Barbados Minister Shantal Munro-Knight talks about driving climate finance and resilience at COP29. Credit: Aishwarya Bajpai/IPS

By Aishwarya Bajpai
BAKU, Nov 18 2024 (IPS)

“This Finance COP has to deliver. I think this is a crucial moment for the COP process,” said Shantal Munro-Knight, Barbados Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office.

Barbados, a nation at the forefront of climate advocacy, continues to push boundaries at COP29, the so-called Finance COP. Knight shared her views on the state of negotiations, the urgency of climate finance, and the innovative solutions her country is championing.

She expressed cautious optimism but acknowledged the slow pace of progress.

“We have some delegations already engaged, but at the same time, we haven’t moved fast enough. There’s still so much to work out—whether on quantum, structure, or trust deficits. Without clear and actionable commitments, we risk falling short of what’s truly needed.”

Barbados has been a key player in securing the Loss and Damage Fund, a significant achievement in global climate diplomacy. Yet Knight’s reflections on its progress reveal a mix of frustration and concern.

“A year later, I’m a little bit disappointed and frustrated, to be honest. We need USD 700 billion, and we’re not anywhere near that amount for the Loss and Damage Fund. There hasn’t been the level of commitment required to capitalize and operationalize it.”

The minister also highlighted how slow mitigation efforts exacerbate the need for adaptation, which, in turn, inflates costs for vulnerable nations like Barbados.

“Things are not moving as quickly as we need on the mitigation front. That means adaptation becomes more expensive for us. And because we’re not getting the scale of finance for adaptation, more of it ends up being pushed into loss and damage.”

Despite global inertia, Barbados has been proactive, innovating to address climate challenges head-on. Knight detailed some of these groundbreaking efforts.

“We’ve introduced initiatives like debt-for-climate swaps, our Blue-Green Bank, and natural disaster clauses in agreements. We’re trying to innovate on our own and call attention to what is needed. However, we still face challenges. We need both private and public capital to scale these solutions effectively.”

Barbados was also the first country to access the IMF’s Resilience and Sustainability Trust in 2022. “The IMF lowered interest rates on loans by 37 percent for us. That has allowed us to reinvest in climate finance and resilience building. But again, the pace of reform isn’t keeping up with the scale of the crisis.”

Barbados’ Bridgetown Initiative, which serves as a model for financial reform, has attracted attention from all over the world. Knight sees it as a pathway for mobilizing resources and challenging developed countries to take greater responsibility.

“We’re exploring new financing mechanisms like levies on the shipping and aviation industries—sectors that are significant contributors to emissions. If we’re serious about mitigation, we need to start taxing these large sectors and challenging them to do more.”

When asked whether Small Island Developing States (SIDS) should forge their own path given the sluggish response from developed countries, Knight emphasized dialogue and collaboration.

“We need more dialogue. A lot of developed countries are now facing domestic pressures for accountability on resource use, and some aren’t pledging at all. It’s about balancing those realities with the need for real investment that delivers results. Partners are essential for fostering dialogue that drives meaningful impact. As the Prime Minister puts it, the world needs more love—a sentiment often lost in formalities.”

Barbados has also adopted a holistic approach to climate resilience, combining policy, infrastructure, and legislative reforms. Knight outlined this strategy.

“We’ve launched the Barbados Prosperity Resilience Investment Plan and the Roof-to-Reef Investment Initiative. It’s a whole-of-government approach focused on five pillars of resilience building. This framework not only identifies priority areas for donor engagement but also ensures we have a coherent response to climate shocks.”

The minister added, “Our strategy spans all levels, from large-scale coastal projects to household-level initiatives like strengthening roofs. It ensures collaboration across sectors such as housing, transport, and tourism. This approach has helped us allocate resources to the areas that need them most.”

Ending on a powerful note, Knight reflected on the broader significance of COP29.

“This COP must deliver on rebuilding trust among national delegations and with communities. It’s about showing commitment to help people not just survive but thrive. Governments and the UN system must fulfill their responsibility to create a world where thriving is a right, not just a hope.”

As the world watches COP29, Barbados continues to exemplify resilience, innovation, and determination. Knight’s vision is clear: bold action, meaningful partnerships, and tangible results are the only way forward.
IPS UN Bureau Report

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dr. Donneil Cain (right), the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre's (CCCCC) project development specialist who worked with the BWA on the Barbados Water Resilience Nexus for Sustainability Project, in discussion with Dr. Adrian Cashman from the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill on the educational institutions that assisted with the project's development. Credit: Zadie Neufville

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Apr 19 2018 (IPS)

At the start of 2017, the Caribbean Drought and Precipitation Monitoring Network (CDPN) warned eastern Caribbean countries that they were facing “abnormal climate conditions” and possibly another full-blown drought. 



For Barbados, it was dire news. Previous drought conditions impacted every sphere and sector of life of this historically water-scarce country. But a new project promises a new water future for Barbadians by increasing the awareness of islanders to the water cycle and the likely impacts of climate change on the island’s drinking water supply.

The Water Sector Resilience Nexus for Sustainability Project for Barbados (WSRN S-Barbados) is expected to build resilience in the sector by reducing the vulnerability to severe weather impacts, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce consumption, promote appropriate uses of diverse water sources and build the legislative safeguards to support climate smart development in water sector.

The project is being funded by the Green Climate Fund and is a collaborative effort between the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) and the Barbados Water Authority (BWA) with assistance from University of West Indies, Cave Hill Campus (UWI-CHC), and University of South Florida (USF).

WSRN-Barbados was one of several Caribbean funding commitments announced at the GCF 19^th Board meeting in Korea in February to the tune of 45.2 million dollars (including 27.6 million in GCF funds and counterpart funding of 17.6 million from the BWA).

“To quantify the impact, there will be over 190,000 persons directly benefitting from this project and over 280,000 persons indirectly benefitting,” said Dr Elon Cadogan, project manager at the BWA.

He explains that within the project, there are provisions for collaboration among academic partners like UWI-CHC and USF. The aim is to develop a sharing platform that will serve as an incubator for novel ideas that will boost efforts to combat the impact of climate change and propel the discussion on climate change adaptation and mitigation.

“This project proposes to gather the relevant human resources from these institutions and form a team of scientists and engineers to drive the in-depth operational research to build capacity,” Dr Cadogan explained.

The WSRN S-Barbados project will replace 16 kilometres (about 10 miles) of existing mains to reduce leakage by 0.03 MGD per km. This is expected to result in greater availability of water, which when valued at current costs, is an avoided expense to society of 1.3 million dollars.

“Increased availability of water will reduce the instances of water outages currently being experienced by many customers,” Dr. Cadogan explained.

“Previous instances of outages have had the adverse effects of persons reporting for work late or absent from work and businesses closing. Schools have had to close due to lack of water and the potential unsanitary conditions are likely to increase health treatment costs. In addition, there have been some cancellations of tourist stays and bookings,” he continued.

Tourism is one of the backbones of Barbados’ economy. In 2014, the total contribution of tourism and travel accounted for 36.1 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employed 37.5 percent of total employment (WTTC, 2015).

Another vital sector is agriculture. Agriculture, which in 2014 contributed 1.4 percent (value-added) of GDP and employed 2.7 percent of total employment (WDI, 2016), is essential for food and nutrition security and household income.

From the feasibility study, it was found that Barbados’ already dwindling water resources are not sufficient to meet demand in the medium to long terms. Implicit in that analysis is the demand for water by the tourism and agriculture sectors.

“This project contributes to the stability of Barbados’ macroeconomic environment, mitigates its susceptibility to inflationary pressures and external shocks and increases revenue to the government,” Dr Cadogan said.

