Researchers: The advancement of new renewable energy sources in the LAC needs research

by Zadie Neufville

Article published in CESaRE Impacts 2024: Special Issue – Adaptation and Resilience
In 2021, three researchers from the Universities of Coimbra and Aveiro, Portugal conducted an assessment of the advancement of new renewable energy sources in 19 countries across Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC), beginning what they hoped to be the first of many such works. 

Led by Nuno Silva, the group noted that the study, which focussed on policy and regulation, financing, and technology, looked at the situation in these countries between 2001 and 2017 and is ongoing. They focused primarily on the installation of non-hydroelectric renewable capacity including wind, solar, and bioenergy.

Silva, along with José Alberto Fuinhas and Matheus Koenghan noted that research into the emergence of new renewable energy sources is important since the technologies are often diversified and at varying technological maturity. They continue, that given the dimension of the transition process from fossil fuels to renewables, policymakers and markets should lead the selection process.

Photo taken from European Commission website

The authors found that LAC countries have made significant progress in the adoption of renewable energy sources primarily due to the abundance of renewable energy resources such as solar, wind, hydro, and geothermal, which can be harnessed to meet the increasing energy demand. 

LAC governments have been active partners in the adaptation of renewable energy technologies. The researchers note that in many cases, governments are also involved in mitigating several of the economic and societal problems that arise from the vast transformations underway.

Governments have led the growth in renewable energy adoption through the implementation of a range of policies and measures to incentivise the deployment of renewable energy. These include feed-in tariffs, net metering, and renewable energy auctions. The authors noted that the measures implemented have been effective in attracting private investment and promoting the development of renewable energy projects.

Despite their involvement, however,  the authors believe that governments are limited in their capacity to finance the energy transition. It is therefore the private sector’s participation in the rise of new renewables that has been creating competitiveness in the sector.

While the team struggled with the absence of data in terms of installed capacity, they found that the LAC countries have made efforts to mobilise domestic and international capital to finance renewable energy projects. The authors noted that the availability of financing, particularly through development banks and international organisations, has also played a crucial role in the deployment of renewable energy in the region.

In terms of technology, they found that a few countries have made significant progress in the deployment of solar and wind energy. In Brazil, Chile and Mexico in particular, the authors noted a surge in the installation of utility-scale and distributed solar projects. In addition, the researchers found significant wind energy capacity in Brazil, Mexico, and Uruguay.

The study also noted the progress made in the region’s renewable energy sector in recent years, with several countries showing impressive growth rates in the deployment of renewable energy technologies. The researchers also noted that the increasing competitiveness of renewable energy sources compared to fossil fuels has been a key driver of this growth.

Image taken from the United Nations Climate Action Page

In addition to policy frameworks, several factors were also identified that they believe have contributed to the growth of renewable energy in the region. These include declining costs of renewable energy technologies and increased private sector investment. However, several challenges have also been highlighted. These include grid integration issues and the need for more innovative financing mechanisms to support renewable energy deployment.

Overall, the study suggests that while LAC countries have made significant progress in the adoption of renewable energy sources, several challenges remain. It recommends that governments and investors need to improve grid infrastructure and storage solutions. The authors also see the need for the promotion and adoption of electric vehicles. They believe that policymakers, investors and technology providers will have to increase their efforts to promote the deployment of renewable energy in the region.

This study, the researchers say, is only the beginning and should provide a solid foundation for others to continue the work on the topic of renewable energy and its advances across the region.
END

Rocky Point Fishers Await Sanctuary To Ease Environmental Issues, Low Fish Catch

by Zadie P. Neufville

This article was first published by InterPress Service on June 2, 2023
Long before the COVID-19 Pandemic, fishers at the Rocky Point fishing beach in Clarendon were forced to venture farther out to sea to make a living or find alternatives to make ends meet.

This once-prime fishing village attracted fishers from up and down the coast. Men like Ephraim Walters, travelled from his hometown in Belmont, 100 or so kilometres (62 miles), up the coast, to Rocky Point, some 30 years ago, and never left.

