in the 1903 water riots. Recent government estimates put the cost of restoring the original architectural design at 100 million dollars by the time the work is completed in 2015."We have for too long paid only lip service to our multiculturalism." -- Dr. Kris Rampersad

But a few weeks ago, Bharath-Hernandez, who is the head of the Santa Rosa First Peoples Community and can trace his ancestry to the first inhabitants of the Caribbean – the Caribs and the Arawaks – took a renewed interest when workers discovered pottery artefacts and bone fragments possibly linked to the Amerindian heritage dating back to AD 0-350.

Bharath-Hernandez, whose community is 600 strong, has already visited the renovation site in the heart of the capital, Port of Spain, and told IPS he is “prepared to perform the necessary ancestral rituals once it is confirmed that the fragments are indeed Amerindian”.

The discovery has come at a time when the Carib community here is moving to construct a modern indigenous Amerindian Village at Santa Rosa, east of the capital, on the 25 acres of land provided by the government.

“We want to keep the village as authentic and traditional as possible but with all modern day amenities,” Bharath-Hernandez said.

“It will comprise a main centre to be used as a meeting and cultural space which will be located in the centre of the village. Spiritual rituals will also be conducted there. There will also be an official residence for the Carib Queen, Jennifer Cassar,” he added.

Arrangements are now being made to send the bones to France for further analysis.

Last week, the Carib chief and representatives from other indigenous groups here met with officials from Parliament and the Urban Development Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (UdeCOTT), which is carrying out the renovation work.

“We were told that as soon as the results are in we would be called back for another meeting and they will wait on our proposal on how to proceed,” Barath-Hernandez told IPS following the meeting that was also attended by archaeologist Dr. Peter Harris, who had earlier told a local newspaper that the receptacles found in the pits are similar to those used by the Amerindians.

Heritage consultant Dr. Kris Rampersad said the recent finds of skeletal remains and artefacts point to the need for a comprehensive archaeological survey of Trinidad and Tobago.

She is hoping that universities here take the lead to establish an “all-encompassing programme in heritage studies that incorporate research, scientific, conservation, restoration, curatorial and forensic study among other fields that would advance the knowledge and understanding of Trinidad and Tobago’s prehistory and multicultural heritage.

“This also has value to the region and the world. We have for too long paid only lip service to our multiculturalism. The find under the Red House of bones potentially dating to the beginning of this epoch points to the significant need for a proper survey and actions to secure and protect zones that are of significant historical and prehistoric importance,” she told IPS.

Rampersad referred to the neglect by the authorities of another famed Banwari historical site south of here, and hoped that in the case of the discovery at the Red House, history does not repeat itself.

The Banwari Site is said to have been the home of the Banwari man, whose remains date back 7,000 years and which is considered one of the most significant and well-known archaeological treasures of the region.

Discovered some 40 years ago, little has been done to preserve and promote the site.

The Archaeology Centre at the University of the West Indies (UWI) said that in November 1969, the Trinidad and Tobago Historical Society discovered the remains of a human skeleton at Banwari Trace.

“Lying on its left-hand side, in a typical Amerindian ‘crouched’ burial position along a northwest axis Banwari Man was found 20-cm below the surface. Only two items were associated with the burial, a round pebble by the skull and needlepoint by the hip. Banwari Man was apparently interred in a shell midden and subsequently covered by shell refuse.

“Based on its stratigraphic location in the site’s archaeological deposits, the burial can be dated to the period shortly before the end of occupation, approximately 3,400 BC or 5,400 years old,” the UWI noted.

In 1978, Harris hailed the Banwari man as the oldest resident of Trinidad and an important icon of the country’s early antiquity.

“Why, 40 years later, as one of the richest countries in the region, must we be looking to other universities from which to draw expertise when by now we should have full-fledged – not only archaeological, but also conservation, restoration and other related programmes that explore the significance of our heritage beyond the current focus on song and dance mode?” Rampersad asked.

“While scholarly collaborations are important, certainly we could be more advanced, and a leader rather than a follower in these fields in which several other less-resourced Caribbean countries are significantly more advanced,” said Rampersad, who has been conducting trainings across the Caribbean on available mechanisms for safeguarding its heritage.

The discovery at the Red House coincides with recent findings by the U.S.-based National Geographic Genographic Project that the indigenous people may have had strong ancestral links to Africa and to Native American Indians.

Utilising DNA, the U.S.-based organisation tested 25 members of the community in July last year. Bharath-Hernandez says the results will hopefully put to rest questions that have been raised regarding the community’s identity in the past.

The results of the project were released to Bharath-Hernandez late last month by Dr.Jada BennTorres from the University of Pennsylvania.

“We have completed preliminary analysis of the mitochondrial DNA and Y-chromosome (NRY markers). These analyses will tell us about the maternal and paternal lineages of the community members,” wrote BennTorres in her letter thanking the Santa Rosa Karina community for its participation.

She said the findings of the genetic ancestry of community “indicate a complex ancestry that includes Africans, in addition to a very strong Native American ancestral component” and that all of the 25 individuals tested would receive their information at a later date.

Ruth Dreifuss, the former Swiss president and chancellor of the University for Peace, may never have heard of Dennis Ramjattan, and vice versa, although they occupy opposite sides of a longstanding debate in this twin-island state.

“My mother didn’t deserve to die like this,” he told IPS shortly after 70-year-old Carmen Ramjattan was bludgeoned to death on Feb. 20. “My mother never got into any trouble with the law, never even a parking violation. I would like them (the government) to stop talking and put their money where their mouths are.”

The brutal killing was just one of many in Trinidad and Tobago, where drugs and gang-related violence prompted the government to declare a state of emergency in August 2011, and the national security minister ordered the police to stop releasing murder statistics last fall.

While capital punishment remains popular, no one has been executed here since 1999.

But opinions could be slowly changing, at least as far as mandatory application of the death penalty is concerned.

At a debate on abolition at the University of the West Indies (UWI) organised by the British High Commission this week, Dreifuss noted that that “for 100 years slavery was accepted, for 100 years forced labour was accepted, for 100 years torture was accepted.

“If a country is part of an international treaty which does not accept the mandatory death penalty, then it’s something the government of that country should look at,” she added.

The coalition People’s Partnership government of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar needs the support of the opposition to revamp existing legislation so it can try to bypass the London-based Privy Council, the country’s highest court, on hangings.

“The Privy Council has been viewed by some critics as a court that actively frustrates the execution of the death penalty, which, at least nominally, remains on the books of most Caribbean territories, despite very few hangings in recent decades,” said David Rowe, an adjunct professor of law at the University of Miami School of Law and a member of the Jamaica Bar Association.

“In a sharp contrast to Europe, capital punishment often finds wide support from Caribbean voters due in part to high murder rates in the region,” he said.

Writing in the Miami-based Caribbean Journal on Tuesday, Rowe argued that some commentators regard the Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), established in 2001 to replace the Privy Council, “as an institutional strategy to re-introduce hanging”.

In 2011, the Trinidad and Tobago government tabled the constitutional amendment (capital offences) bill which would have provided for different categories of murder.

“It was intended to reserve the death penalty for the most heinous of murders, which is similar to what obtains in the United States where you have murder in varying degrees. So for example, crimes of passion and so on and where you have extenuating circumstances could be dealt with in a different way,” said Attorney General Anand Ramlogan this week.

A 2011 study found that 89 percent of the population in Trinidad and Tobago supports the death penalty, although a majority also believes that judges should have discretion in sentencing. Twenty-six percent favour the current law, which makes the death penalty mandatory for all murders, whatever the circumstances.

Interestingly, 36 percent of those who supported the mandatory death penalty and 54 percent of those in favour of a discretionary system also said that more executions were the least likely policy to reduce violent crime.

UWI Law Faculty lecturer and a member of the Rights Advocacy Project, Professor Arif Bulkan, said that three-quarters of those interviewed did not support the mandatory death penalty after it was explained to them.

The researchers concluded that the findings of the survey, taken in conjunction with two previous studies, strongly supported the abolition of the mandatory death penalty and its replacement by a discretionary system.

The European Union is lobbying countries impose a moratorium as a first step towards abolition. British High Commission political officer here Matt Nottingham acknowledged the EU is on a worldwide campaign to abolish the death penalty, with a strong focus on the Caribbean. Nottingham told the conference the EU’s drive is tied in with its human rights objective.

Law student Antonio Emmanuel strongly opposes the death penalty. “I believe if we have proper sentencing, proper prison systems, proper reform systems in place we can take a better handle on crime,” he told IPS.

A three-dimensional mapping exercise in St. Vincent aims to enhance local awareness of climate change. Participants apply paint to the model. Credit: Asher Andall/IPS

By Peter Richards
KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent, Mar 5 2013 (IPS)

A new weapon in the arsenal against climate change is tapping local knowledge to bridge the policy gap and let communities make their own informed decisions about how to manage livelihoods, natural resources, culture and heritage.