“Barbados will benefit from foreign currency savings resulting from reduced dependence on fossil fuels due to the installation of photovoltaic panels. Barbados imported 322.7 million dollars of crude oil (2014 figures) and a significant portion is used in the production of electricity and transportation.”

The WSRN S-Barbados project will ensure that there is improved resilience to climate change and that communities have access to clean potable water.

Additional benefits include reduced leakage and the related number of disruptions, increased water available to the public, a stable price for water, increased water and food security via storage and rainwater harvesting, improved/increased resilience to storm events, and increased access to adaptation and mitigation financing (micro-adaptation and mitigation funding).

With respect to vulnerable populations as well as hospitals, polyclinics, schools and community centres, water tanks for water storage will be installed.

The project is expected to create 30 new jobs at the Belle Pumping Station, while the efforts to implement rainwater harvesting initiatives will create another 15 new jobs.

“In addition, the BWA will also ensure that Barbados plays its part to reduce the fossil fuel consumption by engaging in renewable energy solutions by the use of photovoltaic technologies. By using RE technologies, this would ensure that the Government of Barbados would have some stability with respect to tariffs and therefore be able to assist the most vulnerable on the island,” Dr Cadogan said.

“It is also envisioned that there will be (a) enhanced capacity, knowledge and climate resilience in institutions, households and communities, (b) improved knowledge on water conservation and recycling and (c) improved policy and legislative environment for climate proofing and building climate resilience,” he added.

Meanwhile, over at the CCCCC, the regional agency charged with coordinating the region’s response to climate change, project development specialist Dr. Donneil Cain, the point man on the WSRN-Barbados, is looking for the next opportunity for resilience-building in the region.

“This is why we do it,” he said. “The satisfaction comes from getting these projects up and running.”

Barbados’ minister with responsibility for energy, Darcy Boyce (right). Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jul 27 2017 (IPS)

With wind, solar and other renewable energy sources steadily increasing their share in energy consumption across the Caribbean, Barbados is taking steps to further reduce the need for CO2-emitting fossil fuel energy.

The tiny Caribbean island is rolling out a project to reduce both electricity consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while driving down government’s fuel import bill.In addition to changing out the street lights and retrofitting the 13 government buildings, the project will also see the use of more electric vehicles in Barbados.

The country is hoping to save up to 3 million dollars in electricity bills annually with the implementation of a 24.6-million-dollar Public Sector Smart Energy Programme (PSPP).

The project, which is being funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the European Union (EU), includes changing out close to 30,000 street lights across the country, replacing them with Light Emitting Diode (LED) fixtures.

“So, this project will save us a couple million dollars a year, [up to] 3 million a year. It is a small amount in the context of Barbados but it is a start to save some money,” Minister with responsibility for Energy Darcy Boyce said, while explaining that based on a 2009 study, government is aiming for a 29 percent per year reduction in electricity consumption through various methods of renewable energy use and energy efficiency.

“When that is combined with the work to retrofit 13 government buildings with solar photovoltaic, it begins to add up.”

Boyce acknowledged that government is a significant user of electricity, adding that the street lamps account for a great portion of that usage.

Renewables have become a major contributor to the energy transition occurring in many parts of the world and the growth in renewables continues to bolster climate change mitigation.

In December 2013, Barbados passed the Electric Light and Power Act (ELPA) in parliament and later amended it in April 2015. It replaced the original 116-year-old Electric Light and Power Act which was passed in 1899.

The ELPA revised the law relating to the supply and use of electricity and promotes the generation of electricity from sources of renewable energy, to enhance the security and reliability of the supply of electricity and to provide for related matters.

A key aim of the government in passing the Act was reducing the Bds$800 million fuel import bill (50 percent of which is used to generate electricity). It also intended to promote the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources and allows independent power producers to supply electricity in addition to the Barbados Light and Power Company (BL&P).

Boyce urged those involved in the PSPP to “keep the momentum going”, adding that it was his intention for Barbados to reach 100 percent reliance on renewable energy by 2045 as outlined in the BL&P 100/100 Vision.

“The Light & Power has reached to a wonderful point where they are committing to have 100 percent renewable energy within 30 years. I pressed them and I wanted them there by 2035 but they say no, 2045 and I will live with 2045,” Boyce said.

“And that I think is really a very good commitment to the country’s economy because when we reduce the use of fossil fuels, when we reduce the importation of fossil fuels whether it is by efficiency gains or it is by renewable energy, we reduce the amount of foreign exchange that we use.”

The shift towards renewables is driving down greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation, buildings’ heating and cooling, and transport.

In addition to changing out the street lights and retrofitting the 13 government buildings, the project will also see the use of more electric vehicles in Barbados.

So far government has two electric vehicles as part of a pilot project and is expected to procure about six more by the end of this year.

Head of the Green Economy and Resilience Section of the EU Peter Sturesson urged officials to go even further to focus on energy efficiency, pointing out that this is an important aspect if the country is to save critical foreign exchange.

“As you know, the European Union remains committed to support renewable energy, energy efficiency and sustainable development in Barbados and in the Caribbean region,” Sturesson said.

“Of course, we must embrace the role of energy efficiency in this master plan because this is one of the low hanging fruits for Barbados in the transition to clean energy. This will assist in the reduction of the fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions and by that, lowering the carbon footprint of the island.”

Sturesson pointed out that the project marked “yet another milestone” in Barbados’ development.

While the Barbados government leads the renewables drive, everyone on the island is catching on. In addition to the solar panels and water heaters which can be seen on government buildings, hospitals, police stations and bus shelters, thousands of private homes also have them installed. And desalinization plants are installing large photovoltaic arrays to help defray their own electricity costs.

The combination of the ever-escalating and volatile price of oil, and the cost of importation, place Barbados and other island nations in the unenviable position of having the highest electricity prices in the world.

The effective cost of electricity in Barbados is around $0.65/kWh. This rate varies slightly from residential to commercial power users. Roughly 60 percent of the bill is simply a fuel charge. This component, the Fuel Clause Adjustment (FCA), varies month to month but has been increasing at a normalized rate of 3.7 percent per year over the past seven years.

Representative of the IDB Juan Carlos De La Hoz Viñas said there are many benefits to be derived by reducing the cost of electricity in the country.

“We all know and it’s part of the day to day conversation with the private sector that electricity costs are a major hurdle in terms of doing business in the country. So every attempt to reduce the electricity cost is a path to a greater competitiveness in the country,” he said.

“This is part of a long-standing cooperation between the IDB, European Union and the Government of Barbados to establish a sustainable energy matrix in Barbados.”

A manmade rainwater catchment on a farm in Antigua. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Mar 28 2017 (IPS)

The Caribbean Drought & Precipitation Monitoring Network (CDPMN) is warning countries in the region that the same abnormal climate conditions they have experienced over the last few years, which resulted in some of the worst drought in two decades, could continue this year.

Several Caribbean countries, particularly in the eastern Caribbean, experienced a drier than normal February, and in some cases both February and January were relatively dry, CDPMN said."In my view for agriculture, drought is a more serious threat to us than in fact hurricanes.” --Donovan Stanberry

The Barbados-based network also said that although there is some uncertainty over rainfall during the March to May period in some parts of the Caribbean, concerns remain for the western Caribbean/Greater Antilles for both short and long term drought, and in the southern portion of the eastern Caribbean for long term drought.

“Some models also suggest the possibility for the return of El Niño, and drier than normal conditions late in 2017,” Chief of Applied Meteorology and Climatology at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), Adrian Trotman told IPS. “The CDPMN will continue to monitor this situation.”