Rocky Point is Jamaica’s largest fishing community and was once a destination for south coast fishers. But decades of environmental neglect, mismanagement, and poor fishing practices are taking their toll, pushing fishermen into destitution.

In the old days, Walters recalls, fishermen went to sea every day and made enough to build homes, support their families, and school their children. Back then, one needn’t go too far because the 24-kilometre sea shelf at Rocky was the place to be: “We could drop the net in the bay, and we would pull it together with a whole lot of fish, but these days we have to go further out to sea for far less”.

“Sometimes you go out, and you don’t catch a thing, and you can’t buy back the gas you use to go out,” he says.

With too many fishers chasing too few fish, he now travels the 96.5 kilometres (60 miles) to the offshore fishing station at Pedro Banks, using hundreds of gallons of fuel and spending between three and five days to get a good catch. But even then, he says, the value of the catch may not cover the cost of the trip.

The challenges in Rocky Point are a snapshot of the Jamaican fisheries sector, where too many fishers chase too few fish. Former University of the West Indies lecturer Karl Aitken says Rocky’s problem began as many as 30 years ago. As a master’s student in the 1980s, he says he had been recording declining catch numbers even then.

Data from the National Fisheries Authority (NFA) show that only 26,000 of the estimated 40,000 fishermen on the island are registered. Marine catch data between 1986 and 1995 shows a downturn in catch rates from 9,100 metric tonnes to 4,200 metric tonnes per year. There are expansions of the commercial conch fishery that began in 1991 and the lobster fishery.

The consensus is that Jamaica’s fishing problems began with a series of natural and man-made events in the 1980s and 1990s, which resulted in the death of 85 per cent of the island’s reefs and a drastic decline in fish catches. As inshore areas became less productive, pressure mounted on the offshore resources at Pedro Cays.

The 2017 State of the  Environment report points to the growing numbers of fishers as a threat to the environment, noting that the island’s nearshore artisanal finfish and lobster fisheries are potentially environmentally deleterious and associated with overfishing and harvesting.

“The greatest potential for environmental impact is in the fisheries sub-sector is associated with the marine finfish sector which continues to grow to supply domestic markets,” the report says.

Walters long for the promised fish sanctuary which he believes will minimise destructive behaviours and save the livelihoods of Rocky Point’s fishermen. Not only are fish stocks collapsing, but the high-value fisheries like conch and lobster are also vulnerable as more people go after the resource. Since 2000, the government has shuttered the conch fishery twice first, when a row over quota resulted in a lawsuit and again in 2018 after a collapse of the resource.

Former director of Fisheries Andre Kong explains that in both cases stocks were low. But in 2018, the fishery was on the verge of collapse. Some believe that the conch and lobster fisheries should remain closed for another few years, but fishermen believe that without proper protection, the resources would be plundered by poachers as happened during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Fishing beaches around Rocky Point have already established sanctuaries which local fishers say have helped to boost their catch rates and the size of the fish they catch. In the neighbouring Portland Bight, three marine protected areas have been established across the parishes of St Catherine and Clarendon.

In the 73-year-old Walker’s birth parish of Westmoreland, the Bluefields Fisherman’s Friendly Society led by Wolde Christos, established one of the largest of the island’s 18 fish sanctuaries in 2009 to boost the falling catch rates, protect local marine life such as the hawksbill sea turtles that nest there, and reduce high levels of poaching.

The sanctuary covers more than 1,300 hectares (3,200 acres). It is working, Christos explains, noting that a government grant helps the fishermen who have been licensed as fish and or game wardens run a tight ship, keeping illegal fishers out.

The pandemic made things worse for many fishers due to the loss of markets. In a report to parliament last year, Minister Pearnel Charles Jr. said that the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has caused disruption in fish production and value chains with the losses of markets locally and overseas, and higher input costs, resulting in significant increases in operational expenses. An estimated USD23 million in losses was sustained in the fisheries sector during 2020 alone.