“In the past, most climate change initiatives have been top-down, coming from the government level,” says Martin Barriteau, executive director of Sustainable Grenadines (Sus Gren), a trans-boundary non-governmental organisation committed to the conservation of the coastal and marine environment and sustainable livelihoods for the people between Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.Not only will climate change be costly, it could be the thing that cripples small island economies.

“[But] our communities, especially the ones on the coast, have been witnessing and adapting to the effects of climate changes over time,” he says.

Enter P3DM – participatory three-dimensional modelling, which merges conventional spatial information systems with local people’s own “mental maps” to produce scale relief models that can be used jointly with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS).

Participatory 3D models are manufactured at the village level using paper and layered cardboard. Based on their personal knowledge of the area, informants depict land use and cover and other features on the model by the use of pencils, pushpins (points), yarns (lines) and/or paint (polygons). Once the model is completed, a scaled grid is applied to transpose spatial and georeferenced data into GIS.

For example, the models can bring communities together around priority areas such as flood zones, drought concerns, fish populations and mangrove protection.

The maps are also an educational tool for youth and children. Abdon White, a geography teacher at Union Island Secondary School, told IPS, “One of the first tasks we had, we did the tracing of the contour lines and that enabled us to actually build the P3DM model of Union island.

“One part of the CX syllabus is the map reading section and that they work with contours and distances and it will help them to get a better understanding to working with maps, distances, scales because the whole part of the entire project had to deal with legend and building the key to mapping. The entire exercise will be good for them to improving their overall map skills,” he said, referring to his pupils’ involvement and how he sees it benefiting them in writing the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) exam.

In general, Barriteau says P3DM brings that “sense of awareness of climate change to these communities with the hope that they will be empowered in making decisions about climate which would [then] inform policy decisions”.

Last week, SusGren, in collaboration with the Netherlands-based Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), brought together members of local communities and regional and international organisations on Union Island, one of the Grenadine Islands, for a one-week participatory three-dimensional mapping exercise.

It’s no secret that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Grenada and other Caribbean islands are especially susceptible to the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events, such as hurricanes and floods.

“Impacts of climate change in the Caribbean are projected to include sea level rise, ocean warming, and changing rainfall patterns,” the organisers said in a document circulated at the workshop.

“These are expected to have a significant economic and social impact. Threats from climate change and extreme climatic events are exacerbated by the ongoing problems caused by human development, including inappropriate land use and poorly planned physical development, inappropriate agricultural practices on slopes, point and non-point source pollution including from improper disposal of solid wastes.”

TNC’s “At the Water’s Edge” project focuses on helping small island states enhance their resilience to climate change by restoring and effectively managing their marine and coastal ecosystems and strengthening local capacity for adaptation.

The new mapping technology will aid this project by building local, national and regional capacity to support eco-based adaptation, empowering communities within the pilot sites in Grenada and Union Island, and developing the communications capacity of community-based organisations and NGOs.

On completion of the workshop, participants are expected to be in a position to discuss the value of local spatial and traditional knowledge as well as describe how P3DM can be used to document, geo-reference and visualise local knowledge. The four- by eight-foot model will belong to the community.

“Anyone wanting to use it must first seek the permission from the community. Sustainable Grenadines, which is leading the initiative on Union Island, would be working with the local community to develop ecosystem based solutions to deal with the effects of climate changes,” Barriteau says.

He said a suite of concrete climate change adaptation strategies will emerge from the P3DM initiative, and hopes it will not be viewed as just another overly technical, jargon-laden “fix” that obscures more than it enlightens.

“We hope that P3DM will put communities in the forefront on climate change issues. Not only are they bombarded, most times they are not involved. According to a Caribsave Climate Change study, sea level rise scenario 2050 is estimated at 489 million dollars to the economy of Grenada. Not only will climate change be costly, it could be the thing that cripples small island economies,” he added.

Tyrone Hall, a communications consultant at the Belize-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Climate Change Center (CCCCC), told IPS that the three-dimensional mapping is being done across the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) region on a small-scale, “so sharing our experiences via new media tools such as social media allows us to make public in an accessible way our experience and the lessons learnt.

“We also see social media as a natural fit with this activity given its participatory nature. The CCCCC is in a position to use its broad online social media platforms to share this exercise with a wide audience, particularly given our strong relationship with the Small Island Developing States (SIDS DOCK) Secretariat that includes the Pacific islands,” he added.

Barriteau said that as part of the part of the Union Island P3DM process, a film will be developed that will be shown in other ACP countries while the CTA is “driving this methodology worldwide”.

Grenada will be the next Caribbean country in which the P3DM exercise will be held in April. Organisers says the core problem the project will tackle is that policies to address the impacts of climate change have been created largely without the effective engagement of local communities – from which useful traditional knowledge exists and among whom much of the adaptation action will need to be taken.

“The effect is that policy responses in the Caribbean have largely been at the general policy level, with few specific policies or plans developed to address priorities at the landscape or site level,” they say.

“Sectoral considerations or traditional knowledge have not been adequately considered, stakeholders are not effectively engaged and there has been little on the ground action to build resilience or to ‘climate proof’ key sectors such as tourism and agriculture.”

Scientists and researchers are working together in a new initiative to collect data that will help determine the effects of climate change on coral in the Caribbean Sea.

“We want to know how climate change will impact our corals. So we will measure variables that would impact corals due to climate change,” said Mark Bynoe, senior research economist at the Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC).

Bynoe told IPS that the idea behind the project is to be able to able to monitor parameters that can affect corals from a climatological standpoint, such as increased acidification, sea temperature, and water quality.

The CCCCC has awarded the Florida-based global company, YSI Integrated Systems and Services, a contract for five marine monitoring buoys that will collect high-quality data for researchers studying climate change in the Caribbean Sea.

“Our waters are the bread basket for the region, and we must be diligent in protecting and sustaining them,” Kenrick Leslie, executive director of the CCCCC, said.

The CCCCC has said that climate change is already profoundly affecting the region’s biological and socioeconomic systems. Belize, for example, has substantial natural capital along its cost, including the largest coral reef ecosystem in the Americas, mangrove areas, tropic forests and inland wetlands. The coral reefs are extremely important economically and environmentally.

But since the 1970s, Belize’s coral reefs have felt the impact of a warmer sea. “Live coral cover on shallow patch reefs has decreased from 80 percent in 1971 to 20 percent in 1996, with a further decline from the 20 percent in 1996 to 13 percent in 1999,” the CCCCC noted.

A critical resource

In an address to graduating students of the University of Belize late last month, Leslie described how climate change has affected the country. “We have seen serious degradation in our coral reef system due to warmer sea temperatures, mechanical damage from tropical cyclones, and sedimentation caused by more frequent and intense flooding,” he said.

“These conditions can only be further exacerbated by the further warming of the atmosphere and oceans,” he said, adding that the private sector “would be advised to start thinking about their assets and how climate change may impact them”.

Coral reefs also play an extremely important role in the Caribbean tourism economy, as well as in food production and food security, but they have been adversely affected by rising sea temperatures and pollution.

“There are threats from land based sources, from agrochemicals, pollutants from the tourism sector, threats from the fishing industry where guys moor the boats and drop them on corals as well as the cruise ships. There are also threats from nature,” Bynoe added.

Monitoring environmental conditions in the Caribbean will help researchers track the health of the reefs. This monitoring mirrors similar systems already installed at key reef sites in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The data gathered will help develop climate models and ecological forecasting for coral reefs.

The CCCCC said that the customized buoys will measure, record, and transmit in real-time meteorological and water quality data as the key components of five Coral Reef Early Warning Systems (CREWS). The data gathered will be used by researchers, scientists and non-governmental organisations.

The CCCCC will work with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and YSI to install and operate this network beginning in the spring of 2013.

Regional impact

“The Caribbean is a closed basin, so what happens in Trinidad and Tobago could affect what happens in Cuba,” said Bynoe. “The five stations that we are installing is a contribution to a regional network. These five we believe will capture the variability within the basin. We are basically covering the area necessary…. areas with the most significant corals.”

At the Twelvth International Coral Reef Symposium in Cairns, Australia last year, researchers noted that fast-blooming seaweed is the main reason why the Caribbean’s coral reefs take longer to recover from stress than Australia’s Great Barrier Reef in Australia and those in the Indo-Pacific region.

“Indo-Pacific reefs have less seaweed than the Caribbean Sea,” explained George Roff of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies in Australia, in the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution. The ARC is a leading research centre on coral reefs. One of its studies includes survey data from the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean reefs from 1965 to 2010.

“Many of the doom and gloom stories have emanated from the Caribbean, which has deteriorated rapidly in the last 30 years,” said Peter Mumby, professor at the University of Queensland, Australia. “We now appreciate that the Indo-Pacific and Caribbean are far more different than we thought.”

Dominica hopes geothermal will take a bite out of its 220-million-dollar a year fuel bill. Credit: Courtesy of Government Information Service (Dominica)

By Peter Richards
ROSEAU, Jan 22 2013 (IPS)

What a difference a trip makes. Before visiting the French island of Guadeloupe, Alfred Rolle had vocally expressed fears about the possible health effects of a decision to drill geothermal wells in the village of Laduat on the outskirts of Dominica’s capital.