El Niño is a weather phenomenon that occurs irregularly in the eastern tropical Pacific every two to seven years. When the trade winds that usually blow from east to west weaken, sea surface temperatures start rising, setting off a chain of weather impacts.

In 2015 and 2016, a powerful El Niño drove up global temperatures and played a role in droughts in many parts of the world.

The so-called “Super El Niño” is said by experts to have had a role in driving global temperatures to record highs.

CDPMN said apart from portions of Barbados and Dominica that were slightly wet, the islands of the eastern Caribbean were normal to below normal regarding rainfall for the month.

It said Trinidad and Tobago was normal to slightly dry; Grenada, Guadeloupe, Anguilla, St. Maarten, St. Thomas normal; while Barbados was normal to slightly wet with St. Vincent extremely dry and St. Lucia moderate to extremely dry.

The French island of Martinique was reported to be moderate to severely dry, while Dominica was slightly wet in the southwest to severely dry in the northeast.

Antigua was exceptionally dry and St. Kitts moderately dry. The CDPMN said that the Guianas ranged from normal to very wet, with greatest relative wetness in interior areas.

Beginning in 1997-1998, drought forced water restrictions across the Caribbean, and resulted in significant losses in the agriculture sector.

Caribbean countries have been implementing water rationing to deal with shortages of the resource, with St. Kitts being the latest country to implement the measure.

On Jan. 25, the Water Services Department announced the resumption of water rationing in the capital Basseterre, Bird Rock, Half Moon and the South East Peninsula. Daily rationing occurs during the hours of 10 pm to 5 am.

The Water Services Department said although rainfall for 2016 was more than in 2015, it was still significantly below average, and therefore the country is still in drought.

“We are approaching the Dry Season and are already experiencing reduced inflows from our surface water sources and storage in our wells. The recent showers only improved the situation slightly,” acting general manager Dennison Paul said.

“We are also experiencing technical difficulties with one of our wells in the Basseterre Valley Aquifer, which has compounded the problem. Our drilling programme is ongoing and should bring relief to consumers when commissioned.”

In 2015, St. Kitts experienced island-wide water rationing as a result of drought conditions. Coming off traditional rainfall levels of around 20.63 inches per year, the island saw an average 9.87 inches in 2015.

Officials have implemented several water-saving measures to help mitigate the upcoming dry period.

These include asking all residents, government and private institutions to make the repair of leaks a priority; asking residents without cisterns to explore purchasing large storage containers  of 500 gallons or more; businesses implementing a water management contingency plan which should involve daily monitoring of water meter; government ensuring that critical institutions such as hospitals and schools, have onsite standby water storage receptacles, based on vulnerability; there should be no washing of vehicles with water hoses; mandatory no watering of grass; no water delivery to cruise vessels; and fines or disconnection of service for violation, where applicable

In addition to other measures taken to improve the supply of water to consumers, Public Works Minister Ian Liburd indicated in July 2016 that a company, Ocean Earth Technologies, had been contracted to locate and bring on-stream new wells in the Basseterre area.

He said they had identified seven sites north of the airport where wells were to be drilled.

Barbados has also been grappling with chronic water shortages while the St Lucia government, in 2015, declared a “water-related emergency” as some communities, particularly in the north, continue to deal with dry weather conditions affecting water supplies across the Caribbean.

At the fifth Regional Platform on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Montreal earlier this month, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Commerce, Agriculture and Fisheries, Donovan Stanberry called for greater focus to be given to the impact of drought on agriculture in the Caribbean.

“I think that for a long time we have been focusing on hurricanes in the Caribbean and really we have taken our eyes off drought mitigation. And in my view for agriculture, drought is a more serious threat to us than in fact hurricanes,” Stanberry said. “After a hurricane, you can get up the next morning and start producing again; the drought tends to be prolonged.

“The overwhelming majority of our farmers, particularly our smaller ones, really depend on rainfall; and with climate change we are seeing wide variation in rainfall patterns. We are seeing extremes; in some months we have too much rain and for the last three four years, you can almost bet your bottom dollar, that there is going to be a drought and the drought tends to be prolonged,” Stanberry added.

Children in Georgetown, Guyana learn about solar energy during an exhibition. Credit: CREDP

By Richard Schiffman
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jul 14 2014 (IPS)

Lefties Food Stall, a pint-sized eatery serving Barbados’ signature flying-fish sandwiches, recently became the first snack shack on the Caribbean island to be fitted with a solar panel.

The nearby public shower facility sports a panel as well. So does the bus shelter across the street, the local police station, and scores of gaily coloured houses on the coastal road leading into the capital, Bridgetown.It is time to have a Marshall Plan for clean energy— not to rebuild war-torn nations, but to help protect our abused climate system from further damage.

Like many other small island nations, Barbados has to ship in all of the oil that it uses to produce electricity—making power over four times more costly than it is in the fuel-rich United States.

That high price has proven to be a boon for Barbados’ fledgling solar industry. Nearly half of all homes boast solar water heaters on their roofs, which pay for themselves in lower electric bills in less than two years. Increasingly, industries like the island’s small desalination plant are installing solar arrays to meet a portion of their power needs.

This move to solar is being driven by tax incentives for green businesses and consumers. In an address marking the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) “World Environment Day” in Bridgetown’s Independence Square, Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart recently pledged that the island nation would produce 29 percent of its energy from renewables by the end of the next decade.

That rather conservative goal is still over twice what the United States currently produces with renewables. It won’t be hard to reach. Not only is the island blessed with abundant sunshine, it also has year-round trade winds to run wind turbines, and sugar cane waste—or bagasse—that can be used as a biofuel.

The Barbados government is furthermore looking into harnessing the energy of the tides, as well as introducing ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC), a technology that employs the temperature difference between cooler deep and warmer shallow sea waters to generate electricity.

Clean energy technologies are slowly making headway throughout the Caribbean. And the nearby United States, the world’s number-one historical emitter of carbon emissions, should pay attention.

A frontline region

Barbados is not alone in the Caribbean in its enthusiasm for green technology.

Aruba is planning a 3.5-MW solar airport, perhaps the largest such project in the world. The Dutch-speaking island has combined wind and solar power with energy efficiency measures to cut its imports of heavy fuel oil in half, saving some 50 million dollars a year.

The volcanic islands of Nevis, Montserrat, and St. Vincent have contracted with Icelandic geothermal companies to conduct exploratory projects to determine how to tap their vast geothermal potential. Meanwhile, mountainous Dominica already meets about half of its energy demand with hydropower.

Caribbean islands don’t just have abundant resources for developing clean energy. They also have compelling reasons to do so. The region is burdened by some of the highest energy costs in the world, which have stunted its industrial development and drained its reserves of foreign exchange.

The islands also have fragile ecosystems like mangrove forests and coral reefs, which are highly vulnerable to oil spills and pollution. And many countries like Barbados depend on tourists, who will flock there only so long as the places remain attractively clean and green.

But the best reason to cut carbon emissions is the danger that these island nations face if climate change proceeds unchecked. And indeed, climate change is already having a big impact. In recent years, lower rainfall in the Eastern Caribbean has posed a threat to agriculture and scarce groundwater supplies.

Sea level rise as well as ocean acidification and warming have killed many protective coral reefs, leading to severe beach erosion. And the hurricane-prone region is being battered by increasingly frequent and powerful storms.

At the World Environment Day event in Bridgetown, the prime minister of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, called climate change “the most serious existential threat in the world today.”

That is certainly true for St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Successive storms ripped through the islands in 2010, 2011, and 2012, leading to a yearly loss of up to 17 percent of the developing country’s GDP, as well as destroying hundreds of homes and killing dozens of islanders.

