Climate Justice and Human Rights in the Caribbean

 Date: Wednesday, July 20, 2022

Human Rights:

 

• The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) is currently conducting a questionnaire on the human rights situation regarding people with disabilities in the Caribbean. They invite members of civil society organizations, academia and other interested people to take part. The survey will inform the preparation of a report regarding the regulations and public policies that protect people with disabilities. The survey is done in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. The deadline is August 15, 2022. To participate, click here.

• The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) has expressed concern about the National Toshoa Council NTC apparent control by the political administrations of Guyana. The Association noted that funds sought by the NTC were cut and reduced from national budgetary allocations. Kaieteur News reports. 

 

• A High Court Judge from Guyana has demanded that a 58-year-old man, who has spent nine years on remand for murder be immediately released as his, “constitutional rights to a free trial within a reasonable time” was breached. Raymond Jones of Micobie Village was accused of fatally shooting a man in 2012 with a bow and arrow. Justice Sandil Kissoon said, “Jones was deprived of an early opportunity to have his name cleared.” News Room Guyana reports.

 

• As Jamaica’s Finance Minister announced that the public sector will increase its maternity leave from 40 days to three calendar months, and introduce paternity leave for the first time, the University of the West Indies sociologist Dr Herbert Gayle asks the Government not to limit the parameters of paternity leave. He said limiting paternity leave to married men instead of all fathers will only benefit a fraction of the population as a third of couples with children are married. The Jamaica Gleaner reports. 

 

Drug Policy:

• A referendum to vote on decriminalizing marijuana in Belize will cost the government US$5 million. In November 2017, the government decriminalized small amounts of cannabis. Now the Government is attempting to decriminalize up to ten grams of marijuana. Evangelical churches held a petition against decriminalization, and got signatures from ten percent of the population which triggered the referendum. The churches believe decriminalization will contradict God’s laws and support the gangs in Belize. Prime Minister John Briceño wants to negotiate with the churches to avoid having to spend money on the referendum. Loop Caribbean News reports.

Finance + Debt:

 

• The International Chamber of Commerce is calling on the G20 to do three things to avoid a global health crisis among low and middle-income countries: 

• Reinstate the G20’s Debt Service Suspension Initiative for an initial one-year period to countries in need.

• Establish a time-bound roadmap to agree on enhancements to the Common Framework for Debt Treatment

• Agree to new issuance of IMF Special Drawing Rights. 

Read more from the ICC here

 

Climate Justice and Energy:

•  Are climate change issues inherently racist? European colonists used labor from enslaved African and indentured Indians in the Caribbean to generate wealth from the sugar plantations. The fortunes made were later invested into energy industries that pollute the planet and cause natural disasters that make Caribbean people vulnerable to climate change. Read more via The Conversation  

 

• Guyana’s Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo believes halting the development of the oil and gas industry now in order for the country to get a larger share of oil revenue sooner is a bad idea. He thinks this would cause inflation to rise in the country. Kaieteur News reports. 

• UWI lecturer in chemical engineering, Dr. Lorraine Sobers warns Guyana to keep a watchful eye on its carbon dioxide emissions as the country develops the oil and gas industry. Guyana has a forest conservation policy. As a result, a large percentage of the country is forest reserve and there is a low rate of deforestation. However, with the development of the energy industry, she warns that Guyana could become a large carbon emitter in the region, like Trinidad and Tobago. Kaieteur News reports.

• Climate Analytics Caribbean opened a formal office in Port of Spain. This Trinidad-based team has a mission to address the gap between regional advocacy on climate change at the global level to support climate change policy work in the Caribbean. The office will provide support to governments to translate the agreements in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) into domestic laws, policies, and governance arrangements. The office will also support regional organizations and civil society to further advance climate science knowledge and develop regional climate policy research and analysis via Climate Analytics Caribbean press release. 

• There is a growing movement in Latin America and the Caribbean of people actively suing their respective governments to protect their country from environmental destruction. This article from Diálogo Chino discusses how people in Latin America and the Caribbean see climate change as a violation of fundamental human rights. Two citizens from Guyana, Quadad de Freitas and Dr Troy Thomas are trying to stop oil firms such as ExxonMobil from offshore drilling.

• Derval Barzey from Trinidad and Tobago, who worked in environmental risk management, noticed that there was a lack of Caribbean voices in climate advocacy. Thus, in 2020, she created The Climate Conscious podcast to talk about the economic, gendered, social, and health implications of climate change. It was listed by the University of London as one of the top sustainability podcasts in 2021. In April 2022, Brazey held the Caribbean Women for Climate Justice virtual conference, aiming to give a voice to women in climate activism. Funded by a grant from the Open Society Foundation, the conference discussed topics such as human rights, climate resilience and gender equality. A database of regional environmental stakeholders was made. It is accessible to the public through the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute. UWI Today reports.

 

• The Jamaica Climate Change Youth Council (JCCYC) has written a letter to Prime Minister Andrew Holness, dated July 15, 2022, imploring the Government to stop deep sea mining in Jamaica. The letter expressed concerns for the environment as deep sea mining is: “deeply controversial, with the potential to disrupt untouched and unexplored marine environments…The JCCYC is calling for the Government of Jamaica to reconsider its support for deep sea mining, and to join the calls for a moratorium.” Read more on Petchary’s blog.