Now he is singing a different tune after Dominica’s government, which is putting all its proverbial eggs in the geothermal basket, led a delegation over the weekend to the French island to observe the operations of the Bouillant Geothermal Plant there.

”We have spoken to the residents around the immediate area of the plant and they are less than four or five feet away and there is no ill effect about the project here,” Rolle told IPS.

“All the gases are properly contained and even the waste water is properly disposed of,” he said.

Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the earth, but these emissions are much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fuels.

Dominica is currently leading 52 small island developing states in an ambitious bid to cut their carbon emissions a whopping 45 percent over the next two decades – far beyond anything pledged by the world’s richest nations.

Local resident Harris Hodge, who was also on the trip to Guadeloupe, said, “I can say what I have seen here puts to rest any doubt I had about the project back home.”

The endorsements are significant for the Roosevelt Skerrit government, which has spent millions of dollars developing the geothermal project here in the belief that it holds the key for a better socio-economic future for the island’s 100,000 people.

Energy Minister Rayburn Blackmoore, who led the delegation, told IPS that the government intends to implement more safety controls than exist at the 35-year-old plant in Guadeloupe.

“We are in 2013 and there are a number of measures we have taken to deal with the protection of the environment and prevent certain risks and that is why we have engaged the best experts,” he said.

In 2009, the government in collaboration with the Regional Councils of Guadeloupe and Martinique and energy and environmental agencies of the neighbouring French territories, banded together under the Caribbean Geothermal Initiative to undertake a surface investigation study to determine the island’s geothermal potential.

Following the comprehensive geological, geochemical, geophysical and related environmental and feasibility studies, the government said the island had the largest geothermal potential in the Caribbean.

With support from the European Union and the Agence Française de Dévelopement, three test wells will be drilled in the Laudat and Wotten Waven, part of the Roseau Valley area, to determine the potential of geothermal resources.

Prime Minister Skerrit told Parliament recently that his administration planned to construct a 10 to 15 megawatt geothermal plant in keeping with its policy of developing a carbon negative economy by the year 2020.

He said one study has shown that “such a geothermal plant could result in a reduction of electricity bills by 45 to 50 percent”.

“There is a strong likelihood that the plant could be operational by 2014,” he said, as the government announced it had signed an agreement with the Iceland Drilling Company to drill two full-sized geothermal wells in the Roseau Valley area at a cost of 6.7 million dollars. The drilling work is expected to commence by June this year.

But in recent weeks, residents of the villages in the Roseau Valley have been voicing concerns about the project at various community and town hall meetings.

One resident, Adenauer Douglas, himself an electrical engineer, said that while he has always been in support of the geothermal initiative, it “cannot be done in the absence of the people living in the area or an independent Environment Impact Assessment (EIA).

“The lack of inclusion and transparency to date has resulted in the present anxieties. For instance, some of the negative information circulating is the result of indifferent developers elsewhere not working in the best interest of residents and cutting corners on the best practices on health and the environment,” he said in a statement.

However, Douglas added that compared to fossil fuels, geothermal extraction releases far fewer greenhouse gases, about one-sixth less per unit of electricity generated.

“Binary plants, which are closed cycle operations, release minimal emissions. Like hydro and unlike wind or solar, geothermal has 90+ percent availability, with down time assigned to maintenance. Geothermal power is home grown, thus reducing our dependence on foreign oil and saving our country millions.

“As we continue to suffer from sea level rise, coral bleaching, and more ferocious hurricanes triggered by global warming, we in Dominica must be leading world advocates for the reduction of greenhouse gases and a green alternative to development,” he wrote.

Trade and Industry Minister Dr. Colin McIntyre, who is also the parliamentary representative for the area, said “the health concerns of the people of the Roseau Valley are extremely important to us and…we are hearing concerns being raised by the people with reference to poisonous gases, volcanoes, earthquakes and of course the land issue.”

Operations Manager of U.S.-based Geothermal Resource Group, Sam Abraham, one of the many experts brought in by the government to deal with the concerns raised by the residents, said that geothermal plants can exist within populated areas under strict environmental controls.

“We are very confident in terms of the technology that we have, the expertise that we have and the monitoring system that we have that this can be done effectively, safely, and for the betterment of the country,” he told a news conference.

He said that Kenya, for example, is in the process of building a geothermal plant within a national park and it has had no effect on the flora and fauna there.

Rising seas pose a major threat to businesses like this bar located in waters near the Tobago Keys in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Credit: Peter Richards

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Dec 17 2012 (IPS)

As the world’s most tourism-dependent region, with the sector accounting for one in every eight jobs, the Caribbean has much to fear from climate change.

Three years ago, the Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) signed a 1.8-million-dollar agreement with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to enhance climate resilience in the tourism sector, and work towards designating the Caribbean a carbon neutral destination.

Programme coordinator Earl Green told IPS said that the project’s main outcome is the development of a web-based carbon footprinting tool, which provides a common platform for development of tourism sector greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories in the region.

“GHG inventories allow for baseline and future scenarios, which may be used for cross-country comparisons, (and) also represent a key step in planning for low carbon development in the tourism sector across the region,” he said.

The programme was piloted in four countries – The Bahamas, Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and Guyana – that the CCCCC said were chosen because of the strong support from the tourism industries in these countries and also the diversity of their product, including cruises in the Bahamas, scuba diving in Belize, small-scale ecotourism and cultural tourism in Guyana, and resorts in Tobago.

“The pilot project was very successful. We had an exit meeting with the IDB on Monday. It offers lessons for future efforts in more complex tourism markets such as Jamaica and Barbados and for whole island responses as in the case of The Bahamas,” CCCCC’s communication specialist Tyrone Hall told IPS.

“As part of the ongoing mitigation and adaptation thrust undertaken by the Centre, we sought to reduce the carbon footprint of this key economic sector. This included installing motion sensors in hotels to ensure that once they are not occupied utilities aren’t being used, retrofitting buildings to ensure efficiency of things like A/C units and so forth,” he added.

The firm retained by the CCCCC to undertake a consultancy under the Caribbean Carbon Neutral Tourism Program (CCNTP) in its report noted that the identification of mitigation options involved extensive discussions with stakeholders in the tourism sector.

“These discussions have pointed to capacity building as one of the most important GHG mitigation measures for the Caribbean, as ‘knowledge is power’. Stakeholders with the knowledge of carbon accounting and the principles of low carbon tourism/economies are better able to identify approaches to reduce GHGs within the own operations,” Dillon Consulting Limited noted.

The agreement with the IDB called for the development of suitable financing mechanisms, which would be needed to support investments in adaptation and mitigation measures within the tourism sector in order to facilitate climate resilience and carbon neutrality.

It also called for the development of a strategic framework to access the Climate Investment Funds -Strategic Climate Fund (SCF) under its Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), that would attract concessional financial options, including concessional loans, guarantees, grants, and equity enhancements that can be used by the region’s tourism sector for investing in climate resilient infrastructure and services.

Green said it “is especially important to find the appropriate financing mechanisms and associated governance solutions for tourism-related climate change projects”.

“Determining the right mix of policy financing instruments will be crucial and a full range of options should be considered,” he said.

The range of financing instruments available includes grants and concessional loans; carbon offset flows, market rate loans, equity placement and policy incentives such as subsidies and tax credits.

“Much of these mechanisms are most appropriate for large-scale projects, while smaller projects and discreet pilot programme often require one or two funding sources,” Green added.

The CCNTP programme was also piloted in the four Caribbean countries because the CCCCC said it felt there was need to take advantage of the results of the Review of the Economics of Climate Change Studies (RECCS) coordinated by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC).

“With the web-based tool, the pilot countries can now log-in and view their greenhouse gas emissions and even forecast what it will be in the future. The real benefit of the tool is that these countries can now map the carbon footprint of their tourism sector and even compare their performance to other islands,” said Hall.

He told IPS that “once that happens, it opens up opportunities for knowledge transfer and so forth. This tool will be useful for decision-making and planning on a regional and national level as we seek to improve the sector and strengthen other parts of the economy”.

The consulting firm in its report noted that energy efficiency and deployment of renewable energy in the Caribbean accommodation sub-sector are significant sources of potential GHG reductions, and ongoing work in this field has the potential to significantly contribute to the development of low carbon tourism in the Caribbean.

For 21 days Wayne Kublalsingh sat in the scorching sun outside the office of Prime Minister Kamla Persad Bissessar. He sat in support of his belief that constructing a highway in southern Trinidad would damage the environment and affect hundreds of lives in the surrounding area.

On Wednesday night, Kublalsingh, an Oxford graduate and lecturer at the University of the West Indies (UWI), called off his strike as his weight plunged dramatically and the government continued to insist that the 45-kilometre highway, expected to be completed within four years, would be constructed. But the 53-year old environmentalist ended his strike only after being assured that a deal had been brokered to take into account the environmental concerns raised by his Highway Re-route Movement (HRM).