“If my people don’t get flooded out on the coast,” the prime minister observed ruefully, “they will be washed away in landslides.”

Barbados’ prime minister, Freundel Stuart, echoed his counterpart’s sense of urgency. “Since the issue involves our very survival,” Stuart told the crowd, “capitulation is not an option.” Stuart said he believes that the Caribbean should set “a shining example” for the world to follow.

His government recently commissioned a Green Economy Scoping Study, prepared in partnership with UNEP and released in Bridgetown in June, which includes recommendations on how to make the island’s agriculture, fisheries, transportation, and energy systems more sustainable.

It makes sense: these islands are on the front line for climate change’s destructive forces, so they should also be on the front line in cutting their own carbon emissions. They need to demonstrate how seriously they take the threat, as an example to the rest of us.

A Marshall Plan for the Caribbean

Right now, energy production in the Caribbean is anything but sustainable. Venezuela’s late socialist president Hugo Chavez offered many islands long-term loans and concessionary rates for cheaper oil. His successor has done his best to maintain the modest subsidies.

But nobody can say how long this largesse will last, given Venezuela’s current financial crisis, and still less what will happen to already stressed island economies when they are forced to pay full price for crude.

The Caribbean needs to become energy-independent in order to thrive. But overhauling energy infrastructure does not come cheaply. There are knotty technical challenges related to the stability of the grid that few small nations are currently equipped to meet. And the small scale of the demand for electricity on many of the islands makes it hard to attract international investors.

Moreover, countries like Jamaica, St. Kitts-Nevis, Grenada, Barbados, and Antigua and Barbuda are saddled with public debts that often exceed their annual GDP. So unlike an industrial powerhouse like Germany, for example, few Caribbean nations are in a position to fully exploit their renewable energy potential.

The big industrial powers that are responsible for the problems of island nations should be lending a helping hand to the folks suffering the most from climate change. Loans from international development banks, as well as technology transfers and training from wealthier countries, would go a long way.

International development banks also need to prime the pump with programmes to encourage prudent investment.

This isn’t charity. By helping islands that are geographically close to the United States go green, Washington won’t just be cutting harmful greenhouse gases for everyone.

It will also create opportunities to learn valuable lessons in overcoming technical challenges—about how, for example, to successfully integrate intermittent inputs from wind and solar into the power grid, a problem that has limited the United States’ own adoption of renewables.

The vulnerable islands of the Caribbean are a perfect laboratory to test solutions on a small scale that can eventually be applied to the far more complex U.S. energy infrastructure.

After World War II, America lent its economic muscle to help rebuild Europe’s shattered economies through the Marshall Plan. It is time to have a Marshall Plan for clean energy— not to rebuild war-torn nations, but to help protect our abused climate system from further damage. The Caribbean, blessed with a wealth of sun, wind, and geothermal energy, is a great place to start.

Richard Schiffman is an environmental writer. He recently traveled to Barbados to attend the World Environment Day celebrations. This story was originally published by Foreign Policy in Focus.

Installing a solar panel on Lefties’ snack shack in Bridgetown. Credit: Stephen Leahy/IPS

By Stephen Leahy
BRIDGETOWN, Jun 6 2014 (IPS)

Facing potential extinction under rising sea levels, many small island nations are embracing renewable energy and trying to green their economies. Although the least responsible for carbon emissions, small countries like Barbados are on the front lines of climate impacts.

“Small island nations’ voices have to be heard by the rest of the world,” said Achim Steiner, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

“Many will undergo fundamental changes. Some will lose 60 to 70 percent of their beaches and much of their tourism infrastructure. Climate change will destroy some countries and the livelihoods of millions of people,” Steiner told IPS in Bridgetown.

Up to 100 percent of coral reefs in some areas of the Caribbean sea have been affected by bleaching due to too-hot seawater linked to global warming. Without global action to reduce emissions there may not be any healthy reefs left in the entire Caribbean region by 2050, according to UNEP’s Small Island Developing States Foresight Report.

Released in Bridgetown on World Environment Day Jun. 5, the report calculates that island nations in the Caribbean face187 billion dollars in shoreline damage from sea level rise well before the end of this century.

A 50-cm sea level rise will mean the country of Grenada will lose 60 percent of its beaches. Sea levels are destined to rise far higher than that, say recent science reports about the unstoppable melt of the massive ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland along with hundreds of glaciers.

Islands are especially vulnerable to the impacts of global warming which will adversely affect multiple sectors including tourism, agriculture, fisheries, energy, freshwater, health and infrastructure, the report concludes.

“When our planet speaks we must listen,” said Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.

“Nature knows how to hit back,” Stuart told IPS.

For Barbados, World Environment Day with its theme “Raise Your Voice Not the Sea Level” was not just a ceremonial action but part of a commitment to become “the most advanced green economy in the Latin American and Caribbean region,” he said.

This country of 275,000 people is in the eastern Caribbean, 800 km from the shores of Venezuela. Facing recurring droughts in the past two decades, Barbados has been forced to use energy-intensive desalination to provide enough drinking water.

Imported fossil fuel means energy costs are many times higher than in rich countries like the U.S. Barbados has set a goal of 30 percent renewable energy by 2029 but expects to achieve this by 2019, said William Hines, Barbados’ Chief Energy Conservation Officer.

Solar energy is 30 to 40 percent cheaper but requires significant upfront investment since nearly everything must be imported. However, the payback period in a sun-rich country like Barbados is five to seven years, Hines said.

Aside from finding the money to build large-scale solar, integrating into the nation’s electrical grid has also been challenging. But because this is a small nation, the scope and scale of such challenges are smaller, and they can be resolved relatively quickly.

The three-coral atoll nation of Tokelau in the South Pacific became the first country in the world to become 100 percent powered by renewable energy in October 2012. Other South Pacific nations, including the Cook Islands and Kiribati, plan to be 100 percent renewable by 2020.

As a group, the 52 Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have committed to cut their fossil fuel dependence by 50 percent by 2035. This is as much about setting an example for the world as it is a solution to the crippling fossil fuel costs that devour half of some countries’ budgets.

Barbados is going beyond renewable energy and has put policies into place intended to ‘green’ its entire economy. It has already completed a three-year study called the Green Economy Scoping Study to determine what needs to be done. That research concluded that green policies are not enough, and that Barbados also needs more public and private investment, along with education and changes in consumer behaviour.

“Barbados is one of the world leaders in greening their economies,” Steiner told IPS in an interview.

Small islands need support including financing and technology transfer from the developed world to be able to make this transition and to cope with current and future climate impacts. They can and want to move quickly to diversify their economies, create green jobs, increase resource efficiency and shift to green energy, he said.

“Small islands can serve as beacons for the rest of the world,” Steiner stressed.

The Caribbean Debt Network meets in Grenada. Credit: Bernard Lauwyck

By Eric LeCompte
WASHINGTON, May 5 2014 (IPS)

Last Fall, I witnessed the Grenada Council of Churches insert themselves into negotiations between their government and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) around the island’s debt restructuring and presumed austerity policies. Religious leaders called from pulpits across the tiny island for a “Jubilee” or national debt cancellation.

When I recently returned to the Spice Isle, I was awed by what I saw – the religious experiment in Grenada was spreading like wild fire to other Caribbean countries."Our churches are on the front lines of fighting poverty in the Caribbean. We see how the debt crisis is hurting the poorest people on the islands." -- Presbyterian Minister Osbert James

At Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, overlooking the Caribbean Sea, the Caribbean Council of Churches, four Catholic Dioceses and various religious leaders from across the region gathered to launch the Caribbean Debt Network.