On the beach, some fishers are doing anything they can to survive. Some are part-time boat builders/ repairmen, electricians, or even mechanics; others now clean fish for buyers to make ends meet. And if the whispers are correct, many have turned to illegal fishing.

Complicating the issue is the fact that aside from regulated fisheries of conch and lobsters, Jamaica has no limit on the amount or size of fish that can be taken. There is almost no data available for analysis, and mesh and net sizes have more or less no effect on the reaping of juvenile fish.

In keeping with commitments and international agreements, in 2018, the government unveiled a new Fisheries Act. It established the National Fisheries Authority to replace the Fisheries Division of the Ministry of Agriculture to strengthen the management and legislative framework of the sector. The act is expected to increase compliance in registration, increase opportunities for aquaculture and increase fines and prison terms for breaches.

(Original article is here)

Commonwealth Climate Finance Hub to Boost Belize’s Delivery of Climate Change Projects

by Zadie Neufville
The following was first published by IPS on April 19, 2022
In September 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK-based Commonwealth Secretariat announced that it had dispatched highly skilled climate finance advisors to four member nations to help them navigate the often-complicated process of accessing climate funds. Belize, the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) only Central American member, was one of the recipients.

Since then, with the support of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub (CCFAH), Belize has completed a climate finance landscape study, devised a five-year strategy to access international funds, and established a dedicated Climate Finance Unit in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment. The unit works collaboratively with the National Climate Change Office (NCCO), which sits under the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management.

With some 28 climate change-related projects in varying stages of development, Belize needed to find a way to speed up the project development process from concept to implementation if the country were to realise its commitments, said Leroy Martinez, an economist in the Climate Finance Unit. The often-cumbersome application process for the Green Climate Fund (GCF), among other schemes, can mean projects linger for years before implementation.

In January 2022, the government announced the launch of the new Climate Finance Unit. Director Carlos Pol explained that the aim was to “maximise access to climate finance, provide the technical and other support to access and fast track projects,” while helping the private sector identify funding to carry out much-needed programmes. He noted that Belize is also being supported to build human and institutional capacity.

On long-term placement with the NCCO, working under the guidance of Belize’s Chief Climate Change Officer, Dr Lennox Gladden, is Commonwealth national climate finance advisor Ranga Pallawala, a highly skilled finance expert deployed to help Belize make “successful applications and proposals to international funds”.

Climate change impacts from wind, flood and drought have been extensive, Pol said. The damage has led to annual losses of about seven per cent of the country’s GDP, or US$123 million, which, when added to the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic, elevated Belize’s debt-to-GDP rating to an unsustainable 130 per cent.

Pallawala told IPS that his role includes helping to build and strengthen capacity in climate financing of Belize. He would also “strengthen their capacity to plan, access, deliver, monitor and report on climate finance in line with national priorities, and access to knowledge sharing through the commonwealth’s pool of experts”.

Pol told IPS that, as the Commonwealth’s assigned climate finance adviser, Pallawala assisted in developing a National Climate Finance Strategy to, among other things, identify likely projects and possible funding sources. Pallawala also worked with the National Climate Change Office to carry out a climate landscape study, which Pol said: “Identified the country’s needs, the funding available and that which was needed to achieve the recommendations coming out of the NDC [Nationally Determined Contribution or national climate plan]”.

The Commonwealth Climate Finance Hub work in Belize also aims to support the GCF accreditation process of local institutions, streamline climate finance and seek new opportunities to ensure that climate change adaptation and mitigation strategies are at the centre of the government’s development policies and plans.

The CCFAH will allow the country to streamline its NDC ambitions and help improve its ability to source additional funding from external sources. It will help to develop strong private/public partnership projects, benefit from the expertise within the Commonwealth’s pool of international advisers and fast track project proposals, among other things. In addition, a debt-for-climate swap initiative announced earlier this year will allow Belize to reduce its public debt by directing its debt service payments to fund some climate change projects.