For 21 days, Wayne Kublalsingh did not eat or drink in protest against the construction of a highway in southern Trinidad. Credit: Peter Richards/IPS

Kublalsingh and the HRM have argued that the construction of the 1.1-billion-dollar highway would destroy not only more than 300 homes and 65 oil wells, but also over a dozen communities as well as places of worship. The Oropouche lagoon, a 56-square-kilometre mangrove known for its rich biodiversity, rare butterflies and birds, would be destroyed as well.

“It is going to compromise the agriculture future of the lagoon and it is going to create an embankment and create permanent flooding,” Kublalsingh told IPS. The HRM added that if the present design from Point Fortin to San Fernando is maintained, thousands of acres of fertile lands will also be destroyed.

On Wednesday, the powerful Oilfield Workers Trade Union (OWTU) led a demonstration against plans to cap the 65 oil wells, claiming that no dialogue had been held with relevant stakeholders.

OWTU President General Ancil Roget told IPS that the government is claiming that the wells are no longer productive. Roget, however, countered, “We need to get a report of the potential of those wells and…determine what’s the viability to close off those wells.”

“At the end of the day it will be the oil revenue that will pay for any development and if you cap off wells you will be capping off oil revenue,” he added.

The power of protest

“I feel an enormous gratitude to the people of Trinidad and Tobago,” Kublalsingh told IPS soon after he announced that he had called off his strike. He also said that he was “feeling extraordinarily weak” and needed to see doctors and get blood tests. During his hunger strike, doctors had warned of “multiple organ failure” and at times described Kublalsingh’s health as on a “precipice”.

The deal to end the hunger strike was brokered by the Joint Consultative Council for the Construction Industry (JCC), the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and Nongovernmental Organisations (FITUN), Women Working for Social Progress and the Trinidad and Tobago Transparency Institute (TTTI).

On Monday, following a four-hour round of talks, they reached an agreement on Monday allowing for the appointment of an independent working group to examine concerns raised within a 60-day period.

The agreement included a review of all documentation from state agencies and an invitation to interested parties for written or oral submissions. An assessment will be conducted of the “implications for social, economic and environmental impacts of the highway development”.

JCC president Afra Raymond said as a result of the accord, civil society groups invited Kublalsingh to end his hunger strike “so that we can have his submissions and active participation in this important matter”.

“This is a real advance in the development of our country,” he added, “so we would like all parties to work in good faith within this process.”

Taking sides

But the project and Kublalsingh’s strike have divided both the government and the country.

Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Dookeran called on Prime Minister Persad Bissessar to meet with the environmentalist. He said that while there are both positive and negative aspects of the highway’s construction, the nation should recognise Kublalsingh’s actions.

“Whether right or wrong, (it) stems from a deep conviction of a case for which he seems prepared to die. As a government, we must understand that such a fast emanates from deep spirituality and as such represents the soul of human endeavour,” Dookeran said.

But the national security minister, Austin Jack Warner, was not impressed.

“If some people choose to fast over ten miles of highway and if they believe life is worth ten miles of a highway, then go ahead,” he said, urging the environmentalist to hurry up kill himself “quickly”.

Persad Bissessar, the prime minister, said she would not allow a “few people determine what is good for 300,000 people”.

“My compassion, as painful as it may be, must be going to making the decisions for the benefit of the greater majority of our citizens,” she said in justifying her decision to construct a highway that “would open the south to development”.

But a Roman Catholic priest, Father Clive Harvey, who had been at Kublalsingh’s side during his 21-day vigil, said the issue extends beyond development. He said the environmentalist’s action had been for “transparency and truth and to be able to be able to restore some level of trust to governance in the country”.

Michael Theodore of the Council of Legal Education, in a letter published in the local media, said “whatever the merits of the highway may be, we are now confronting the issue of how we as a people deal with persons who challenge the status quo, who buck the system with a passion and commitment that few of us possess or for which we are prepared to die.

“Dr. Kublalsingh also represents those of us who aspire to hold an independent view or seek to improve our environment, society and even the organisations in which we work. We are often targeted, vilified and ridiculed when those views call for change and challenge the status quo,” he wrote.

But prominent criminal attorney Israel Khan said that Kublalsingh should have been arrested on attempted suicide charges. “It appears that Kublalsingh has a death wish and the DPP (director of public prosecution) must not abdicate his responsibility by ignoring the commission of a criminal offence,” he added.

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers says the controversy underscores the need for a broader review of broadcast legislation in the Caribbean. Credit: pbkwee/cc by 2.0

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Nov 13 2012 (IPS)

Nearly three years after it came to power promising to uphold press freedom, Trinidad and Tobago’s coalition government is under fire for demanding free airtime from local broadcasters.

Both national and international media groups have criticised the move, even as the Kamla Persad Bissessar government insists that these are “not really major issues”.

Under the licensing agreement between radio and television broadcasters and the Telecommunications Authority of Trinidad and Tobago (TATT), the government may use 14 hours of airtime weekly to “reasonably declare any matter or event to be of public interest and require the concessionaire to broadcast”. But the clause has never been invoked, until now.

“This facility we are asking radio and television stations to provide for us will be to give information relating to the operations and the policies of the various ministries, how they are using the resources of the people,” Communications Minister Jamal Mohammed told IPS.

Mohammed said he hopes “good sense” will prevail and the media houses will comply with the government’s wishes to make use of “its time” allocated under the licence agreement.

He dismissed suggestions that the four-party coalition government planned to punish rebellious media houses by withholding advertising, or that the decision to enforce the regulation was to ensure the financial ruin of those considered to be anti-government in their programming.

“Freedom of the press in Trinidad and Tobago is something that we value and hold very highly,” he said. “When the International Press Institute (IPI) had their annual Congress in Trinidad and Tobago in June this year, the prime minister of this country issued a definitive statement and a policy …to respect press freedom and a free media in Trinidad and Tobago and we stand by that very, very sincerely.”

IPI, however, notes that previous governments never utilised the clause, which it argues should only be invoked in cases of national or local emergencies, rather than in the name of the broadly defined term “public interest“.

‘‘All other requests made by the government should be optional. Fundamentally, it should be underscored that the role of private media is not to act as spokesperson for the government. If a government wishes to make its voice heard, it has the option to purchase airtime,” the group said in a statement.

The Association of Caribbean Media Workers says the controversy underscores the need for a broader review of broadcast legislation in the Caribbean.

“The ACM is of the view that while the mandatory broadcasting of government content has been a longstanding practice in the Caribbean, there must be a re-think of its impact as a derogation of press freedom,” ACM president Wesley Gibbings told IPS.

“It might be that broadcasters may wish to concede some ground on this issue, but it must be a matter of negotiation and not coercion,” he added.

Last week, Mohammed met with officials from the Trinidad and Tobago Publishers and Broadcasters Association (TTPBA), the Media Association of Trinidad and Tobago (MATT) and the ACM.

Following the two-hour meeting, MATT’s president Suzanne Sheppard told reporters her organisation’s position on the government’s request “is that we are not at all in favour of this demand for broadcasting entities having to adhere to this requirement”.

She warned that such a development “has implications for the bottom line and the way stations operate”, adding, “we don’t see the measure as really healthy or necessary”.

Asked by IPS if he and the government were now engaged in an exercise of futility, Mohammed replied, “That’s your interpretation, but I have my job to do.”

The government’s push to invoke the law comes amidst what MATT referred to as “vicious unwarranted attacks on working journalists” by senior government ministers in recent weeks.

Last month, National Security Minister Austin “Jack” Warner appeared with other government ministers on a television programme, ironically titled “Democracy is Alive”, and singled out an investigative reporter for criticism.

MATT said the journalist and others “have been doing legitimate media investigations into certain matters and they now find themselves the target of several anonymous emails which have also been circulating on the Internet”.

MATT has also noted the public announcement by Warner of his intention to acquire two newspapers here, noting that in small societies “such as this one, much of the news is based on the government’s activities”.

Mohammed himself wrote a “private and confidential letter” to the head of news at a television station here accusing him and a local newspaper of embarking “on a sad journey to discredit and destroy” the government.

IPI Executive Director Alison Bethel McKenzie said for Mohammed “to engage in this kind of direct intimidation of the media is highly troubling and, unfortunately, indicative of a recent pattern of abuse by Trinidadian government officials against the press.”

In the interview with IPS, Mohammed conceded that he made “a mistake” in writing to the journalist in his personal capacity and not as a government minister.

“That is the mistake I made, when I sent the note I wanted to do it as an individual and I realise now I can’t do that,” he said, noting that “I specifically put at the top (of the letter) not for broadcast, not for publication, for your eyes only, private and confidential”.

In the 1980’s, Caribbean countries wanted to shore up their prospects of social and economic development in the coming decades, so they looked to the financial services sector to spur employment and development. They managed to develop a robust industry, particularly in the Bahamas and the Cayman Islands.