They came from St. Vincent’s and The Grenadines, Barbados, Dominica, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Grenada, knowing their unity is more vital than ever.

Out of the 20 most heavily indebted countries in the world, six are Caribbean countries.

The islands are dotted with makeshift shacks, where depending on the island, 20 percent to 50 percent of the population lives in poverty. Various islands see high unemployment rates from 30 to upwards of 50 percent.

Like dominoes, island after island is going through International Monetary Fund IMF debt restructurings that demand austerity policies that hurt millions of people living in extreme poverty.

Among most Caribbean tourist areas, you can’t avoid the working poor.

In fact, the plight of the vulnerable along with infrastructure challenges are so palpable on the small islands, you scratch your head wondering why the IMF calls these countries “Middle Income.” When a poor country is defined as Middle Income, they cannot apply for existing debt relief processes such as the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative or HIPC.

The process by which economists define a country as Middle Income is by averaging the total income of everyone in the country (per capita). In other words if 99 people make one dollar and one person makes 100,000 dollars, the average income per person is 1,001 dollars.

In a place like Grenada, where the poverty rate ranges from 38 to 50 percent, the income levels are skewed. The religious community uses the words “social sin” to describe how income inequality is hidden from us as struggling Caribbean economies are denied relief because of what they are called.

Even with HIPC, any poor country will tell you it’s not a walk in the park. The IMF and other international financial institutions acknowledge that the process offers too little debt relief, too late, with too many benchmarks. However, when struggling economies go through the painful act of debt restructuring without even the framework of HIPC, it’s wrangling a hurricane.

And real hurricanes are real threats. In 2004, 200 percent of Grenada’s GDP was wiped out in three hours by Hurricane Ivan. With powerful hurricanes landing every 10 years and financial crises in other parts of the world impacting the Caribbean’s primary industry of tourism, countries across the region seem destined for never-ending cycles of austerity and debt.

“Our churches are on the front lines of fighting poverty in the Caribbean. We see how the debt crisis is hurting the poorest people on the islands,” notes the new chair of the Caribbean Debt Network, Presbyterian Minister Osbert James.

James’s historic cathedral, among many structures unrepaired since the 2004 Hurricane, still lacks a roof.

While it’s still too early to assess Grenada’s debt restructuring, we can see that the Jubilee model is opening up shop on other Caribbean islands.

At Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church, the regional Caribbean religious leaders launched the new coalition in a conference room aptly named The Upper Room. For Christians, it evokes Pentecost when the Holy Spirit empowered religious leaders to inspire others. Pentecost is derived from the more ancient Jewish holiday, Shavuot, which celebrates the gift of our covenant with God and God’s abundance.

At the founding conference last week, the religious community sought to spread Pentecost and Shavuot. They resolved the following:

1. To raise the awareness of the effects of the sovereign debt on Caribbean Countries

2. To establish a structure within which our countries can resolve indebtedness fairly

3. To build a Jubilee coalition to achieve debt resolution, sustainable development and fiscal responsibility at all levels

4. To illustrate how sovereign debt impacts issues of concern, such as human trafficking, drug trafficking, climate change and HIV/Aids.

5. To work with governments and with our international partners on all aspects of debt

6. To encourage the Governments of Grenada and Antigua & Barbuda to champion the cause of a special initiative for resolving Caribbean indebtedness to achieve a sustainable debt level

Eric LeCompte is the Executive Director of Jubilee USA Network and serves on UN expert working groups that focus on debt restructuring and financial reforms. He recently returned from Grenada where he supported the launch of the Caribbean Debt Network.

Some of the groynes installed at Folkestone Beach in Barbados. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Apr 16 2014 (IPS)

Faced with the prospect of losing miles of beautiful white beaches – and the millions in tourist dollars that come with them – from erosion driven by climate change, Barbados is taking steps to protect its coastline as a matter of economic survival.

“We need to be able to preserve those beaches. We need to be able to preserve our coral reefs. We need to preserve the marine life of our country, which is part of what tourists come to the Caribbean for,” Ronald Sanders, a former regional diplomat, told IPS.The impacts of climate change on economies like Barbados could be more severe than any global economic recession.

“All of those things are now, even as we speak, being eroded, and sitting back and doing nothing about it is not in our interest,” he said.

“If there is continuous erosion of the beaches, that is the very thing that you are selling worldwide. You are saying ‘we have great beaches, come and enjoy them and pay for the privilege’, but if you have no beaches, what are you selling?” Sanders added.

Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world, with an estimated 500 million people spending billions of dollars on tourism-related services annually. In addition, the industry employs more than 100 million people worldwide.

Tourism accounts for 15 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in Barbados, with the beaches playing a significant role.

Foreign Affairs Minister Maxine McLean stresses that Barbados has not been spared the effects of climate change.

“There is no greater threat to the survival, viability and security of Barbados than the threat posed by climate change,” she said.

And Barbados is not alone. Sanders said almost every Caribbean country is selling the same thing. He is proposing a united approach.

“Barbados alone can’t act, Antigua alone can’t act, St. Vincent alone can’t act. It’s only if we act together in concert with other countries that have the same problem that people will listen to us,” he told IPS.

A severely eroded beach in Antigua. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Sustainable Programme Manager at the Caribbean Tourism Organisation Gail Henry said the Caribbean region has been seeing impacts of climate change for some time.

“We are seeing instances of greater periods of drought, greater periods of unanticipated precipitation in periods that are outside of the typical rainy season,” she told IPS. “There are issues of salt water intrusion, coastal erosion. These are some of the typical impacts of climate change that we are aware of that will occur, according to science.”

She said Barbados and its Caribbean neighbours will have to look at creating a more diversified tourism product that’s not just hinged on the typical sun, sea and sand.

In the interim, she said they will have to put structures in place to save the beaches.

“Once you have a tourism product that is hinged around the coastline, you have to be concerned about things like the impact of sea level rise,” she said. “Countries would really need to look at the way they plan where their resorts are sited and they will also have to look at what they can do because the cost of actually trying to move a resort is probably not feasible.”

With assistance from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Barbados is already taking steps to protect and manage its beaches and coastline. The Coastal Risk Assessment and Management Programme (CEMP) is being carried out over five years at a cost of 42.2 million dollars.

Some of the groynes installed at Folkestone Beach in Barbados. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

Barbados is also one step closer to fully establishing a Regional Climate Centre (RCC). The United States is providing more than five million dollars in funding over the next three years to establish the centre.

“The programme is timely and its objectives will build critical capacities at regional and national levels to access, analyse and use climate data to better inform decision-making in climate-sensitive sectors,” said the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, Fisheries and Water Resources Management, Esworth Reid.

Noting that Small Island Developing States (SIDS) were susceptible to climate change, Reid says that the outputs and outcomes from the programme would contribute to their sustainable development.

He said this would be done through supporting the region’s initiatives to adapt to climate change and increasing climate variability and disaster risk reduction.

“I envisage a Caribbean resilient to climate risks and hydro-meteorological hazards, an inheritance we can be proud to pass onto future generations,” he noted.

Reid warned that the impacts of climate change on economies like Barbados could be more severe than the impact of any global economic recession.

“At least our governments can manipulate current tax structures and public expenditure in an attempt to dampen the effect of a global economic recession on the local economy, but such policies would not work when the economy is impacted by a phenomenon such as climate change,” he said.

Principal of the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) Dr. David Farrell explained that the Centre was concerned about building the capacity of people to do things for their own region.

“We need to be able to tell people how to plan, and this investment will ensure that we have some level of sustainability,” he told IPS.