Heritage preservation:

• UNESCO and the Government of Dominica officially launched the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Fund (ICH) on July 15, 2022. The fund is estimated to take 18 months to implement. It is a US$65,000 project aimed to strengthen the capacities of government officials, civil society, and those who hold knowledge of cultural heritage. Radio station Q75FM reports. 

Gender:

• Female farmer Ayodele Sampson reflects on her career path in farming. She became a farmer after she returned from Antigua where she worked in insurance. When she realized she was not able to get a job in Guyana, she became a farmer. As a woman, she struggled because she had to deal with men who did not respect her as a farmer or people who did not respect her because she was a farmer. Eventually, her success and determination earned her respect in her community. She is now secretary of her local farmer's group. Loop Caribbean News reports.

• The Caribbean has only had five female leaders since independence. Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States, observed that it was not the norm for women in the Caribbean to be considered for leadership positions. The five women who became leaders endured slurs and other insults while ascending to those positions of power, but their political grit earned them their leadership position. Read more in the Antigua News Room. 

Geopolitics:

• While Russia is not a major player in the Caribbean, the ramifications of the Russian and Ukraine war have ripple effects on the region. Cuba is Russia’s main economic partner in the region. CARICOM countries were among the 141 countries at the United Nations to condemn Russia for invading Ukraine. Cuba abstained. While CARICOM did not approve any joint sanctions against Russia, individual countries chose to take action such as suspending Citizen by Investment (CBI) programs for Russian and Belarusian citizens and the Central Bank of The Bahamas instructed all financial institutions to halt all business with sanctioned Russian entities. The ripple effects of the war also affected the region through food security and rising energy prices. The Caribbean largely imports food and oil and gas, which has caused the cost of living in the Caribbean to increase. Read more from The Global Americans.

Culture: 

• In the first ever episode of The Bocas Lit Fest’s podcast 100 Caribbean Books That Made Us, Trinidadian author Kevin Jared Hosein talks about his favorite book No Pain Like This Body by Harold Sonny Ladoo, first published in 1972. Set in 1905, the book depicts life in a rural rice farming community and the struggles communities experienced in the post-indentured era of Trinidad. Hosein describes No Pain Like this Body as a horror story that highlights characters and circumstances rather than being driven by plot. Hosein said the tumultuous behaviors of the characters can be observed in Trinidad today. The book highlights colonial blame, learned behavior and generational trauma. It makes the reader question how many families in Trinidad still experience that violence. No Pain Like This Body is being re-released by Penguin Vintage Classics on August 4, 2022, with an introduction by British-Trinidadian author, Monique Roffey.

• Papillote Press will launch the biography of Dominican poet and Pan Africanist, JR Ralph Casimir called Black Man Listen: The Life of JR Ralph Casimir by his granddaughter Kathy Casimir MacLean on July 31, 2022. The launch will take place at the Dominica High Commission. The book explores Casimir’s political activism and his role in Marcus Garvey’s Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). He was a teacher, bookbinder, lawyer’s clerk, and edited Dominica’s first poetry anthologies.  

Events:

• The Mellon Foundation hosts a panel discussion on the multiplicity of life and art in Puerto Rico on July 28, 2022 at 4:00 p.m. ET. The panelist includes Dr. Elizabeth Alexander, President of the Mellon Foundation; Alana Casanova-Burgess, Host and Producer of the WNYC and Futuro Media podcast; Dr. Yarimar Bonilla, Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Studies at Hunter College in New York City; and Daniel Lind-Ramos, sculptor and painter. Register here.

• The Caribbean Women in Leadership (CIWiL) is hosting the first biannual virtual Spotlight CSO Community of Practice Session on Psychosocial Support Services for GBV Victims/Survivors: Improving Quality and Access. It takes place via Zoom on July 21, 2022, from 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. Jamaica time/EST or 11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m. AST. Register here.

 

• The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and Freedom Imaginaries is hosting its second virtual dialogue - “Set the Agenda: Climate Change, Human Rights and Justice” – on July 21, 2022 at 2–4 p.m. AST/UTC-4. This is the next dialogue in CANARI’s series to develop a joint advocacy agenda for the Caribbean Climate Justice Alliance, and presents an opportunity for civil society and non-state actors across the Caribbean to share their perspectives and priorities. Register here.

Opportunities:

• Applications are now open for 2023 Conservation Leadership Programme’s (CLP) grant for early career conservationists. The CLP funds teams from low and middle-income countries in the Caribbean and Pacific to conduct scientific research, encourage and promote environmental issues in order to conserve and manage the natural world. Application deadline is October 10, 2022. Read more from CLP here.

• The Ireland Fellows Programme – SIDS is open for applications for the academic year 2023-2024. This fellowship allows for young professionals early in their career to get a fully funded Master’s Degree. Eligible countries are: Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, and Trinidad and Tobago. Applicants must have a  minimum GPA of 3.0 awarded within 12 months and not already hold a Master’s Degree. For more information click here. 

 

• UNESCO is conducting a Youth Greening Curriculum survey to understand young people’s current learning experiences and preferences for future climate change education in their schools and communities. If you are between 12-25 please fill out the survey. The deadline is August 8, 2022. The result will be presented at COP 27 in Egypt in November and will contribute to the development of the UNESCO Greening Curriculum Guidelines to be launched at COP 28. Survey in English, French and Spanish. 

 

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