Today, however, the region has been struggling to keep up with evolving international regulations. These challenges come at a high cost, even as proponents of the regulations argue that they are critical in dealing with the global financial and economic crisis.

For at least two years, the international community has pressured the Caribbean, where several countries are well known as tax havens, to shut down its financial centres and implement a number of measures in order to qualify for bilateral aid. Since then, little has changed, delegates at the second meeting of the Caribbean Forum (CARIFORUM) Conference on the International Financial Services Sector in the Caribbean Region, held Oct. 30-31 in Antigua, learned.

Baldwin Spencer, the Antiguan prime minister, said the international community continues to issue “repeated demands that the region should be treated on a level playing field with financial centres in the industrialised economies using the principles of natural justice”.

He said that while the Caribbean has been committed to developing financial services in a “responsible manner and investing in their good supervision and regulation”, developed countries are the ones that have dropped the “regulatory ball”, to devastating effect on the rest of the world.

The Paris-based Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has pushed for restricting, and in some cases, outlawing financial services in the Caribbean, threatening on occasions to blacklist countries that have failed to comply with some of its policies.

Regulations with a purpose

Those who support such regulations say that they are necessary given the current financial climate. The newly appointed head of the delegation of the European Union to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Mikael Barfod, has defended the OECD position, insisting that it is aimed at tackling tax fraud and harmful tax practises.

“In today’s environment with the international financial crisis, the international taxation cooperation between governments and between tax administrations has gained in importance,” he said, noting that since 2009, there has been “major progress” in these areas.

He acknowledged that while Caribbean countries have made an effort to sign a “sufficient amount” of Tax Information Exchange Agreements in order to be fully accepted by the OECD, “there is more to be done in many states and the governance standards defined internationally by G20 and OECD are changing”.

Avinash Persaud, an international expert on the financial services sector and chairman of the London Business School, told IPS that the financial sector “is really quite significant” in Caribbean economies, accounting for as much as 50 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for islands like Barbados and Antigua and Barbuda.

“They represent a major part of tax revenues. Over the past 10 years they have come under tremendous pressure by the larger economies” such as those of London, Zurich, and New York, which are under fiscal pressure themselves with little or no tax revenues and which now want to compete with Caribbean financial centres.

“They are trying to establish a set of global rules which they decide themselves and then impose on us,” said Persaud. “Then they judge whether we are fitting with those rules or not. Judge and jury. It is really ad hoc and it is really designed to close down the international financial centres coming from the Caribbean. It is certainly not a level playing field.”

New standards to follow

Ivan Ogando Lora, the director general of CARIFORUM, which is comprised of the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) bloc and the Dominican Republic, said recent recommendations by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regarding international standards for combating money laundering and financing of terrorism, will also now pose new problems for the region.

“Compliance to international standards now seems to be the order of the day and Caribbean jurisdictions have been making strides in this regard,” he said, noting however, despite the efforts, that Caribbean countries “continue to attract negative attention”.

CARICOM countries have already developed a final draft of a Financial Services Agreement that if approved by mid-2013 would create a single financial space with common legislation, regulations, administrative procedures and practices and will also provide for cross border supervision and harmonisation of standards.

The United States, which has complained in the past of its wealthy citizens using the Caribbean to escape paying taxes, has itself introduced a range of changes to its financial regulatory environment that regional stakeholders fear could also undermine the financial services sector within CARIFORUM.

The Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), for example, would require U.S. tax authorities to levy a 30 percent withholding tax on both foreign and non-financial foreign institutions where new reporting requirements have not been met.

The requirements would affect traditional financial institutions such as retail and commercial banks as well as investment banks, securities and brokerage firms, private banks and wealth management firms that do business in the United States. Any institution doing business with U.S. individuals and entities would have to immediately adopt procedures, processes and systems necessary for FATCA compliance.

Persaud said that this latest strategy underscores the struggle facing the Caribbean in recent years.

“They have essentially moved land and water to try and comply with the new rules and when they do so, the rules then change again and the costs are extremely burdensome. The cost for the Caribbean financial centre complying with international rules is ten times as the per cent of GDP as the cost of the larger rich countries complying with the rules they have set.

“The problem is we can’t abandon the sector because it is an important sector,” he said, urging the Caribbean “to fight a better fight”.

Severe flooding is one of many devastating effects of climate change, as the Caribbean island nation Dominica experienced in 2011. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Peter Richards
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 4 2012 (IPS)

Their speeches did not grab international headlines like that delivered by U.S. President Barack Obama, nor did other delegates walk out as they spoke, as was the case for Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

But Caribbean Community (CARICOM) leaders are nonetheless hoping that their united front on the environment at the just concluded United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) will spur the international community to take them and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) much more seriously.

“The islands of our planet are at war against climate change, warming temperatures and rising seas,” St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves told delegates. “This war is not a future event, it is a present-day and ongoing battle… the survival of our islands is at stake.”

Caribbean countries are hoping that by the time the international community gathers in the Pacific in 2014 for the Third International Conference for the Sustainable Development of SIDS, there will be progress on a number of recommendations that, for instance, emerged from the Rio+20 conference held in Brazil earlier this year.

“The failure to date to reach a legally binding outcome on climate change is cause of grave concern,” said Dominica’s U.N. Ambassador Vince Henderson. “While the debate continues, the challenges to our islands are becoming greater.”

Figures released by the Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) show that over the last decade, damage from intense climatic conditions has cost the region in excess of half a trillion dollars.

“In real terms, the threats posed to the Caribbean region’s development prospects are severe and it is now accepted that adaptation will require a sizeable and sustained investment of resources,” Jamaica’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Roberts Pickersgill told a community-based climate change workshop in Kingston on Tuesday.

Barbados-based environmental resource management specialist Sandra Prescod Dalrymple agrees that while the international community should feel an obligation to support the Caribbean, it also a fact that the developed countries “are growing less willing to do so”.

“The region needs to draw on its own resourcefulness and pursue innovative financing in climate change efforts. It is clear that we are being impacted by climate change and that our economic earning sectors are suffering as a result this would only worsen,” she told IPS.

Antigua and Barbuda recently joined other small island states at the Summit of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), to send the message that they cannot wait “for our lands to disappear before we act”.

“We must act now to respond to the climate crisis, and ensure that not a single country is sacrificed, no matter how small,” said the island’s Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer.

“There is coral bleaching beyond the depths of our shores, and hurricanes are becoming more recurrent and severe,” he said, adding “it is my government’s hope that the selfish act of inaction will dissipate in Doha (Round of Negotiations) and that a positive outcome in climate change negotiations will usher in new hopes for humanity and compassion for our planet.”

St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas said he was troubled that the main contributors of greenhouse gases were still not taking responsibility for the coastal degradation, coral reef bleaching and decimation, infrastructure damage and loss of lives that their actions have wrought.

“The physical, mental and financial burden that other countries’ energy usage has inflicted on countries like mine has been enormous – plunging us deeper into debt, and severely frustrating our efforts to meet our Millennium Development Goals,” he told the UNGA.

“While a shift to renewable energy will not instantly solve the myriad problems caused by a significantly fossil-fuel based global economy, the embrace of green energy will, indeed, help to halt the intense downward spiral into which our fossil-fuel based economies have thrust our planet,” Douglas said.

Guyana, which has entered into a multi-million-dollar agreement with Norway to implement an “avoided deforestation” plan, said that despite “strong scientific and economic case for action, the global response to the climate crisis falls far short of what is required both in terms of scale and in urgency”.

President Donald Ramotar said that the projected level of reduction of greenhouse gas emissions is much too low and that scientists have warned of catastrophic consequences if the rise in greenhouse emissions is not halted.

“Already some states are facing imminent extinction. To add insult to injury, the promise of fast-start financing made at Copenhagen (Denmark), a few years ago, has not materialised,” he noted. “The result is that those most at risk are effectively deprived of the means to adapt to this existential threat.”

But Prescod Dalrymple believes the Caribbean should continue to focus on building resilience and find novel ways of accessing the resources to do so.

“The onus should not only be on governments but the private sector needs to step up and be fully engaged. We need to engage technology, train and re-train our workforce and make use of our large population of youth that are looking for career opportunities and decent work,” she told IPS.

“I support public private partnerships and would wish that the region would move towards mandating standards and operating procedures to build climate resilience in new and existing ventures,” she added.

Caribbean countries have also stressed the importance of extending and amending the Kyoto Protocol before it lapses at the end of this year.

The Kyoto Protocol is an international agreement linked to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The major feature of the accord is that it sets binding targets for 37 industrialised countries and the European community for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions .These amount to an average of five percent against 1990 levels over the five-year period 2008-2012.

Barbadian Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Maxine McClean said her island welcomes the decision taken in Durban to launch negotiations on a new legally-binding agreement that would take effect after 2020.

But, she said, a post-2020 agreement is meaningless “if ambitious actions are not taken now to reduce global emissions and provide finance and technology to vulnerable developing countries.

