In the Climate Ambition Support Alliance news, Ineza Grace, coordinator of the Global Loss and Damage Youth Coalition, said there is a need to redraft the narrative around climate change to say, “We need finance to address loss and damage, especially for the frontline communities that are vulnerable and did less to contribute to the climate change impact.” Caribbean and other members of the Coalition added their voices to the call for action by decision-makers as we head towards COP27.
With Loss and Damage fast emerging as a critical issue for billions of people, particularly in the global south, Carbon Brief hosted a webinar discussing if loss and damage will be the defining issue at COP27, the next round of UN climate talks.
At COP27, small island states will present a proposal for a “response fund” to help climate victims recover from natural disasters. The Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis), chaired by Antigua and Barbuda, has drawn up plans for a Loss and Damage Response Fund, Climate Change News reports. Aosis also produced a Media briefing note on the Loss and Damage Response Fund.
Climate Justice
This is the COP27 Resource Hub where the World Resources Institute (WRI) experts will be tracking progress throughout the UN climate conference, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, from November 6-18. Check the Resource Hub for the latest news, articles, events and more
Trinidadian Racquel Moses, United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s global ambassador, and chief executive officer of Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator, recaps on the United Nations General Assembly and its role in supporting Caribbean countries through climate change. Caribbean Life published her perspective.
Yes! Magazine describes the lack of infrastructural support in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Fiona as environmental racism. It said, “Like all forms of institutional racism, this comes about when individualised acts of racism end up encoded into the underlying structures of society, Black and Brown people are dehumanised to the point that they are unable to respond to the environmental stresses of a climate crisis (they) did not cause, but are most vulnerable to.”
A press release from Oxfam stated many rich countries are using “dishonest and misleading” accounting to inflate its climate finance contributions to developing countries. Oxfam estimates between just $21-24.5 billion as the “true value” of climate finance provided in 2020, against a reported figure of $68.3 billion in public finance that rich countries said was provided.
The Caribbean Climate Network (CCN) is seeking to have the climate crisis declared a “Climate Emergency” so that there would be greater awareness of the urgent problems climate change brings.
St. Lucia’s Keithlin Caroo, executive director at Helen's Daughters, a non-profit building rural women's economic empowerment in the Eastern Caribbean region, was named among 50 Rising Stars in ESG of Women of the Future.
Ian Fry, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change, in a report to the General Assembly, said human-induced climate change is the largest, most pervasive threat to the natural environment and societies the world has ever experienced. The poorest countries are paying the heaviest price.
Here are videos of the Virtual Island Summit 2022 which covered topics such as agriculture, trade, food security, blockchain and cryptocurrency, the blue economy, conservation and more with a wealth of speakers from the Caribbean.
Michelle Scobie, senior lecturer and researcher in the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine discusses solar radiation modification (SRM) and what questions small island developing states (SIDS) should be asking about the governance of its research and deployment in ODI.
The Environment and Biodiversity
Environmental scientist, Dr Theresa Rodriguez-Moodie, CEO of the Jamaica Environment Trust, discusses in her Jamaica Gleaner opinion piece, about how pollution from the West Indies Alumina Company’s (WINDALCO) Effluent Holding Pond (EHP) is affecting the Rio Cobre river.
Energy
The Caribbean Initiative at the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center and the Global Energy Center held a virtual public conversation with experts including Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Energy and Energy Industries, Stuart Young, about the future of US-Caribbean energy cooperation. The conversation examined how US initiatives such as the US-Caribbean Partnership to Address the Climate Crisis 2030 (PAC2030) can support energy resilience and security in the Caribbean.
Oil and Gas
Red Thread, a leading Guyanese women’s organisation, participated in a picketing exercise outside the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Head Office to lobby the body to perform its mandate of safeguarding the environment. Kaieteur News reports.
Finance, Economics and Debt
Barbados’ Prime Minister Mia Mottley at the Sixth Annual Babacar Ndiaye Lecture, held on the sidelines of the World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings in Washington DC, USA argued that the global financial architecture must be reconfigured completely to reflect the needs and participation of countries in the Global South, many of which were colonised during the time the current financial order was created. Zawya reports.