In the current scenario, Pol explained, Belize could use available funds to support the “early entry of projects” to minimise delays in implementation. The country has experienced challenges in this regard in the past, for example, with the start-up of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (5Cs) Arundo donax biomass project.

In 2016, the 5Cs began an ambitious project to reduce Belize’s fuel bill by using local wild grass as a substitute for the bagasse, a by-product of sugar production used to fuel the furnaces. A local wild cane with the scientific name of Arundo donax was identified as a potentially suitable renewable crop for augmenting the supply of bagasse year-round. But despite a partnership with the national electricity provider BelcoGen, the project experienced delays.

As project manager Earl Green told IPS, the absence of funds to do some requisite studies slowed implementation. In 2018, the GCF provided US$694,000 for a project preparation facility. Even with good results from the pilot phases, the GCF did not fund the studies to determine the growth rates of the wild cane.

With Pallawala on board, delays like those experienced with the Arundo donax project could be a thing of the past. Additional funding is now in place to establish cultivation plots with two species of wild cane have been planted.

Pallawala said his role is to support the CFU in building stronger projects and enhancing existing ones, “not to overlap what others are doing, but to look at all the available sources of funds and help the country develop projects that will capitalise on all the opportunities”.

This year Belize also announced a debt-for-nature swap that effectively frees up funds that would otherwise be used to service debt to pay for its implementation of climate change projects.

So far, the country has received just over US2.2 million in readiness funding; US600,000 in adaptation funding for water projects and US902,937 for fisheries and coastal projects; just under US 8 million to build resilience in rural areas and just under US2.2 million for project preparation funding.

To date, through its advisers, the Commonwealth Secretariat has helped member countries access more than US46 million to fund 36 climate projects through the Climate Finance Access Hub. An additional US762 million worth of projects are in the pipeline.

IPS UN Bureau Report– the original story is here

Caribbean Under Threat: Report Reveals Enormous Challenges for the Region

by Zadie Neufville
This article was first published by IPS on Sept 9, 2021 – Less than halfway into the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Jamaica and its Caribbean neighbours were already tallying the costs of infrastructural damage and crop losses from the passage of three tropical storms – Elsa, Grace and Ida. And after a record-breaking 2020 season, the region is on tenterhooks as the season peaks.

But while storm and hurricane damage are not new to the Caribbean, these systems’ increased frequency and intensity bring new reckoning for a region where climate change is already happening. According to data, the effects are likely to worsen in the next 20 years or so, earlier than previously expected.

What is more, the launch of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Assessment Report (AR6) confirmed what regional scientists have said for years: the frequency and intensity of hurricanes will increase, and floods, droughts and dry spells will be more prolonged and more frequent. In addition, sea levels are rising faster, and heatwaves are more intense and are occurring more often.

AR6, the so-called ‘red code for humanity’, offers a frightening look at the global climate and what is to come. It also confirmed that for most small island states, climate change is already happening.

In a bid to bring home the reality of what is fast becoming the region’s biggest challenge, two leading climate scientists broke down AR6 to highlight the issues that should concern leaders and citizens of the Caribbean.

In a document named Caribbean Under Threat! 10 Urgent Takeaways for the Caribbean, co-heads of the University of the West Indies Mona, Climate Studies Group (CSG), professors Tannecia Stephenson and Michael Taylor warned: “We can now say with greater certainty that climate change is making our weather worse. It is affecting the intensity of heatwaves, droughts, floods and hurricanes, all of which are impacting the Caribbean”.

In a joint interview with IPS, Taylor and Stephenson noted, “Global warming has not slowed.”

They reiterated the IPCC’s warning that “The world will exceed 1.5 degrees between now and 2040” and urged Caribbean leaders to collectively lobby for deeper global greenhouse gas reductions at the upcoming 26th Conference of the Parties (COP26) of the UN Convention on Climate Change. The gathering of world leaders and negotiators will be held in Glasgow, Scotland, from October 31 to November 12, 2021.