“This is essential if we are to adapt to the ever worsening impacts of climate change. The upcoming Climate Change Conference in Doha must, therefore, prioritise the pre-2020 actions necessary to ensure that the world is on track in 2020 to meet the below two degree or 1.5 degree globally agreed goals.”

P.J. Patterson, the former Jamaican prime minister, has had a long relationship with the European Union.

During his tenure as his country’s foreign minister, he served as president of the African, Caribbean and Pacific -European Union (ACP-EU) Ministerial Council and led negotiations for the ACP group with the EU. He also played a pivotal role in forging an agreement on the basic framework for the original Lome Convention that was signed in 1975.

So last week, when Patterson delivered the second Caribbean Academy for Law and Court Administration (CALCA) lecture on “International Law, World Trade Organization (WTO) – Interface with the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), it was clear that his words would resonate far beyond the Hall of Justice.

Ironically, the lecture was being held at the same time that the Caribbean Forum of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (CARIFORUM) and the EU convened the Second Meeting of the Trade and Development Committee (TDC) under the EPA, which both sides later described in a joint statement as “successful”.

But while Patterson acknowledged that his remit did not oblige him to engage in a detailed examination of the EPA, he nonetheless pointed out some “startling differences” between the negotiating framework and outcomes, previously outlined for Lomé and EPA which was concluded in 2008.

While in most nations the application of the agreement is “currently provisional”, he said, even the least “sceptical person or most difficult juror to persuade” must by now realise that the determination of EU to create regional EPAs was for one single purpose.

“To dismantle the formidable arsenal of the ACP combined, to fragment its collective power and then defeat us one by one,” Patterson argued, adding “suffice it to be reminded that none of the other six ACP Groups, each negotiating separately, has yet concluded a comprehensive EPA to accord with the EU’s allotted time-frame.

“In all the other regions, limited Interim Agreements covering mainly trade in goods have been initialed and/or are still the subject of negotiation in efforts to conclude full EPAs,” he said, recalling earlier pronouncements that the EPA is a legally binding international treaty.

“It purports to be of indefinite duration. So too did the Sugar Protocol of 1975, which has now been abrogated unilaterally (by the EU). It seems to go well beyond the realms of trade and economic relations to encompass issues of shared sovereignty and areas of supranational governance,” Patterson said.

He said that storm clouds have begun to appear, making references to the rate and pace of tariff adjustments in the face of existing budgetary requirements and tight fiscal constraints; the absence of funding obligations as part of EPA that were reflected in the European Development Fund (EDF) as part of the Cotonou Agreement, and what he refers to as “an area of great potential – services” while asking the question “who will really qualify for access from the Caribbean?

“Link that to the requirement for EU firms to receive the same treatment as local or regional firms. The concept of proportionality has been thrown out of the window. Indeed, some are more equal than others. Inequality is evident – no visas are required for entry in most of our countries – while we need a Schengen Visa or UK Permit to step foot on European soil.”

Patterson said the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) will need to address without further delay “such issues as investment, competition policy and government procurement to avert the danger of undertaking obligations or conferring rights on others that do not yet exist within the Community but already fall within the framework of the EPA”.

The St. Kitts-Nevis government has already signalled its intention to seek an extension in implementing certain measures under the EPA.

Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas, in a local radio interview last week, said his administration would be approaching the European authorities on the accord that allows for the removal of tariffs and import duties on goods traded between European and CARIFORUM countries.

St. Kitts and Nevis is among the eight Caribbean countries that have not yet removed tariffs from goods coming into the country from the EU under the agreement.

“We would always be mindful of our international obligations and in bilateral and multilateral situations involving the EPA,” Douglas said, adding, “What I would say is that before we can just simply and dramatically hurt ourselves, the appropriate economic analysis will have to be done.”

His International Trade, Industry and Commerce Minister Dr. Timothy Harris said recently that the government would have to deal with the loss of revenue as a result of the removal of the tariffs.

“Naturally we would be very concerned about the loss of revenue from the tariff that we would normally collect and we make sure as we implement these we find other ways to make up the shortfall in revenue,” Douglas said.

“We just can’t say we’re doing it and hurt ourselves without knowing how we are going to have the appropriate corrective measures introduced,” he said, adding that he does not contemplate introducing any new taxes to make up the shortfall.

According to the joint statement issued at the end of the CARIFORUM-EU meeting here over the weekend, the committee crafted a number of joint decisions for adoption by the Second Meeting of the Joint CARIFORUM-EU Council (JC), which will be held in Brussels on Oct. 26.

But the statement also noted that “while there was agreement on submitting certain items for endorsement by the JC, some issues will be subject to further negotiations as they were not resolved”.

The statement noted that with respect to development cooperation, CARIFORUM reiterated its commitment to regional cooperation and integration, and that projects have been identified with respect to 82 percent of resources under the Regional Indicative Programme of the 10th EDF.

But CARIFORUM also warned that the action of the EU in the area of differentiation impacts on the region’s capacity to implement the EPA.

The statement said that while the EU “took note” of the CARIFORUM concerns, there was agreement that the upcoming JC would allow for “an opportunity to exchange views on the implications of differentiation for the region’s economic development and its capacity to implement the EPA”.

But as Patterson warned, what has become evident is that within CARIFORUM there is the need to create “the range of skills necessary to engage in the proper interpretation of the EPA, the enforcement of the provisions, the settling of disputes which are bound to arise”.

The Caribbean is subject to regular climate-related disasters, as Dominica experienced in 2011. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Peter Richards
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, Sep 6 2012 (IPS)

As governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) that groups seven countries, Sir Dwight Venner is all too aware of the low economic growth, debt and financial instability confronting the wider Caribbean.

He told IPS that the region has stressed to international lending agencies such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that “unless there is economic growth, the other two cannot resolve themselves.

“So they have responded to that by having this conference where the emphasis is on growth. But what we want from them is some view on how the growth problem is tackled,” he said.

The IMF, in collaboration with the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), organised a two-day high-level forum bringing together regional finance ministers, central bankers and journalists, hoping to get to the “root” of the financial problems affecting the Caribbean.

“We need to get to the root of why growth has been elusive….It will be important to ensure that growth is inclusive and does not only benefit a privileged few. We need to pay attention to those that may be left behind and improve the social safety net systems. This applies especially to the high level of unemployed youth in the region,” said IMF Deputy Managing Director Min Zhu.

He said the two-day event which ended Wednesday provided the opportunity to exchange views on how the Caribbean is navigating the current global economic crisis.

“Downside risks continue to be high, reflecting delayed or insufficient policy action, including in the eurozone and the United States. In addition, growth prospects in emerging market countries have weakened and commodity exporters are vulnerable to declining prices,” said Zhu, a former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China.

CDB president Dr. Warren Smith said the Caribbean needs fresh ideas and novel approaches to its future socio-economic development.

“We need private sector and donor agencies at the table. We need to find appropriate solutions. During the talks over the next few days, we will embrace the broader international spectrum,” he said.

Newly appointed Trinidad and Tobago Finance Minister Larry Howai argued that the only way out of the financial challenges is for regional governments to “tighten their belts” and instil fiscal discipline.

Jamaica, which is now seeking to enter into a new Standby Agreement (SBA) with the Washington-based financial institution, said the IMF should recognise the need for flexibility in its adjustment programmes.

An IMF negotiating mission is due in Jamaica on Sept. 25, and Finance Minister Dr. Peter Phillips, who is hoping to conclude the new SBA accord by year end, said overall, Caribbean countries appreciated the effort being made to look at specific effects of the global crisis on small states and to define a particular understanding of the structure of these economies and the implications for adjustment programmes.

“I think this represents an advance in the thinking of the Fund; they have already had a discussion in the Asia-Pacific region where there is another significant aggregation of small states and now on the Caribbean,” he said.

“They are proposing to develop a specific policy fund to this from the Fund’s point of view and this represents an important development among the international financial institutions. We welcome that,” he said, noting that the Caribbean must also play its part to deal with the situation.

“These include our reliance on tourism, the fact that we are in a particular climatic zone and subject to regular climate-related disasters which will have an impact on adjustment, the fact that there are socio-economic conditions, the distribution of wealth and income,” he added.

During the closed-door “strictly confidential” meeting, delegates were given firsthand accounts of the economic situation in Latvia and Ireland, with the IMF indicating that both countries “have success stories to tell about economic growth and lowering foreign debt that could be beneficial to the Caribbean region”.

At the end of the meeting here, the IMF said that the Caribbean region has important strengths on which it can build, noting that “political stability, strong investor protections, and observance of the rule of law have made it an attractive destination for investment”.

A communiqué issued at the end of the meeting said that the regional countries “are working to strengthen their economies” as they gradually recover “after a deep recession”.

“Commodity-exporters are benefitting from still-favourable global conditions, but tourism- and services-dependent economies remain adversely affected by the tepid recovery in advanced economies.”

But the IMF warned that low growth remains a key challenge for the region, adding that decisive reforms to boost competitiveness and private sector investment are of the essence.

“In particular, policymakers are encouraged to continue focusing on lowering relative (domestic vs foreign) costs of goods and services to foster exports and reduce external current account deficits. Reforms to address structural impediments will also help in that regard.