Among the benefits of the programme are seasonal forecasting capabilities; access to the use of remote sensing data for assessing climatological risk; enhancing the statistical capabilities of the CIMH; and communications and marketing.

The U.S. ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Larry Palmer, said the Centre would also help the region to better understand how the climate was changing and how its people could best respond strategically to increase the resilience of economies, ecosystems and communities.

He added that it would also strengthen the capacity of the CIMH and national institutions across the region to monitor the changing climate and to convert data into products that would better inform decision-making in climate-sensitive sectors.

Solar-powered lights have been installed along the road to the VC Bird International Airport in Antigua. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jan 28 2014 (IPS)

Despite having an abundance of wind and sunshine, Caribbean countries have found that going green is requiring significant shifts in policy, and most importantly, significant financing.

But despite these challenges, they are not daunted. Barbados, for instance, which spends an estimated 400 million dollars annually on fossil fuel imports, has announced plans for a wind, gas and solar energy programme that requires almost one billion dollars in investments.“The cost of renewables has fallen significantly and [they] are now for the most part cost competitive with traditional sources of energy." -- Selwin Hart

“Plans for the area include a 680-million-dollar waste-to-energy plant; a leachate treatment plant costing about 31.9 million dollars; a landfill gas-to-energy project to cost 9.4 million dollars; a solar project costing 120 million dollars; and a wind-to-energy facility projected to cost 24 million dollars,” said Environment Minister Dr. Denis Lowe.

The climate change financial adviser at the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Selwin Hart, said the region’s premiere financial institution has identified the promotion of renewable energy and increased energy efficiency as a strategic priority.

“The bank is in the process of developing an energy sector strategy and policy which will be finalised in 2014,” he told IPS.

“[But] we are not waiting until that policy is finalised for us to make the necessary interventions within borrowing member countries giving the priority and urgency attached to making these investments,” Hart noted.

“We will be supporting the policy and regulatory reforms that are necessary to ensure the deployment of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology.”

Citing the region’s “vulnerability to the negative effects of climate change”, Hart said the Caribbean must be in a position to secure some of the financing needed to help it cope, adapt and reduce vulnerabilities to the serious fall-out from the phenomenon.

“We are extremely vulnerable when it comes to the consequences of climate change and we must do everything to receive our fair share of the resources being made available,” he said.

Hart told IPS global investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency have quadrupled over the last decade and now stand at 244 billion dollars a year.

“The cost of renewables, and using solar, as an example, have fallen significantly and are now for the most part cost competitive with traditional sources of energy,” he said.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) in its World Energy Outlook 2013 conservatively estimated that by 2035, renewables will surpass coal as the main fuel for power generation.

In 2012, another Caribbean country, Belize, which currently generates 63 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources, announced plans for a National Energy Policy and a Sustainable Energy Strategy.

“We have ambitious targets. We have set ourselves to change from fossil fuel to renewable energy and at the same time decrease our energy intensity,” Energy Minister Joy Grant told IPS.

“We are pursuing all types of renewable energy – hydro, bio energy, solar, ocean, thermal and wind and waste-to-energy,” Grant added.

But like all other small developing countries, Grant said Belize’s efforts in renewable energy were constrained by the high cost of renewable technologies; the lack of domestic capacity; inappropriate frameworks to incentivise the private sector to invest in renewable energy; and small population size.

Dominica’s Energy Minister Rayburn Blackmore said that 30 percent of his country’s energy consumption comes from hydro, and last year it spent 51.6 million dollars to import fuel for energy generation.

“The consumer pays over 30 percent of that in what is being called fuel surcharge. The consumer pays an average of 1.17 dollars per kilowatt hour,” he told IPS.

“From our standpoint in Dominica, we believe as a government and as a people that we must do something, once and for all,” he said.

Blackmore said Dominica was now moving into geothermal production with the hope of cutting the price of electricity to the consumer by 40 percent in the first instance when a 15MW power plant now being constructed is rolled out.

“Our ultimate goal of geothermal production we will also be contributing to the global effort to combat climate change,” he said.

The programme manager for Energy at the Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, Joseph Williams, agreed that the cost of energy is just too prohibitive to achieve the economic growth and poverty reduction needed in the region.

“When one looks at the problems currently faced by the Caribbean it is important to note that the cost of electricity is two to three times that of other countries in the Latin American and Caribbean region,” Williams said, adding that this “represents a tremendous drag, not only on the ordinary household but on businesses and commercial activity within our region.”

Opposition legislator Gaston Browne told IPS Antigua and Barbuda presently has the highest cost of electricity in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), exclusive of taxes, even though it uses cheaper heavy fuel.

“We also have the worst ratio of fossil fuel generation versus renewables in the OECS,” he said.

Browne wants to see a diversification into renewable energy “with a view of having 25 percent renewable energy” within five years.

He told IPS his Antigua Labour Party would modernise the Antigua Public Utilities Authority “into a more efficient entity, thereby reducing the burden that unreasonably high cost of energy imposes on industry, commerce and residential consumers” when compared to Antigua’s OECS neighbours.

In August 2013, Antigua began the installation of solar-powered lights in the east of the island.

A government statement said the lights were intended to serve as a practical demonstration of the use of the nation’s renewable energy resources.

The CARICOM Energy Programme was established in April 2008 within the Directorate of Trade and Economic Integration to provide greater focus on energy matters in CARICOM towards development of the energy sector in the region.

Williams said the Caribbean is on the right track, putting in place a CARICOM Energy Policy and establishing targets for renewable energy in the electricity sector, while a number of the countries have advanced the whole question of policy at the national level.

“It has taken some time but we are making progress,” he told IPS.

Mount Nevis sits at the centre of the volcanic island of Nevis, which has reserves of geothermal energy. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
CHARLESTOWN, Nevis, Dec 19 2013 (IPS)

The tiny island of Nevis in the northern region of the Lesser Antilles is one of the few remaining unspoiled places in the Caribbean. It is now seeking to become the greenest, joining a growing list of Caribbean countries pursuing clean geothermal power.

Last month, legislators on the volcanic island selected Nevis Renewable Energy International (NREI) to develop a geothermal energy project, which they said would eventually eliminate the need for existing diesel-fired electrical generation by replacing it with renewable energy.

In January 2014, NREI will begin to construct a geothermal power plant and injection and production wells on Crown Land leased from the Nevis Island Administration.

Acting Premier Mark Brantley said the island, with a population of 9,000, plans to remain “how the Caribbean used to be” while striving to earn the title of “greenest place on earth”.

“Nevis is committed to beginning this journey on the path to greener living,” Brantley told IPS. “The use of renewable energy will result in a reduction of emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, thus advancing Nevis’ commitments under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.”

The UNFCCC is an international environmental treaty negotiated in June 1992 at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), informally known as the Earth Summit, held in Rio de Janeiro. The treaty’s objective is to “stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.”

The treaty itself, which set no binding limits on greenhouse gas emissions for individual countries and contains no enforcement mechanisms, is legally non-binding. Instead, the treaty provides a framework for negotiating specific international treaties (called “protocols”) that may set binding limits on greenhouse gases.

The parties to the convention have met annually from 1995 in Conferences of the Parties (COP) to assess progress in dealing with climate change. In 1997, the Kyoto Protocol was concluded, establishing legally binding obligations for developed countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

The 2010 Cancún agreements state that future global warming should be limited to a two-degree Celsius increase from pre-industrial levels. The twentieth COP will take place in Peru in 2014.

Utilities Minister Alexis Jeffers said Nevis currently imports 4.2 million gallons of diesel fuel annually, at a cost of 12 million dollars, a bill the island hopes to cut down significantly. Nevis consumes a maximum of 10 mw of energy annually.

