By Kimberly Ramkhalawan
November 18, 2022
The world needs to move beyond the rhetoric and actively create solutions for countries suffering at the hands of climate change. It’s the message that has been resonating right through events like COP 27. And while discussing areas like the blue economy are especially important for small island developing states, building up this area of untapped resources while safeguarding it by making it climate resilient is critical if Caribbean islands are to survive.
Chamberlain Emmanuel, Head of Environmental Sustainability Cluster at the OECS made the case while discussing the Caribbean and the Blue Economy, at the World Bank’s COP 27 side event titled “Global SIDS: The Blue Economy and Climate Resilience”. While sharing what the OECS has been engaged in with the region, including Island systemic management, he says there have also been a number of proposed various strategies to help position themselves inclusive of national ocean policies, blue economy strategies, coastal and marine spatial plans to ensure it introduces clarity and guidance to all member states as they seek to position themselves in a modern blue economy region. Emmanuel says it is understanding that because of being islands, whatever happens in the terrestrial space also impacts the integrity of its oceans. However, he notes it has been challenging trying to work with both the private and public sector, and civil society to achieve these goals.
Building resistance in the Eastern Caribbean means adaptation while it continues to champion to remain within the 1.5 degrees threshold, with evidence present that the world is heading toward that mark, and even if islands were to remain within the 1.5 degrees, the effects of it are still detrimental to small island developing states. It’s in understanding that through its design and implementation of critical infrastructure needed for coastal regions and the blue economy, now has to be done at a different scale because of the impact of climate change. This however has been incremental, as additional financing required, needs to be at the table, so islands can adapt and position themselves for prosperity.
As for marine spatial planning, Emmanuel says its all about making the right decisions, as resources and space are limited within the region, but with the vast ocean space, there needs to be some sort of prioritizing taking into consideration climate changes knowing what is present and what is ahead, while risk assessing. He adds that marine spatial planning has taken into account such climate related risks among the OECS’s member states, where it is positioned, which economic activity can be affected because of that climate risk. An example of this is villages dependent on the fishing industry, where livelihoods are connected to the ocean space, yet being bombarded with flooding, and the very culture and survival of these communities being significantly affected by these risks. This now prompts them to take into consideration while also prioritizing the way they plan for the use of their resources effectively.
Better decision making also ropes in all players, forcing the region to see how all sectors in the region are interrelated and cross cutting, underscoring how vital data sharing remains so that the decisions made in one area, also assist other connected sectors as well.
He says at the OECS level, they are pushing for governments of member states to establish National Oceans Governance Committees where they bring together various players at the national level to plan and prioritize together, sharing information and ensuring policies are cohesive and work well.
At the regional level, there is an oceans governance team, bringing representatives from international space into the arena where exchanges of ideas can be had, and planning can be done together, while recognizing cross boundary issues that can only be dealt with collectively. The issue of access benefit sharing, as they often have capacity limitations when it comes to the ocean space, and having the tools to deploy into the ocean to understand its true potential requires using external players to do research, which can be capitalized for business opportunities. Regrettably, he says not always the benefits derived come back to the people of the region. Emmanuel says there is need for data harvested to come back to the region so partnerships can be formed for regional benefits as well.
As for financing, he says the issue is not financing quantity, rather distribution. While he notes there are many terms that float around such as blue bonds and the blue economy, its about scale care. This he refers to as designing these finance instruments that fit the scale of SIDS, an issue which has become a problem going beyond what he calls the fancy speeches and ceremonies, when at the table before investors and developing partners, you are told that because of your size, it is not bankable or sustainable. As a result, he says he needs the international community to come to the table with tools for their scale, as it is not enough to speak about what can work, but the tools to be customized for the current circumstances, or it continues to be another round of talk and speeches.