“Although the implementation of such reforms is challenging in the short term, in the long run they could bring undoubted benefits for the economies of the Caribbean and help create jobs,” the IMF said, adding that countries with high debt ratios would benefit from pursuing fiscal adjustment steadfastly.

But the international lending agency acknowledged that the challenge to achieve sustainable growth in the region calls for a broad-based collaborative approach.

“Multilateral financial institutions as well as donor partners will need to work closely and coordinate their assistance to maximise the benefits to the region. This could perhaps include credit enhancement for transformational growth prospects.”

Saul Izondo of the IMF Western Hemisphere Department, told reporters that forum provided for “a fruitful exchange of views…some of which provided important food for thought and participants recognised the desirability of a deeper and ongoing regional policy dialogue.”

Venner said that the ECCB countries have “a considerable strategy” for dealing with the matter, noting that “when this (global financial) crisis came we accelerated the move towards an economic union and as you know that is very well advanced”.

The nine-member Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is pushing harder for regional integration with the launch of a new parliamentary forum that it says will play a major role in its efforts to establish an economic union.

“If the OECS Economic Union, and one of its principal organs – the OECS Assembly – are to guide us in overcoming the obstacles to growth and development, then it cannot be the ‘talk-shop’ that our people mock so derisively,” host Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer said at the launch over the weekend.

He said the value of the OECS Assembly as a forum for regional dialogue cannot be overstated, insisting that he expects “robust debate in this Chamber on the direction that regional integration should take.

“The OECS Assembly will perform a vital democratic function: it will monitor and debate the implementation of the OECS Economic Union, bringing to bear the views of representatives from constituencies all across the Union,” he told the inaugural session on Friday night.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines legislator Rene Baptiste, who was elected as the Assembly’s first speaker, reminded regional legislators that “we have serious work to do.

“This is our occasion to write our history with our own hands and in our own words,” she said of the work of the Assembly, which will comprise five legislators from each independent member state and three from the legislatures of each non-independent country, with representation from both the ruling administration and the political opposition.

It will meet at least twice annually and is one of five principal organs established by the Revised Treaty of Basseterre establishing the Economic Union. Its most important function is to be a consultative body to enhance regional dialogue on the critical issues of integration and development and to make proposals to the OECS authority for the enactment of regional legislation binding on all member states.

Spencer reminded the Assembly of the failure of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) initiative named the Assembly of Caribbean Community Parliamentarians (ACCP) which he said “fell into disuse even before it started”, adding its failure “should be a subject for early reflection by the OECS Assembly”.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves, who is also chairman of the sub-regional grouping, said the Assembly should not be regarded as “an intellectual or academic pursuit” and that hoped it would serve as a venue where all legislators would engage in a “profound consultative process in decision making hopefully that would evolve into actual law making and direct elections in the not too distant future”.

Gonsalves said that the configuration of the regional integration process was now changing and the sub-region, comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Montserrat, St. Kitts-Nevis, Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, must not be complacent.

“Do not for one moment think that we cannot suffer reversals in our subregional integration movement,” Gonsalves said.

“To be sure we have made immense progress since the original Treaty of Basseterre was signed in 1981. Our Revised Treaty of Basseterre of 2012 has made a quantum leap in regional governance and the creation of a single economic space, but challenges abound,” he said, noting that the global economic and financial crisis could have a serious effect on the socioeconomic development of the sub-region.

St. Kitts Nevis Opposition legislator Mark Brantley, who spoke on behalf of the sub-regional opposition grouping, used the occasion to plead for a more democratic process in the region.

He assured that while the cause of regional integration has the full support of the parliamentary opposition region, it was important to be accepted as “equal partners in the deepening and strengthening of our integration process”.

He warned against making the new Assembly a “forum for high sounding words and lengthy speeches when the harsh realities at home militate against good governance and democracy.

“Good governance at home has to be a prerequisite of good governance regionally. The parliamentary opposition cannot be included at the OECS Assembly in St. Johns but ignored or marginalised in Basseterre, Roseau, Road Town or The Valley,” Brantley said.

Brantley said that it is a matter of “tremendous regret” that some of the OECS countries still do not have Integrity in Public Life legislation or Freedom of Information legislation to give the populace a mechanism “to rein in the base impulse of governmental corruption.

“From Antigua to St. Kitts to Dominica to St. Lucia to St. Vincent… it seems that each round of elections is met by an equally acrimonious and expensive round of litigation,” said Brantley, noting that these election petitions prolong the electioneering well beyond the election cycle with its attendant debilitating effect on the psyche of the Eastern Caribbean people.

“In short, we must commit ourselves to strengthening our democratic traditions which makes us all strong at home and even stronger regionally,” he told the regional legislators.

Ian McKnight, executive director of the Caribbean Vulnerable Communities Coalition (CVCC), used one word – “tokenistic” – to sum up his perspective on the 19th International AIDS Conference that ended here over the weekend.

Addressing the final session of the six-day event, McKnight said while “hubs” were important for allowing delegates to voice their opinions in small gatherings, these same delegates were not given the same opportunity at gatherings attended by scientists, officials and other major stakeholders.

The Caribbean has the second highest incidence of HIV/AIDS after sub-Saharan Africa. McKnight said he was disappointed that the conference had excluded vulnerable populations, such as drugs users and sex workers, from making their position known.

U.S. President Barack Obama lifted a travel ban on HIV-positive travelers, but some sex workers say they were denied visas to attend the conference.

“It is nothing short of an abomination that they have been excluded from this conference …we need their voices and their issues here with us at this conference.

“So these half baked attempts at including people who use drugs and sex workers are tokenistic and it must stop now,” he said to loud applause.

Prior to the official start of the conference, the executive director of the Barbados-based Caribbean Media Broadcast Partnership (CMBP), Dr. Allyson Leacock, said that while the Caribbean media had adopted a significant role in educating and informing the public about the HIV/AIDS epidemic, she was also fearful that the conference would sideline Caribbean concerns.

She said the challenge for the Caribbean is that its population is so small and donors and other agencies “tend to use these numbers when HIV has the same potential to decimate the region”.

Jamaica’s health minister, Dr. Fenton Ferguson also appealed to the international community not to cut back on aid to the region as it deals with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“The move to make funding decisions based on limited criteria such as World Bank country rankings without wider economic and potential impact assessments will be judged as an error by history if allowed to stand.

“These decisions threaten the very lives of the people we have just saved, “he said, adding that Jamaica, and the region as a whole, “cannot go it alone from here”.

“We need the continued support of our international development partners, who if they abandon us now, in the words of Michele Sidebe (UNAIDS executive director) would be making a decision to let HIV regain a foothold and flourish in Jamaica and they would be making a decision to abandon the next generation of children to HIV,” he said.

Ferguson said a recent study indicates that Jamaica would need 30 million dollars annually by 2030 compared to 15 million annually today to sustain its HIV programmes.

“We could therefore see a doubling of the cost to the response if the investments to mitigate its impact are not made now,” he said, adding “today Jamaica, like many other countries, is concerned about the potential impact of the global financial crisis on the sustainability of its national response to HIV”.

McKnight said cutting back was not an option, adding that all the progress being touted at the conference “would be doomed to failure if we do not have the funding to do this work”.

“None of it, none of it can ever happen without serious commitments and so we call again on our governments and say renew your calls to take ownership for this response and to make the investment necessary and to end AIDS,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said more than 150 million dollars in new U.S. spending initiatives geared toward leveraging progress against AIDS already achieved through new drug treatments, programmes to stop mother-to-child transmission of HIV and the preventive effect of expanded voluntary male circumcision.

But there were suggestions here that the US funds were geared more towards Africa than the Caribbean.

In a report titled “Together We Will End AIDS” released ahead of the conference, UNAIDS noted that AIDS-related deaths in the Caribbean have declined by almost 50 percent in 10 years.

AIDS-related deaths fell to about 10,000 in 2011, nearly half of the figure for 2001, in the almost 30 years since the start of the AIDS epidemic.

“This is in large part due to the relatively high antiretroviral treatment coverage of 67 percent for the Caribbean as a whole. At present 230,000 people are living with HIV in the Caribbean. The estimated number of persons who were newly infected with the virus last year was 13,000,” the report said.

UNAIDS said that about 1,100 children became infected with HIV in the Caribbean in 2011, the majority in the Dominican Republic and Haiti, which together comprise 68 percent of the region’s HIV epidemic.

UNAIDS said that many of the member countries of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) “are close to achieving elimination targets for the prevention of mother to child transmission (PMTCT).”

But there is need for caution. “We don’t want people to think that the AIDS epidemic is over because we have eight million people in treatment,” UNAIDS deputy executive director Paul De Lay told IPS after participating in a panel discussion on “HIV/AIDS and the News Agenda – Implications for Ending the Epidemic”.

“We need to work with the media to ensure that we are putting the right spin on the data,” De Lay said, noting that while it is important to note that eight million people were receiving medical treatment for the virus, “underneath that figure is a lot of people who are not getting treatment”.

