Hurricane Fiona may have dumped more rain on some parts of Puerto Rico than category four hurricane Maria did five years ago and it is yet to recover, Grist writes. The people of Puerto Rico were not surprised when their electricity failed. Since Maria in 2017, the electricity grid has not been optimally functional or been made resilient, NBC News reports. Those Puerto Rican residents lucky enough to convert to solar panels were able to have electricity in the midst of Fiona’s destruction. The Times discusses how the rest of the island can convert to the renewable energy resource.
Following Hurricane Fiona, Puerto Rico will need more assistance to address the damage to the island. Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA Network in a press release, said the island still has debt, a child poverty crisis and recovery from previous disasters.
Hurricane Fiona also devastated Guadeloupe, a French territory, destroying infrastructure and causing injury according to Global Voices, and The Turks and Caicos Islands as a Category 3 storm, The Jamaica Gleaner reports.
Climate Justice
This Atlantic Council report, a publication by the Caribbean Initiative, written by former Guyanese Ambassador Riyad Insanally and Wazim Mowla, outlines their suggestions for “three quick wins” the United States and CARICOM should pursue though the US-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PACC2030).
Barbados’ government announced a landmark debt conversion that will fund a domestic conservation fund and an endowment trust supporting durable large-scale conservation of Barbados’ fragile marine environment and promotion of the sustainable blue economy for generations. CISION PR Newswire publishes the press release. According to Bloomberg, Barbados “struck a deal to buy back a portion of its $531 million bond due in 2029, replacing it with lower-cost debt that comes with repayment guarantees from the Inter-American Development Bank and The Nature Conservancy. As part of the deal, the nation is also buying back a portion of its 8% local-currency notes due 2043.” This bond has a clause that allows payments to be suspended in the event of another global pandemic. Prime Minister Mottley believes that if this kind of option had been available in 2020 to many of the countries now in trouble, much of the financial turmoil could have been avoided. Newsroom Guyana reports.
Mottley is also building a global coalition of nations committed to overhauling the global financial system and unleash trillions of dollars of investments to the climate frontlines. Mottley laid out a plan to transform the global finance architecture and make it fit to address the climate crisis at the UN general assembly. Climate Change News reports.
Download the free digital copy of the report for the State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2021 here.
Denmark is the first central government of a developed country to propose funding devoted to “Loss and Damage” to countries ravaged by climate-related disasters. The Danish government announced at the UN general assembly it would provide DKK 100m (£12m) specifically for Loss and Damage. Matthew Samuda, a minister in Jamaica’s ministry of economic growth, said: “Jamaica is happy to see a developed nation stepping up to the plate and acknowledging the absolute need for loss and damage to be acknowledged…Though $13m will not cover the vast devastation we are already experiencing from climatic events.” Belize’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Carlos Fuller, said, “Loss and damage is already occurring in Belize…Severe erosion is altering communities…A financial mechanism for loss and damage must be established at Cop27 to provide support to the communities that did little to cause this crisis.” The Guardian reports.
The Mesoamerican Reef (MAR) ecoregion, which is the largest reef system in the Atlantic, is shared along the coastlines of Mexico, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize. After a decade of steady improvement, the MAR has seen declining health over the past five years. Judicial officials came together from across the Mesoamerican Reef region, to share skills and knowledge to apply the law to protect the Mesoamerican Reef at a conference. The Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) discusses options to protect the reef.
Belize’s city of Belmopan is a climate adapted city. Known as the Garden City, Belmopan has lots of green spaces and an overall negative carbon footprint but faces challenges posed by climate change. The Climate action guidelines 2022–2030 respond to the need to address those challenges.
The Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis said small islands vulnerable to the effects of climate change are ‘pledge fatigued’ by large nations who promise funds but are yet to pay. He said industrialised countries that contribute significantly to carbon emissions must ‘pay the bill’, EyeWitness News reports.
The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has entered into an agreement with the Italy-based Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) to provide US $50 million to help regional countries counter the effects of climate change and support the sustainable development of the Caribbean countries. Nation News reports.
UN Climate Change Executive Secretary, Grenadian Simon Stiell, said there is an urgent need for world leaders to make the necessary changes to get to the 1.5°C goal to stay alive. He said, "We have eight COPs to go in this decisive decade of #ClimateAction. Think about it. That is the equivalent of two World Cup finals." See here.