While AR6 offered some hope, in that there is still time to limit global heating to between 1.5 and 2.0 degrees of pre-industrial limits, Stephenson noted that there is an urgent need for more drastic cuts in emissions.

That will not be easy, Taylor added, because although the Caribbean’s contribution to global C02 emissions is already low – according to some estimates below two per cent. “The region must drastically reduce its footprint even further, through greater use of renewables, the preservation of marine and land-based forests and by reducing emissions from waste and transportation.”

The takeaway for the Caribbean, Stephenson said, is that the region will face multiple concurrent threats with every additional incremental increase in temperature. Atmospheric warming and more acidic seas and oceans will impact tourism and fisheries and the future of the region’s Blue Economic thrust.

She added: “The Caribbean must prepare itself to deal with water shortages and increasing sea levels which has implication for low lying areas and the many small islands of the region”.

The 20-country grouping of the Caribbean Community has rallied around the slogan ‘1.5 to stay Alive’ based on the premise that viability of the territories here, is dependent on global temperatures remaining below or at 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels. But with global temperatures already at 1.1 of the 1.5 degrees, warming is outstripping the pace of the region’s response.

“If there ever was a time to step up the global campaign for 1.5 degrees, it is now,” said Stephenson, the region’s only contributing writer in Working Group 1, of the AR6.

According to the IPCC AR6 report, net-zero carbon dioxide emissions by mid-century can limit global warming to 1.5 or 2.0 degrees within this century. However, the Climate Studies Group has warned that some individual years will hit 1.5 degrees even before 2040, when temperatures are expected to exceed that target.

The signs are everywhere. Last summer, the CSG reported an increase in the number of hot days and nights in the Caribbean. Forecasts also indicate that in the next ten years, the day and night-time temperatures in the region will increase by between 0.65 and 0.84 degrees.

At the same time, the CSG forecasted a 20 per cent reduction in rainfall in some places and up to 30 per cent in others. Trends are also reflecting an increase in the number of dry spells and droughts. Between 2013 and 2017, droughts have swept the Caribbean from Cuba in the North to Trinidad and Tobago in the South, and Belize, Guyana and Suriname in Central and South America.

Since AR5 in 2014, the abundance of evidence links the catastrophic changes to humans, the scientist noted, adding that the changes from human-induced climate change are visible in the extremes of heatwaves, heavy rainfall, droughts, and tropical cyclones. This past summer, wildfires and extreme rainfall caused deaths and forced evacuations in every region of the world, and a cold snap covered Brazil in snowfall and freezing rain.
These intensity and frequency of heat extremes are quickly becoming a cause for concern for the region as the extremes are likely to impact energy use, agricultural productivity, health and water demand and availability. Stephenson urged leaders to make water security a top priority in their mitigation planning.

Three of the world’s most water-scarce countries are in the Caribbean. Water scarce is the term given when a country has less than 1,000 cubic meters of freshwater resources per resident.

The region has a role in deciding how bad things will become, Taylor and Stephenson said. In their 10-point takeaway, they challenge leaders to intensify efforts to keep the current limits on global warming. They must have collective positions on mitigation, adaptation and loss and damage even as the world has already committed itself to some level of increase and impact.

In the run-up to COP26, regional leaders are not only continuing their support for 1.5, but they have also positioned themselves behind the Five Point Plan for Solidarity, Fairness and Prosperity, which calls for the delivery of the promises made in the Paris Agreement.

If nothing else, the region will continue to be severely impacted and must invest heavily to shore up critical infrastructure, most of which are along the coast, said veteran climate scientist Dr Ulric Trotz.

Using Jamaica as an example, he pointed to the US$65.7 million coastal protection works along a 2.5- kilometre stretch of the 14-kilometre-long Palisadoes peninsula in 2010 after the international airport was cut off from the capital city, Kingston, by back-to-back extreme weather events.