“The use of geothermal energy will not only make Nevis a greener place in the future, but also make it less vulnerable to volatile oil prices, as the cost of geothermal energy is stabilised under a long-term contract,” Jeffers told IPS.

“In addition to providing lower cost, cleaner electricity for Nevis, this can potentially be expanded to include St. Kitts and other islands in the future,” Premier Brantley said. St. Kitts, which lies two miles northwest if Nevis, uses a maximum of 46 mw of energy each year.

Nevis is the smaller island of the pair, known as the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. It is home to active hot springs and a large geothermal reservoir. Seven volcanic centres have been identified on Nevis and drilling at three sites has indicated that the geothermal reservoir is capable of producing up to 500 mw of constant baseload power year round.

Dominica recently launched its own geothermal project with the construction of a small power plant for domestic consumption and a bigger plant of up to 100 mw of electricity for export to the neighbouring French islands of Guadeloupe and Martinique.

The nearby island of St. Vincent subsequently announced the launch of a 50-million-dollar project, funded by the Bill, Hillary & Chelsea Clinton Foundation, the St. Vincent and the Grenadines government, Barbados Light and Power Holdings and Reykjavik Geothermal.

Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves said a contingent of Icelandic scientists had arrived on the island and would remain until the end of the year investigating the mountainous nation’s geothermal potential, estimated at 890 mw.

Barbados is also making a major shift away from fossil fuels, aiming for 29 percent of its power generation from renewable sources by 2029. An electric light and power bill was passed with bipartisan support in parliament on Dec. 17.

Opposition leader Mia Mottley said the most significant thing the government can do for residents is to reduce the cost of electricity to 29-30 cents a kilowatt-hour as soon as possible.

“We have said consistently that the most important thing the government can do is to reduce the cost of electricity next month. Not two years from now; not five years from now; not 10 years from now,” Mottley said.

“If we understand how the costs are incurred, we then understand it can only be unacceptable for the government to preside over the Barbados National Oil Company profiteering to the tune of 53 million dollars last year, and ordinary people in this country in households and business are struggling to pay electricity bills.”

Barbadians currently pay 41-42 cents per kilowatt-hours.

Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said that as part of the drive to make Barbados more sustainable, the government had entered a partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which would help develop a framework to diversify the country’s energy mix and reduce its heavy dependence on fossil fuels.

The 30-megawatt Wadadli Power Plant in Antigua opened on September 8, 2011. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Dec 13 2012 (IPS)

With the exception of oil rich Trinidad and Tobago, most, if not all, other Caribbean islands are extremely vulnerable when it comes to the high costs of imported fuels that are easily disrupted by natural disasters and other phenomena.

Barbados, for example, has spent an estimated four million dollars on oil imports in 2011, equal to six percent of its gross domestic product (GDP). This amount has had a direct negative impact on direct production costs and the overall competitiveness of the Barbadian economy.

The island’s prime minister, Freundel Stuart, however, pointed out that “although many small island developing states are energy deficient in conventional energy, limitless potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency resides in our countries”.

Stuart said that the fundamental issue is how small island developing states (SIDS), which have “inherent structural problems and limited resources”, can “convert this renewable energy potential into a tangible product that is accessible, affordable and adaptable”.

Barbados has been actively promoting sustainable energy practices both on the supply side, mainly using renewable energy sources, and on the demand side, encouraging energy efficiency and energy conservation, in an effort to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, enhance energy security and stability, improve the economy’s competitiveness and achieve greater environmental sustainability.

Barbardos has more than 40,000 solar water heaters that save the country nearly 13 million U.S. dollars every year. “We are using the country’s success in this industry as a platform for renewable energy development,” Stuart said.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) observed its second annual CARICOM Energy Week from Nov. 11-17 under the theme of “sustainable energy powering a green economy”. The Energy Week was established in 2011 to provide a platform for increased awareness about energy matters, especially given the critical importance of energy to economic development.

This year, the Community focused on building awareness about energy conservation and efficiency, as well as the development of renewable energy. It also focused on the necessity of a cleaner, greener energy outlook to mitigate the effects of climate change.

Currently, the Caribbean region depends heavily on imported petroleum and petroleum products, to the tune of 9 billion U.S. dollars per year over the last few years.

Stuart’s Antigua counterpart, Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, told IPS that energy in all its various forms is essential to all forms of economic and social development. Energy Week provided an opportunity to reflect on the uses of energy in Antigua and Barbuda and develop strategies for promoting its efficient and sustainable use.

“As a small island state, Antigua and Barbuda is also among the countries most vulnerable to global climate change resulting from the use of fossil fuels, and therefore must lead by example in promoting sustainable uses of energy resources, including through energy conservation and energy efficiency,” he said.

“Improving energy efficiency is a critical element of remaining competitive in today’s global economy. With the increasingly high international prices for fuel, we have to be innovative and forward thinking in our efforts to implement energy efficiency measures that can reduce our costs, minimise our environmental footprint and enhance our attractiveness as a ‘green’ destination.”

Spencer said that some resorts in the highly competitive tourism industry, as well as other businesses, are already installing solar panels, waste water management systems, and other measures to save energy.

In its effort to promote a green economy, the Antiguan government recently announced an electricity interconnection policy for renewable energy. The initiative will allow accredited private producers of renewable energy, such as wind and solar power, to connect to the Antigua Public Utilities Authority. The Authority will then be able to reduce the amount of electricity it generates using imported petroleum.

It will also allow “the private consumer to generate an early return on his investment and lead ultimately to mitigating the price for electricity to the consumer and to the economy as a whole”, Spencer said. “All of us are faced with the increasing costs associated with energy. While there is little that we can do about the price of energy, we all can take measures to increase the efficiency with which we use that energy, thereby getting more for our dollar.”

As governments devise plans and programmes to address the global economic crisis, the transition to sustainable energy presents a unique opportunity for all to make their contribution to climate change by powering a green economy.

“It is a huge task – but an achievable one – If we move forward together with one purpose,” Spencer said.

Diane Black-Layne, the chief environmental officer of the environmental division in the government of Antigua and Barbuda, agreed that implementing 100 percent renewable technology in Antigua and Barbuda would result in a significant reduction in energy bills.

“We can use that money that we are paying for our energy bills now and develop the economy, put it into schools; put it into getting us ready for the changes in the climate and things like that,” she told IPS.

“Why didn’t we make the transition to renewables all along? We did not make the changes because nobody wants to give up oil; nobody wants to give up the existing way of doing things.”

Cell Four at Vaucluse, St.Thomas parish, Barbados. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

By Desmond Brown
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jul 18 2012 (IPS)

When it comes to pursuing a greener path to economic development, the tiny Caribbean island of Barbados is not about to allow its small size and limited resources to get in its way.

The island has opened the first phase of a multi-million-dollar state-of-the-art facility that will create energy from the tonnes of waste produced by households across the country.

Opening the facility, known as “Cell Four”, Prime Minister Freundel Stuart said Barbados has no choice but to diversify its energy resources to include more renewable and sustainable ones.

“Our fuel bill represents the heaviest demand on our foreign exchange. Fuel is of course, essential for the generation of electricity, the manufacture of goods, and for the transportation of goods and people.”

“These three development-oriented activities account for over 80 percent of our fuel consumption,” Stuart said.

With a population of 285,000, Barbados has a mammoth annual fossil fuel bill. According to Environment Minister Dr. Denis Lowe, it makes economic sense to convert waste to energy rather than simply burying it.

“We have a gluttonous appetite for energy,” he said. “It is in our best interest to ensure that we find alternative methods of generating energy to save our energy costs.”