The International Seabed Authority (ISA) authorised the first large-scale effort to mine metals from the Pacific sea floor that could help speed the transition away from fossil fuels. The licensing process has come under scrutiny from critics who say the ISA isn’t doing enough to protect the environment or equal access to undersea riches. Quartz reports.
Oil and Gas
Guyana’s government announced that future oil contracts will include a Stability Clause that currently exists in the 2016 Production Sharing Agreement (PSA) ExxonMobil. The Stability Clause is a binding agreement that seeks to ensure that the profits of the contractor are unaffected. Transparency advocate, Dr. Yog Mahadeo believes that such an “onerous stability” must not find its way into any new PSA, unless so determined by legal minds. Kaieteur News reports.
Guyanese activists Danuta Radzik and Sinikka Henry, applied to the National High Court to quash the Liza 1 Permit which the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) signed in favour of Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) on May 31, 2022. Kaieteur News and Stabroek News report.
Following an oil spill two weeks ago in Guyana, Dr. Vincent Adams, former head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says the event showed how “grossly underprepared” Guyana is for petroleum production. Kaieteur News reports.
Haiti
On Tuesday 22nd September, heavily armed men from Canaan attacked the Cabaret Women's Prison. One hundred and forty three women are still on the run. Investigations continue, Haiti Libre reports.
US authorities subjected Haitian asylum seekers to arbitrary detention and discriminatory and humiliating ill-treatment that amounts to race-based torture, said Amnesty International in the report, ‘They Did Not Treat Us Like People’: Race and Migration-Related Torture and Other Ill-Treatment of Haitians Seeking Safety in the USA’. Amnesty International believes Torture and other ill-treatment of Haitian asylum seekers is rooted in anti-Black racism.
Economics, Finance and Debt
Debt Justice’s video analyses the fact that a quarter of the countries in the world are in debt which is deeply rooted in colonial practices.
Here is Jamaica’s country profile by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs looking at emigration and remittances, agriculture and food security, and crime and violence.
The EU Council will reportedly add Anguilla, the Bahamas, and the Turks and Caicos Islands to the EU list of non-cooperative jurisdictions on anti-money laundering in a meeting in October, reported Orbitax. Last week Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley testified before the US Congress about the economic injustice such restrictions bring for the region. Former Senior IDB staffer from The Bahamas denounces the expanding measures applied arbitrarily, that continue to cripple Caribbean economies on Twitter and Eye Witness News Bahamas analysed the issue here.
Crime and Corruption
This InSight Crime investigation examines the work the Dominican Republic must do to root out corruption. Since President Luis Abinader took office in 2020, the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutor for Administrative Corruption (Procuraduría Especializada de Persecución de la Corrupción Administrativa - PEPCA) has been working on a number of cases against government ministers, security force officials, and close family members of the former president, Danilo Medina.
The number of people imprisoned in Guyana has increased from approximately 1,700 to more than 2,000 in a total population of 750,000, Newsroom Guyana reports.
Trinidad and Tobago has already crossed the 400 murder mark for the year with police unsure as to how to respond, InSight Crime reports.
Women’s and LGBTQI+ Rights
The Caribbean is one of the only regions in the world without a dedicated philanthropic fund focused on women’s and LGBTQI+ rights. A new feasibility study finds a large number of women’s and LGBTQI+ movements working across the region, and the opportunity for donors to support their work with sustained and flexible funding. T&T Guardian reports the press release from Equality Fund
Activists fighting for LGBTQ rights in the Caribbean have received a new revived vigour as courts in the Caribbean continue to side with the LGBT community in the judicial fight for their human rights. Erasing 76 Crimes discusses.
The Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality (ECADE) collaborated with Parliamentarians for Global Action, UNIBAM, Colors Caribbean, Eolas Consulting, and UNDP to hold a roundtable in Barbados on LGBTQI+ Research D.A.T.A. (Driving Analytical, Transformative Action) on September 15 and 16, 2022. Opportunities for economic inclusion and livelihoods were analysed, WinnFM reports.
Drug Policy
Despite being the champions of the marijuana industry, cultivating strains unique to Jamaica, the Rastafarian community feel they are getting the short end of the stick when it comes to access to selling in Jamaica, The Jamaica Gleaner reports.