The Caribbean in the world
Sir Ronald Sanders, Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador to the United States of America and the Organization of American States discusses how support for Juan Guaidó, the self-declared Interim President of Venezuela, has dwindled.
Guyanese citizens no longer require a visa to visit the United Kingdom. Visa-free travel takes effect from November 9, 2022. Anyone seeking to stay in the UK for more than 180 days for the purposes of work or study would require a visa. Kaieteur News reports.
Senior members of the Jamaican Rastafarian community refused to attend an appreciation ceremony during the visit of His Imperial Highness Prince Ermias Sahle Selassie. Ras Iyah V, a prominent voice in the Rastafarian community, alleging that they were not engaged by the government in the planning for the visit. The Jamaica Gleaner reports.
The Young Cuban discusses how polarisation and political extremism on both ends of the spectrum affects democratic development.
Public Security and Justice
Barbados Underground is concerned that the country’s murder toll for 2022 will be greater than that of 2021. In 2021 there was a report of 32 murders. Currently, Barbados has recorded 30 murders for the year.
Democracy
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has dismissed the decision of the Guyanese Court of Appeal, which contended it had jurisdiction to hear the appeal of Elections Petition 99 on elections in 2021. Guyana’s Department of Public Information reported.
Food Security
The World Food Programme reported that there are 4.1 million people living with food insecurity in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean – a staggering 57 per cent of the total population. This represents a 135 per cent increase in the food-insecure population since April 2020.
Haiti
Scott Freeman, an anthropologist and professor in the School of International Service, discusses the historical impacts of international intervention in Haiti and the risks of continuing the pattern as the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) approved a “sanctions regime” to punish criminal gangs in Haiti and called for an arms embargo on non-state actors as security, economic and health crises deepen in the Caribbean country. Al Jazeera reports.
Gender
Director of Equality Bahamas Alicia Wallace responded in The Tribune, EyeWitness News, and The Nassau Guardian to The Bahamas’ Press Secretary Clint Watson’s claim that women's groups are "silent" about marital rape. For years, Equality Bahamas has been calling for marital rape to be criminalised through the #Strike5ive campaign. An apology was issued by the Office of the Prime Minister.
Opportunities
There is a call for proposals on the conference Shifting Power: Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, Leadership and Self-determination in Hacienda Misne, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico, taking place on 22-24 February 2023. The deadline for proposal submissions is October 31, 2022. Click here for more information in English and Spanish.
The Arcus Foundation published a Request for Concepts for organisations that are strategically aligned with its funding priorities, based in the program’s 11 focus countries in Africa and the Americas including Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago. Click here for further details. Deadline: November 15, 2022.
The Caribbean journal CESaRE is accepting abstract submissions on renewable energy, industry, transport, climate change and sustainability, agriculture, ecosystems, conservation, environmental policy or a related field.
Events
Climate Tracker, with the support of Open Society Foundations (OSF), is hosting a Caribbean Pre-COP Youth Conversations with youth and climate activists. Remarks will be made by St. Kitts and Nevis Senator, Dr. Joyelle Clarke, Minister of Sustainable Development and Climate Action. Date: October 25. Time: 6pm (Port of Spain time) | 5pm (Kingston time) | 4pm (Belmopan time). Register here, Zoom link, Meeting ID: 867 5135 9839 and Passcode: 824395.
Climate Tracker and Climate Analytics Caribbean, with support from OSF, is hosting “COP 27 a Caribbean Perspective”. Register here for the event on October 27 at 8am (Belize time) | 9am (Jamaica time) | 10am (Trinidad and Tobago time).
UN Women will launch its “Resilient, Inclusive, SMART and Safe SIDS (RISS) Model '' for the Caribbean via Zoom on October 31 from 10am-12pm AST. The Caribbean RISS Model aims to accelerate momentum in the Caribbean for participatory, inclusive and gender-responsive urban planning approaches, to enhance the safety and capacity of women, men, children, the elderly, the LGBTQ+ community, persons with disabilities, youth, Indigenous people, and all marginalised groups. Register here.
Trinidad and Tobago-based NGO, createfuturegood is inviting civil society organisations to join in the upcoming EVAWG (Ending Violence Against Women and Girls) Campaign. There is an orientation session for the regional 16 Days of Activism campaign on October 25. Register here.
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