The small island challenge

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon recently appealed to Barbados and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to free themselves from dependence on fossil fuel imports and transform their energy sectors to encompass modern, efficient, clean and renewable sources of energy.

Stuart said he agrees wholeheartedly with the Secretary-General, pointing out that last year, his country spent just under 4 million U.S. dollars on oil imports, or six percent of its gross domestic product. This spending has hurt direct production costs and the overall competitiveness of the Barbadian economy.

“Although many SIDS are energy deficient in conventional energy, limitless potential for renewable energy and energy efficiency resides in our countries,” Stuart said.

“The fundamental issue then is how, do we, as Small Island Developing States with inherent structural problems and limited resources, convert this renewable energy potential into a tangible product that is accessible, affordable and adaptable?”

Barbados has been actively promoting sustainable energy practices both on the supply side – mainly using renewable energy sources – and on the demand side, encouraging energy efficiency and energy conservation, in an effort to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, enhance energy security and stability, improve the economy’s competitiveness and foster greater environmental sustainability.

Over 40,000 solar water heaters have installed on domestic and commercial buildings in Barbados, according to Stuart. At more than 45 percent, it is the fifth highest penetration of solar water heaters in the world. “We are using the country’s success in this industry as a platform for renewable energy development,” he added.

These solar water heaters save consumers over 12.95 million U.S. dollars in energy costs annually, Stuart said, noting that these results demonstrate how “a combination of local entrepreneurial spirit, consumer advocacy, and government support through the medium of fiscal incentives can lead to a change in the energy use paradigm”.

At the wider Caribbean level, Stuart said plans are being developed for a coordinated approach to renewable energy based on an abundance of renewable energy resources.

Expanding Barbados’s options

Cell Four is part of the Mangrove Pond Landfill at Vaucluse, St. Thomas in the centre of the island. The 12.5-million-dollar sanitary engineered facility forms part of the government’s 188.5-million-dollar integrated solid waste management programme.

Shawn Phillips, an assistant manager with the Sanitation Service Authority (SAA), outlined some of the features of the new Integrated Solid Waste Management Programme, of which Cell Four is a part. He said power generated by the waste-to-energy plant would be fed back to the national grid.

“Cell Four will be receiving waste residue from the proposed waste-to-energy plant which will provide thermal treatment to solid waste,” he said. It will produce an estimated “10 to 14 megawatt hours of electricity”.

In addition to Cell Four, Stuart announced plans for the construction of a green energy, mass burn complex at Vaucluse that would generate electricity by converting the bulk of the waste from the Mangrove Pond Landfill into energy.

He explained that it would utilise wind and solar energy resources and would have a gas-to-energy component that would harness many of the harmful greenhouse gases produced by the landfill.

“The facilities will complement the already existing Mangrove Pond Landfill and the waste  management facility known as Sustainable Barbados Recycling Centre,” he said. It will help to offset the country’s “dependence on fossil fuel and reduce our foreign exchange risks” even as it offers “an environmentally sound alternative that would…reduce our potential contribution to the causes of climate change”.

The prime minister said that although Barbados depends on such traditional sectors as tourism, agriculture, manufacturing and international business for its foreign exchange earnings, the country did need to diversify.

He noted that there was an emerging recycling sector that had enabled the country to not only eliminate various items from the waste stream, but also to earn valuable foreign exchange from exports.

Mere weeks ago Arthur Smith, who has been farming here for more than 20 years, was dangling thousands of carrots in front of local consumers, but there were no buyers to be had.

Smith said he had 40,000 pounds of carrots in his fields to be sold, yet supermarkets were not buying from local farmers, something he said had to stop.

“You plant for market supply but right now rather than me being able to supply the market, it is being supplied by overseas growers,” a frustrated Smith said.

“If we believe that we are living in difficult financial times and we need to do something to assist to cut down on importation to save foreign exchange, this is what I’m doing – saving foreign exchange,” he added.

A farmer uses a hand-held sprinkler to water corn in Barbados. Credit: Desmond Brown/IPS

But Smith’s was not the lone pleading voice and now it seems the farmers are about to get what they’ve been asking for.

The highest agriculture official here, David Estwisk, has announced that the agriculture industry is being restructured in a bid to reduce a whopping 700 million dollar import bill.

The restructuring involves implementing a programme of local food production, which he said would aim to cushion the impact of imported food inflation due to the increase in global food prices.

“We in the Ministry of Agriculture…see the need for a complete restructuring and repositioning of the agriculture sector so that the sector can become one of the pillars of economic development in Barbados,” Estwick announced at a press conference here Wednesday.

“We see our role as providing the enabling policy environment, and facilitating the kinds of public and private sector investment needed to overcome the constraints facing the sector so that available opportunities can be exploited.”

“It is our desire to reorient the agriculture sector such that it is focused on the production of food to improve our food security, as well as the nutrition and health of the Barbados population and to save foreign exchange,” he added.

The agriculture minister said officials in his ministry would shortly begin “a complete restructuring and repositioning” of local agriculture, including a national consultation next Wednesday and a related comprehensive White Paper on Agriculture to be available by early July.

A long relationship with agriculture

Agricultural production was the primary occupation of early settlers to Barbados, not just for local consumption, but also for export to England and for trade with other colonial territories.

The first European settlers arrived here in 1627 and found much of the island covered with forests. By 1700, however, most of this forest was cut down and replaced with agricultural crops.

As a result, much of the landscape was transformed from natural ecosystems into agricultural ecosystems comprised of large mono-specific plantations such as sugarcane, small-scale vegetables, root crops and pastures with livestock.

The area being used for agriculture in Barbados has declined over the past two decades in comparison to the earlier part of this century, primarily through the demand for land for settlements and tourism development, such as for hotels and golf courses.

Three challenges

The demand for land for settlements is one of three major challenges identified by political scientist Peter Wichkam which he said the government would face in its new thrust. The other two are labour and praedial larceny, or the stealing of livestock or agricultural produce from a farm.

“We have a scarcity of land in Barbados because we want to build houses, and basically farmers find it more practical to allow their pastures to go fallow and basically claim it is not agriculture land,” Wickham told IPS. “They can get it subdivided and sold as house spots and they make a lot more money that way.”

As far as the labour is concerned, he noted that Barbados, like Antigua, does not have an ample supply of locals who want to go into the fields and work plantations. Yet he said islanders are opposed to having labour come in large quantities from neighbouring countries.

And thirdly, “it’s a Caribbean reality that people always feel that agricultural produce is there for them to take. Farms in Barbados are seldom of the size where you can get economies of scale,” he explained. “So they find that it is expensive to have the necessary security, and if you don’t have it, then then crops disappear.”

“The regional argument is that there is no model, but the reason there is no model is that you can’t have one that addresses those three issues.”

Chelston Brathwaite, chairman of the National Agriculture Commission, said there was a present need to rethink, refocus and reposition efforts and use land to satisfy consumer needs.

“We have to be careful not to use all our land for real estate. We have to reserve some for food,” he said.

Estwick said the concept of a White Paper being prepared is based on the premise that the sector needs to be modernised to the extent that it explores the linkages to other parts of the economy and fulfills its role in contributing to economic development.

“The White Paper will assist us in our endeavours to effect the repositioning of the agriculture sector,” he said.

Policy areas to be developed by the White Paper include land use, praedial larceny, food and nutrition security, food imports, investment in the sector, promotion of inter sector linkages between the food and agriculture sector and others sectors such as tourism, manufacturing and energy.

Other areas would be capacity building and the development of human resources, the development of a sugar cane industry, incentives and technical and financial support to the sector, and the role of other national, regional and international agencies in support of the sector.