Decolonisation
Cambridge University will create a Cambridge Legacies of Enslavement Fund which will be put towards research, community engagement and partnership activities in an attempt to respond to its legacies of slavery. The University did a peer-reviewed research into its historical connections to enslavement, and will begin implementing the report’s recommendations.
Arts and Culture
Jamaican actress Kimberly Patterson discusses the local and international film industry and how she is able to have her authentic Jamaican accent on Caribbean Loop’s Caribbean Creators.
Dominica is preparing to host the Dominica World Creole Music Festival. It is the only festival in the region that plays every musical genre from the Caribbean. Soca, dancehall, reggae, zouk, kompa, and bouyon will be played during the three-day festival. The festival is usually held at the end of October and leads into the country’s Independence Day celebrations on November 3, Loop Caribbean reports.
Opportunities
The Loss and Damage Youth Coalition has launched its Loss and Damage Grant for registered youth organisations to get funding for on-the-ground projects and practical programmes that address the needs of communities experiencing the most severe loss and damage due to climate change. Ten organisations will get US $10,000 and one organisation will get US $50,000. Application deadline is October 20. Read more here.
Climate Tracker has two Caribbean-focused opportunities for journalists and media professionals. Caribbean climate justice journalism fellowship and the Caribbean citizen climate journalism fellowship.
Grant opportunity for NGOs that support LGBTIQ+ and women and girls. Click here for more information. Reshare all completed documents to info4ecade@gmail.com. The deadline for applications is Friday, 07th October 2022 at 23.59 EC time.
Events
IAMovement and The National Gas Company of Trinidad and Tobago Limited will be hosting the Inaugural event, Caribbean Green Infrastructure Conference 2022. This Hybrid on-and-offline two-day event will take place physically in Trinidad & Tobago from October 25th – 26th 2022, with fully available online streaming and interactivity to facilitate participation from stakeholders across the Caribbean and Latin American regions. Register here.
The University of Guyana GREEN Institute (UGGI) and the Guyana UN Resident Coordinator Office are hosting a webinar on Friday, September 30, at 11:00 AM (Guyana Time/EDT); 4:00 PM (UK); 8:00 AM (PDT) on the “Carbon Pricing and International Carbon Markets: Considerations for Guyana, the Region and the World” Register here.
The LAC Dialogue Platform 2022 is hosting the 4th Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Regional Dialogue Platform on Anticipatory Humanitarian Action, which will take place from 28-29 September 2022. The event will have face-to-face meetings in Antigua, Guatemala, with live streaming (during the morning sessions) through the event’s website. The 2022 theme is ‘Scaling up and integration in disaster risk management systems.’ View the agenda and register here.
South South Collective is partnering with colleagues from the Global South to have the International Creative Exchange Caribbean 2022 - ICEC22 Invest from October 5-7. Investors, buyers, artists, creatives, and cultural entrepreneurs are invited. Click here to register.
The Organisation of Caribbean States is hosting a webinar on Advancing a Road Map for Debt for Climate Swaps in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU). The Government of Antigua and Barbuda is nearing the completion of the project Financing for Adaptation to Climate Change in the Eastern Caribbean – FACE which is financed by the Open Society Foundations (OSF). The event is on September 29, at 10:00 am in Puerto Rico. Register here.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights announced that the first session of the Permanent Forum of People of African Descent will take place from 5 to 8 December 2022 in Palais des Nations of the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland. Register here to participate – financial support is available.
EcoVybz and Journal of CESaRE are hosting a panel of Sustainable Ocean Alliance SIDS youth called, "Youth and Climate Solutions through SIDS Innovation" at the Virtual Island Summit 2022 organised by Island Innovation. Register here .
We welcome comments and critiques on the Just Caribbean Updates. You can see the Updates on our website, as well as receive it directly through the mailing list. Thank you for reading.
We aim for the JCU to be an informational tool, as well as a space for connection between Caribbean experts, policy-makers, activists and organisations. If you would like to post an event or opportunity on the JCU, we invite you to send the information to justcaribbeanupdates@gmail.com. Please put in the following format: date -- title of event -- organiser -- registration link OR title of opportunity -- institution -- link to more information.
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