Professor of gender studies at the University of Michigan, Dr. Neisha Haniff, told IPS that Caribbean countries need to ensure that data presented on the epidemic in the region adequately cover all categories of people, particularly women.

“I think what is happening is we are not paying as much attention to women and the categories of women and the numbers and the infection rate,” she said.

“We are using old information we need to generate new information and include groups that are difficult to access,” she said, emphasising the need “to continue the focus on women even though we are paying attention to other marginalised groups”.

Guyana is on track to become the first country in the Caribbean to completely end mother-to-child HIV transmission.

“Guyana’s approach has worked. We have seen the prevalence of HIV in pregnant women falling from three to five per cent to 0.18 percent and the general population prevalence falling from three to five per cent to 0.8 and one percent,” said former health minister Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.

The Eurozone crisis and growing influence of countries like China and Brazil are leading the Caribbean to reassess its dependence on traditional trade and aid partners.

Following a three-day annual summit of the Caribbean Community (Caricom) over the weekend, Barbadian Prime Minister Freundel Stuart called for more diverse and active engagement, including stronger ties with fellow nations of the South, than the bloc has pursued previously.

There is “a new sensitivity to the need to treat foreign policy more seriously”, he concluded.

While not foregoing relations with longstanding partners in Europe and North America, a consensus emerged among Caribbean leaders that it is time to re-evaluate the region’s vulnerable position on issues such as trade and climate change, and seek new strategic allies.

“The global economy is undergoing rapid structural changes, including the fact that growth is driven today by new and emerging centres of economic activity. These include countries that are geographically proximate to ours such as Brazil, and with which we have historically strong relations such as China,” said Guyana’s President Donald Ramotar.

“Our region must respond to these realities by developing closer ties with these countries and also by exploring new frontiers of opportunity for beneficial bilateral relations,” he added.

St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Dr. Kenny Anthony has said that he will use his six-month stint as chairman of the 15-member grouping to re-direct the region’s foreign policy to better reflect current realities, including that the prospects for global growth will be largely determined by decisions made in Beijing.

Anthony noted that China is on course to become the world’s largest economy in the next few years, as well as being a superpower in its own right. With 60 percent of the global population residing in Asia, along with 22 percent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), it made sense for the Caribbean to look in that direction.

Latin America and Africa also provide opportunities for the Caribbean in areas like trade, tourism, technology, education and cultural fusion.

The new foreign policy initiative by the Caribbean is perhaps also driven by the new direction of the European Union (EU), which according to the Caricom Secretary General Irwin La Rocque could result in some Caribbean countries being deprived of much needed funds for development projects as Europe contemplates graduating the region out of access to the current level of funding.

“This latest situation is added to the fact that the flows of development assistance to Caricom countries have been decreasing and at least in the short term will continue to do so,” he said blaming the global contraction in bilateral aid on problems in the Eurozone.

“We are all aware that Europe now faces an economic crisis of unprecedented proportions. Europe will never be the same again. We need not be naive of the likely impacts that these may have on future assistance from the European Union,” Anthony noted.

The Caribbean leaders were addressed by the secretary general of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) grouping, Dr. Mohammed Ibn Chambas, who noted that Europe’s “Agenda for Change” launched last year outlines a new framework for EU development policy in the years ahead.

“The aim is to streamline the EU’s development assistance and to ensure greater effectiveness and development impact in light of recent economic and geopolitical changes,” he said, noting that a major concern in this connection has been the new discourse on ‘differentiation’, by which the EU is seeking to remove high middle income countries and countries with a gross domestic product (GDP) larger than one percent of total global GDP from its Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI).

“We are aware that Europe itself is facing an unprecedented fiscal crisis. It seems clear that they are determined to rationalise the deployment of financial transfers to developing countries in a manner that could significantly undermine resource flows to high middle-income countries, many of which are in the Caribbean.

“We at the Secretariat have strenuously sought to explain to our European colleagues that over-reliance on blanket GDP figures do not tell the full story of poverty in our countries. Nor does it do justice to crucial challenges such as climate change and the structural vulnerability of many of our apparently more affluent ACP countries,” Chambras added.

He said global re-alignments and major shifts in EU policy orientations have given rise to concerns of possible downgrading of the importance of the ACP-EU Partnership, noting that “the EU’s neighbourhood focus with regard to Eastern Europe and North Africa, and its rapprochement with Latin America and the general thrust of its development policy re-orientation has led to some anxiety among our ACP members”.

There’s an old African saying, Chambras said: “’When the music changes, so does the dance’. Clearly, the music is changing not only in Europe but also globally.”

It’s the type of honour roll that journalists would prefer not to be on.

But as an emotional Allison Bethel-McKenzie read out the names of the 72 journalists who have made that grim list so far this year, even Trinidad and Tobago’s president, George Maxwell Richards, was moved to plead for “some form of internationally recognised immunity” to lessen the risks to journalists while doing their jobs.

“From Somalia to Syria, the Philippines to Mexico and Iraq to Pakistan, reporters are being brutally targeted for death in unparalleled numbers,” Bethel-McKenzie, executive director of the International Press Institute (IPI), told the Austria-based organisation’s 61st World Congress here.

President Richards, in his address to the opening ceremony Sunday, acknowledged that while the media plays a critical public role, “the risks for media personnel are ever increasing, as they are for diplomats, in a changing world environment which does not guarantee safety.

“Perhaps the time has come for some form of internationally recognised immunity to be agreed, such as that afforded agencies such as the Red Cross, so that the risks to journalists may be minimised, if not eradicated,” he said.

Bethel-McKenzie noted that last year was the second-worst on record, with 102 journalists killed, only surpassed by 2009, with 110 deaths.

“It is deeply disturbing that in a year still massively impacted by the once-unimaginable, the overthrow of brutal Arab regimes through people and media power, journalists are dying on the job in record numbers,” she said.

The IPI official said that the most lethal country in the world for journalists so far this year has been Syria, where a largely-peaceful Arab Spring uprising has morphed into a violent conflict.

“So far in 2012 a total of 20 journalists and citizen reporters, both foreign and local, have been killed in Syria. Two of the foreign journalists killed died in shelling that reportedly zoned in on their makeshift media bureau which was emitting traceable satellite signals. Local reporters have been savagely eliminated. Many have been brutally tortured.”

She said that the media killings in Syria have made the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) one of the two most dangerous regions in the world for reporters in 2012, with a total of 22 journalists killed.

Although the death rate appears to have receded in Libya, and no journalists have yet been killed in 2012 in Iraq – where dozens died in a single year following the 2003 invasion – in Bahrain, a cameraman was shot dead covering protests and in Lebanon, another cameraman suffered the same fate as he filmed on the Lebanese-Syrian border.

“Throughout the Middle East and North Africa journalists continue to be targeted for assault, arrest, harassment and intimidating criminal defamation suits, including in countries where things are supposed to be getting better such as Tunisia. In Egypt the army has continued to display the brutality that typified it under the Mubarak regime,” she said.

Bethel-McKenzie said that the situation also remains grim in Asia where 22 journalists have been killed so far this year, and it “shares with the Middle East and North Africa the dubious distinction as one of the two most lethal regions in the world for journalists in 2012”.

According to the IPI official, the third most deadly region in the world for journalists in 2012 is Latin America, where 14 journalists have been killed so far.

At the head of the pack is Mexico, which last year was the most dangerous country on earth for journalists. So far this year, six reporters have been slain in Mexico.

Bethel-McKenzie broke down as she related the incident leading to the death of a female journalist in Mexico whose work had focused on drug-related violence and alleged links between cartels and state and local politicians.

“One of her last articles covered the arrest of nine policemen suspected of colluding with traffickers,” she said, noting that journalists were also killed in Honduras and Ecuador.

IPI noted that “Ecuador appeared to be taking its cue from Venezuela where press freedom has gravely deteriorated over recent years amid moves by the government to silence critical independent media voices through lawsuits, new legislation, vilification and harassment.”

In sub-Saharan Africa, Somalia remains the most lethal country for journalists. Six have been killed there since the beginning of the year. Gunmen also killed journalists in Nigeria, which has seen a surge in violence linked to Boko Haram militants.

“Across the African continent like in other parts of the world, journalists faced not just the threat of death but that of criminal defamation, terrorism and sedition charges, assault, torture, unfair trials on trumped-up charges, unlawful imprisonment, harassment and various other forms of intimidation.”

But she said amid the gloom, there has been a bright spot with Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf pledging to work toward the repeal of criminal defamation laws in her country, becoming the second African head of state to do so after Niger’s President Mamado Issuefoo in November 2011.

This is the first occasion that the IPI World Congress is being held in the Caribbean and Bethel-McKenzie said that in Cuba, repression of the independent media continued despite the release last year of all the remaining journalists in prison.

She noted that the global financial crisis has also taken its toll on the profession, with reporters being laid off, bureaus closed, advertising revenue falling and news budgets shrinking.