“The Caribbean must be prepared for the ‘new normal’ of climate intensities,” Stephenson said. “The stark message is that everybody has to be part of the solution”.

*The Climate Studies Group, Mona is a consortium member of The UWI’s Global Institute of Climate-Smart and Resilient Development (GICSRD), which harnesses UWI’s expertise in climate change, resilience, sustainable development and disaster risk reduction across all UWI campuses.

The impacts of land use and climate change on soil erosion by water

by Zadie Neufville

First published December 2020 in CESaRE Impacts
A recent study examining the impacts of land use and climate change on soil erosion by water is bringing attention to the potential effects of land degradation on freshwater supplies, food security and sanitation which is likely to be worse as a result of climate change.

When Pasquale Borelli et al. (2020) combined a long-established soil erosion model with the scenarios from the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, he intended to help policymakers and modellers better understand the potential impact of soil erosion in the future.  

He also hoped to provide information leaders would need to ‘explore’ the extent of future erosion, identify possible hotspots, and provide opportunities for leaders to work with stakeholders to mitigate the impacts.

Here in the region, the challenges loom as large today as they did in 2000 at the first meeting of the Caribbean Land and Water Resources Network which warned of the growing threat posed by human-induce soil erosion caused by, among other things, deforestation, unsuitable farming practises and construction. Of concern, the potential impacts of erosion on freshwater and marine resources, and the significant contribution to soil degradation.

Soil erosion is recognised by the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) as a primary cause of land degradation. In its most recent report, the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) pointed to the absence of political action at the global level, and highlighted the many impacts of soil erosion, including an increase in desertification and land degradation.

Borelli found, however, that if scientists are to provide more accurate forecasts, they would need access to additional data for many areas, including the Caribbean.

It seems then, that the study has exposed weaknesses that could impact future planning, but it gave sufficient information to provide insight into what is needed if leaders are to benefit from critical but accurate data. It also offers some insight into the challenges that could arise if the world continues to ignore soil erosion and its impacts in a changing climate.

The report’s authors noted: “The effect of climate change will likely be so pronounced that it will overwhelm the mitigation potential of adopting soil-conserving agricultural practices. Still, without a change in agricultural practices, the effect would be multiple times worse” (Borelli et al. 2020). 

Notably, the report also provides an opportunity for modellers and policymakers to identify the current needs, and not only build more suitable tools and models, but to collect, convert and share the critical data in formats that will allow analysis to take place. 

Stemming soil erosion is critical to the Caribbean’s success. A 2015 FAO report, the Status of the World’s Soil Resources noted: “soil erosion represents the greatest global threat to soil functions” (2015, FAO). In other words, erosion threatens food security, water quality, climate change and sustainable development.

It is therefore not surprising that this past summer, Jamaica increased its emissions target under the nationally determined contribution to include land-use change. The consensus is that reducing emissions and the factors relating to global warming and climate change must take into account human-induced land degradation and soil erosion.

Publication here:

Jamaica increases emissions targets for green COVID-19 recovery

By Zadie Neufville

This article was originally published in Spanish on SciDev.Net. Read the Engish version  

[KINGSTON] Jamaica has overhauled its emissions milestones to create a post-pandemic recovery package anchored in stronger carbon emissions targets for farms and forestry — raising hopes other countries in the region will follow suit.

Jamaica hopes to cut emissions from the forestry and farming sectors by almost one third over the next decade, by optimising water and energy use and diversifying food production.

The announcement comes as countries worldwide struggle to manage their economies during the COVID-19 outbreak, often using measures many fear will set back sustainability goals.

“There will be a significant decline in regional emissions if countries with high emissions like Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic … take Jamaica as a precedent.”

