While government has made some critical and important first steps towards the development of the renewable energy sector, much more needs to be done to advance the sector'sgrowth. Contact online >>
While government has made some critical and important first steps towards the development of the renewable energy sector, much more needs to be done to advance the sector''sgrowth.
Meshia Clarke, Executive Director of the Barbados Renewable Energy Association (BREA), made this point yesterday as she addressed those gathered for the Association''s 6th Annual General Meeting for the election of a new Board of Directors at Bagnall''s Point Gallery in Pelican Village, Bridgetown, St. Michael.
Reflecting on 2017, Clarke noted that the year was anything but conventional for the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors.
"We started the year off on an exciting note with the crafting of the National Energy Policy, but as the year went on, we were quickly reminded that in a constantly changing environment where there appears to be a lack of clear policy coordination on the growth and development of the local renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors, such efforts can be quickly curtailed by a few policy decisions," BREA''s Executive Director said.
"Much time has passed since we have all endorsed the policy objective of a 100% renewable energy Barbados. It was back in January 2015 when the Association first commissioned and published the Discussion Paper crafted by Professor Olav Hohmeyer. It has now been three years since then and there isn''t much to show," she continued.
"While government has made some critical and important first steps towards the development of the sector, much more needs to be done, specifically as it relates to the pace of implementation and the need for special and differential treatment to be carved out in support of the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors," Clarke maintained.
She meanwhile pointed out that with the probability of oil prices likely to rise, the failure to adequately support the growth and development of the renewable energy and energy efficiency sectors in the midst of the country''s economic and fiscal challenges, can and will have a catastrophic impact on the Barbadian economy.
Noting that the export potential of the renewable energy sector is enormous as energy markets open across the region and that opportunities also exist for Barbadian companies to own and share in part of the region''s energy markets as independent power producers, Clarke remained adamant that no other sector than that of renewable energy, has presented greater potential for the stimulation of economic growth, while simultaneously saving significant levels of foreign exchange at the same time.
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Barbados is one of the world''s most vulnerable countries to climate change. The nation of 280,000 people is in the heart of the Caribbean, a region where hurricanes, droughts and rising seas are expected to severely impact communities in the coming years. The recent passage of Hurricane Beryl, which devastated parts of the Caribbean, including Jamaica, is a prime example of those perils.
Barbados has launched an ambitious effort to adapt to an uncertain climate future. Called Roof to Reefs, it includes everything from reinforcing homes to buttressing critical infrastructure to protecting coastal and marine ecosystems. It focuses on integrated, home-grown solutions that build resilience to the climate crisis.
But like many small-island developing states, Barbados faces a debt crisis which makes investing in climate adaptation challenging.
That dilemma has led the country to spearhead the Bridgetown Initiative. Named after Barbados'' capital, it proposes a radical rethinking of the global financial system, calling for a combination of debt relief, new lending and private sector investments in vulnerable developing countries, which would use the money explicitly to prepare for the effects of climate change.
"A climate catastrophe perhaps could hit a larger nation and it would be restricted to a particular location. But for us, it is a national event," said Travis Sinckler, a senior environment officer with the Ministry of Environment in Barbados. "We have to brace ourselves. We have children. We have a population that we need to protect."
The Bridgetown Initiative has put Barbados and its Prime Minister, Mia Mottley, at the forefront of the push for climate justice for small island developing states. This group of 39 nations, from the Caribbean to the South Pacific, faces a future of rising seas and severe storms that many have called an existential threat. For these countries, fending off climate change will cost upwards of US$26 billion annually, an overwhelming bill given their size.
In an effort to counter climate change, Barbados has forged a strong partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). During the last several years, UNEP has helped the country to strengthen its environmental management and governance systems for marine and terrestrial ecosystems. UNEP has also supported environmental tracking systems and contributed to the development of sustainable finance initiatives, while being a vocal supporter of small island states and their quest for climate justice.
"UNEP has always been there," said Sinckler. "It has been a major partner."
It is a collaboration that goes two ways. Barbados was one of 58 nations in 2023 to contribute its full share to UNEP''s Environment Fund, the organization''s main source of flexible funding and the bedrock of its work on the triple planetary crisis of climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Sinckler said that support was designed to help UNEP live up to its mandate of monitoring the state of the environment and uniting countries in a multilateral effort to protect the planet.
"UNEP, as the world''s leading environmental authority, is like the conscience of the global commons," he said.
Sinckler was in Nairobi earlier this year for the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA), the world''s highest-level decision-making body on matters related to the environment. During the gathering, several small-island developing nations pushed the world to ramp up its efforts to counter climate change and compensate vulnerable countries for the losses and damages they have suffered because of the crisis. That effort resulted in a closing declaration in which countries reaffirmed their commitment to the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change and vowed to support developing nations contending with the fallout from the climate crisis.
Sinckler said UNEA is a crucial forum for nations like Barbados and an opportunity to showcase how climate change is already upending lives and livelihoods.
"We go in there, we can present our issue, and we can engage. Everyone has a voice," he said. "Us meeting our contribution to the Environment Fund is to ensure this governance modality continues and that it is representative of all countries, large and small."
The collaboration between Barbados and UNEP extends beyond action on climate change. UNEP has supported the country''s efforts to conserve biodiversity, control invasive species, rein in marine pollution and phase out ozone-depleting chemicals, among other things. UNEP also helped Barbados produce its first report on the state of its environment, a second edition of which is now underway. And UNEP is supporting the nation as it modernizes its environmental governance and develops strategies for greening its economy.
Sinckler says that type of technical assistance work is vital for small island developing states, which often only have a handful of people working on environmental issues.
"If you look around the room [at international summits], small island developing states are represented by one or two people," he said. "These are the same one or two people that, at home, are implementing every convention, monitoring every aspect of the environment and engaging in meetings at the regional level. So, capacity support is significant."
The world remains off track in the effort to rein in the greenhouse gas emissions that are driving climate change. Based on current national commitments, the Earth is on pace to warm by 2.9°C since the start of the industrial era, a number that would shatter limits in the Paris Agreement.
Sinckler, though, believes that by acting together, the countries of the world can ward off disaster.
"We have to be optimistic," he said. "As my prime minister says, we put a man on the moon 60 years ago. So, mustering the human will to respond to a crisis we created is within our reach."
Barbados is one of UNEP''s funding partners, whose full-share contributions to UNEP''s Environment Fund enable agile, innovative global solutions for climate change, nature and biodiversity loss, and pollution and waste. Learn how to support UNEP to invest in people and planet.
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