Loss and Damage in Caribbean (Feb. 17, 2022)

 Caribbean countries and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are being forced to borrow in order to recover from the effects of climate change disasters, "to respond to a problem that they did not cause, in fact to respond to a problem where they are the victims. And I think that’s unconscionable," said former chief climate change negotiator for Saint Lucia, Dr James Fletcher. 

Because many of the countries hold private debt rather than owing multilateral institutions, "it’s difficult to enter into a debt for climate swap with private debt," he noted, speaking at an online webinar by the Commonwealth Foundation on climate change reparations. (Loop News)

Fletcher (who was the leading Caribbean negotiator at the Paris Conference in 2015, former Saint Lucia Minister for Sustainable Development, and founder of the Caribbean Climate Justice Project) also suggested that carbon taxes collected from major polluters, like shipping companies and airlines, should be funneled into a Loss and Damage fund. 

The conversation ranged widely on the highly political issue of loss and damage for SIDS and recent initiatives including Antigua and Barbuda-Tuvalu’s announcement at COP26 of a commission to explore litigation. See the entire presentation.

"Climate is not an environmental issue, it's political. And politicians only care about things that impact their votes. So civil society is our greatest vehicle right now," argued Fletcher.

More Loss and Damage

• Speakers at a Chatham House event outlined potential principals for a funding mechanism to compensate for loss and damage caused by climate change. By 2030, lower-income countries are expected to see between $290 billion and $500 billion in costs due to loss and damage from climate change. Alpha Kaloga, a lead negotiator of the African Group of Negotiators at COP 26, suggested three key guiding principles: accessible funding, accessible data about the climate events that require funding, and equity around who pays. (Devex)

Democratic Governance

• Haitian interim-prime minister Ariel Henry invited members of an opposition coalition to join his election push, rather than continue their efforts to replace him with a two-year transitional government aimed at creating better conditions for free and fair elections, reports the Miami Herald. Supporters of the Commission to Search for a Haitian Solution to the Crisis, which drafted the Montana Accord, have vacillated between having Henry join their proposed power-sharing agreement and calling for his removal from office. 
  
  
• Henry met Montana Accord representatives last week and the two sides said they are working on a negotiation process aimed at finding a consensual path out of the country's prolonged political crisis. (Press Lakay)
  
  
• Guyanese Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo rejected allegations placed before him by Vice Media Group that he accepts bribes to assist Chinese businessmen to gain lucrative public sector projects. (Stabroek News)
  
  
• Civil rights groups led by the ACLU asked U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to disavow century-old Supreme Court rulings suffused with racist language that gave the government license to treat people living in Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories differently than other Americans. In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that the Justice Department should publicly condemn a series of rulings in the early 1900s called the Insular Cases, reports the Associated Press.
  

Public Security

• Jamaica's Supreme Court is trying 33 alleged gang members on charges including arson, murder and being part of a criminal organization. The case is testing recent judicial reforms designed to fight the island's powerful criminal groups, reports Reuters. Prime Minister Andrew Holness' government is hoping for convictions that could help slow gang violence in Jamaica, which authorities say is responsible for 70 percent of the country's homicides. (See last week's Just Caribbean Updates.)
  
  
• Jamaica's Firearm Licensing Authority head Shane Dalling accused former employees of participating in an alleged extortion ring once headed by a former senior official, which benefited key players in the $6.5-billion gun industry, reports the Jamaica Gleaner.
  
  
• Easy access to weapons is the main factor behind St. Lucia's gun violence, according to former Prime Minister Allan Chastanet, whose opposition United Workers Party recommends measures to stop illicit weapons flows. (St. Lucia Times)

Decolonization

• British shadow foreign secretary David Lammy asked the government to pardon 70 abolitionists convicted for their role in the historic 1823 Demerara rebellion by enslaved people against British colonialists in the Caribbean. The revolt in part of present-day Guyana involved 10,000 enslaved people and was brutally crushed by the colonial militia. Granting a pardon would be “a significant step in Britain’s acknowledgment of its role in the history of slavery," wrote Lammy. (Guardian)
• The University of the West Indies has joined forces with the Garvey Institute and the PJ Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy in mobilizing signatures for an online petition to posthumously exonerate Garvey of his unjust charge and conviction in 1922.  UWI forum on this.
  
• By 2030, it is more than likely that the eight independent Commonwealth Caribbean countries which are still monarchical states will become republics, argued Sir Ronald Sanders in a column last month. They would join the other four Commonwealth Caribbean countries that have already separated from the Queen.
  
• British royals the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge will visit the Bahamas, Jamaica and Belize next month as they seek to prevent further Caribbean nations from severing ties with the Crown, reports the Telegraph. The visit comes at a critical time, as Commonwealth realms increasingly debate whether to follow Barbados in severing ties with the British monarchy.
  

Development

• The combined macro-level economic impact of Hurricane Dorian and the COVID-19 pandemic on The Bahamas is projected to inflict losses of $7.5 billion, according to a recent study commissioned by the United Nations Development Programme. (Eyewitness News)
  
  
• The United States, the European Union and others pledged $600 million in additional funds to help Haiti reconstruct its southern peninsula following a devastating earthquake six months ago. The pledges made during a conference held by the United Nations and Haiti's government fell short of an international push to raise $2 billion, reports the Associated Press.
  

Climate Justice and Energy

• The last refuges for the world’s ailing coral reefs could vanish completely if global warming exceeds 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, according to a new study published in PLOS Climate. (Carbon Brief)
  
  
• Rising sea levels could force Guyana to consider moving capital Georgetown to higher ground, reports News Room. President Irfaan Ali has also long touted the creation of ‘Silica City’ a new city in Guyana’s hilly sand and clay region, further inland.
  
  
• St. Lucia's government will require a private development on the island to guarantee public access to several affected beaches, and to protect an ancient Amerindian site -- the new promises are in keeping with protection and sustainable management measures organizations have been advocating for, writes the St. Lucia National Trust.

Human Rights

• The police officer who allegedly cut a young Jamaican's dreadlocks in custody will not face criminal charges, a delayed outcome that is not surprising, writes Emma Lewis in Global Voices.
  

Caribbean in the World

• The Caribbean should definitely care about rising tensions in Ukraine, argues Sir Ronald Sanders, pointing to likely higher prices for oil and gas and a knock-on economic effect. But countries in the region, that "came to independence by exercising the right to self-determination and which treasure their sovereignty and territorial integrity, would have to be very concerned," he writes.

Events

• 17 February -- “Climate Action: Roadmap to Climate Recovery in the Caribbean” -- Bahamas Climate Change Caucus at the University of The Bahamas.
  
  
• 19 February -- Le-Anne Roper, 1st Senior Technical Officer (Adaptation) with Jamaica’s Climate Change Division will be launching her book ‘Building Rock-Solid Resilience to Natural Hazards: The Church Edition with UWI’s climate scientist Professor Michael Taylor.
  
  
• 2 March -- How does climate adaptation look like in the Caribbean? -- Caribbean Climate Network Sessions on Climate
  
  
• 15 March -- SOGIESC and climate justice in African, Caribbean and Pacific states -- ECADE - Eastern Caribbean Alliance, a network of LGBTQ+ and human rights organisations working towards LGBTQ+ equality in the eastern Caribbean
  
  
• 17 March -- Hidden Paradise: SOGIESC and Climate Justice in the Caribbean -- ECADE - Eastern Caribbean Alliance, a network of LGBTQ+ and human rights organisations working towards LGBTQ+ equality in the eastern Caribbean

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