Ulric Trotz, deputy director, Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre

Jamaica has more than a million motor vehicles contributing to increased emissions.- Gleaner photo

This year, governments were expected to present ambitious climate plans to meet obligations under the Paris Agreement. Low- and middle-income countries have been leading the way, with Rwanda and Suriname among the first ten countries to submit or update their nationally determined contributions (NDC).

Una May Gordon, climate change division director at Jamaica’s Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, says the new policy — a revision of the country’s 2030 energy policy — includes assessments and modelling to take into account the importance of agriculture and forestry to the economy.

The previous policy reduced the island’s dependency on oil in its energy supply mix, from 95 per cent in 2010 to about 50 per cent at the end of 2019.

Farmers in the Blue Mountains. Bush fires have contributed to forest loss and land-use changes.

Under the new targets, Jamaica hopes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from changes in land use, for development and increased agricultural activities, and deforestation by up to 28.5 per cent by 2030. Agriculture contributes about six per cent to Jamaica’s total emissions, while land-use change and forestry account for 7.8 per cent of emissions.

Carlos Fuller, a climate negotiator attached to the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), says Jamaica’s new measures “will create new economic opportunities and generate employment for Jamaicans”.

“The COVID-19 recovery must include a shift to a less carbon-intensive economy under the Paris Agreement and [this is something] which Jamaica has pledged to do through these new, enhanced and more ambitious nationally determined contributions,” Fuller tells SciDev.Net.

“The activities required to achieve the more ambitious NDC provides Jamaicans with the opportunity to create new economic prospects, which will generate more employment, capacity building initiatives, development and deployment of new technologies, stimulate foreign direct investment and lead to a healthier and enhanced quality of life.”

There is hope the country will pave the way for a regional trend towards improved emissions policies.

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CCCCC deputy director and science advisor, Ulric Trotz, says: “There will be a significant decline in regional emissions if countries with high emissions like Trinidad and Tobago, Cuba, and the Dominican Republic … take Jamaica as a precedent.”

Predictions for the island’s economy are bleak. The new energy policy could prove crucial to Jamaica’s economic recovery, says Helen Mountford, vice president for climate and economics at the World Resources Institute.

“Jamaica is taking the kind of action needed both to tackle climate change and rebound from the COVID-19 crisis in a way that will strengthen its resilience to future shocks,” she says.

The COVID19 Epidemic has resulted in increased agricultural production, PIOJ reported at the end of May 2020.

Jamaica’s government is projecting a 5.1 per cent economic contraction as critical sectors like tourism, mining and transport are hit by the pandemic, while the Planning Institute of Jamaica has forecast the lowest economic growth for the country in 40 years.

“Despite the serious economic pressure that Jamaica is facing from the COVID-19 crisis, this small island developing nation is demonstrating leadership on climate change that the world needs right now,” Mountford says.

 

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Jamaica reducirá aún más sus emisiones

By Zadie Neufville

Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en SciDev.Net. Lea la versión original aquí.
En medio de la pandemia de COVID-19, Jamaica amplió su objetivo de reducción de emisiones, asumido en 2015, para incluir el uso de la tierra y los bosques.

Jamaica has more than a million motor vehicles contributing to increased emissions and traffic jams like this one at the Highway 2000 off ramp at Marcus Garvey Drive.- Gleaner photo

The COVID19 Epidemic has resulted in increased agricultural production, PIOJ reported at the end of May 2020.

Los nuevos objetivos comprometen a Jamaica a reducir entre 25,4 por ciento (sin el apoyo de los donantes) y en un 28,5 por ciento (condicional al apoyo de los donantes) las emisiones del uso de la tierra, el cambio de uso de la tierra y la silvicultura —que se sumarán a las reducciones ya comprometidas de energía— con un escenario de negocios para 2030.

La Directora de la Unidad de Cambio Climático de Jamaica, Una May Gordon, explicó por correo electrónico a SciDev.Net que el plan mejorado constituye una revisión de la política energética del país para 2009-2030, con nuevas evaluaciones y modelos que toman en cuenta la importancia de la agricultura y la forestería para la economía. Y añadió que ya se está desarrollando un plan de inversión para apoyar la implementación.

La política de reducción de emisiones, que se incorporó al marco de planificación del gobierno de Jamaica, hasta ahora ha reducido la dependencia del petróleo para la generación de energía de 95 por ciento en 2010 a casi 50 por ciento a finales de 2019.

Los planes para reducir las emisiones de los sistemas de transporte público y masivo incluyen la continua expansión de fuentes alternativas para reemplazar el combustible fósil en la mezcla de energía, e incentivos para apoyar el despliegue de vehículos eléctricos.

“Al comprometerse a seguir reforzando su objetivo general de reducción de emisiones e incorporar el cambio de uso de la tierra y los bosques en su plan, Jamaica está adoptando el tipo de medidas necesarias tanto para hacer frente al cambio climático como para recuperarse de la crisis de la COVID-19 de tal manera que refuerce su capacidad de recuperación ante futuras perturbaciones”.

Helen Mountford, Vicepresidenta de Clima y Economía, Instituto de Recursos Mundiales

Los nuevos objetivos abarcan una serie de actividades de mitigación y adaptación en los sectores agrícola y forestal e incorporan iniciativas para lograr sistemas y tecnologías más eficientes a fin de mejorar el uso del agua y la energía; el almacenamiento y la producción de alimentos y la diversificación de las técnicas de producción de alimentos. También hay planes para ampliar la agroforestería y la acuicultura.

Estas medidas adicionales mejorarían las oportunidades de empleo y las perspectivas de desarrollo posteriores a la COVID-19 a la vez que amortiguarán futuras conmociones que pudiera sufrir la isla, al crear nuevas oportunidades de inversión, coincidieron expertos regionales e internacionales consultados por SciDev.Net.

Debido a la pandemia, el gobierno de Jamaica ha proyectado una contracción del 5,1 por ciento en su economía al haber cerrado sectores críticos como turismo, minería y transporte. En una actualización económica del 27 de mayo, el Instituto de Planificación de Jamaica pronosticó un crecimiento negativo de entre -4.0 y -6.0 por ciento para el año fiscal 2020/2021, el más bajo en 40 años. El crecimiento del primer trimestre de 2020 fue 0,1 por ciento.

Hasta el 14 de julio la isla registraba 762 personas positivas a COVID-19 y 10 muertes. La mayoría de contagios son importados principalmente de los EE.UU.

“Sería imprudente volver a los negocios como antes. La recuperación de la COVID-19 debe incluir un cambio a una economía menos intensiva en carbono en el marco del Acuerdo de París y que Jamaica se ha comprometido a realizar a través de este nuevas, mejoradas y más ambiciosas contribuciones nacionalmente determinadas”, dijo por teléfono Carlos Fuller, negociador climático regional y enlace con el Centro de Cambio Climático de la Comunidad del Caribe.

Al tiempo que instó a otros países a tomar nota del “ambicioso” ejemplo de Jamaica, Fuller continuó: “Las actividades necesarias para lograr contribuciones más ambiciosas brindan a los jamaiquinos la oportunidad de crear nuevas perspectivas económicas, que generarán más empleo, iniciativas de creación de capacidad, desarrollo y despliegue de nuevas tecnologías, estimularán la inversión extranjera directa y conducirán a una más sana y mejor calidad de vida”.

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“Al comprometerse a seguir reforzando su objetivo general de reducción de emisiones e incorporar el cambio de uso de la tierra y los bosques en su plan, Jamaica está adoptando el tipo de medidas necesarias tanto para hacer frente al cambio climático como para recuperarse de la crisis de la COVID-19 de tal manera que refuerce su capacidad de recuperación ante futuras perturbaciones”, señaló por correo electrónico Helen Mountford, Vicepresidenta de Clima y Economía del Instituto de Recursos Mundiales.

El director adjunto y asesor científico del CCCCC, Ulric Trotz, también señaló la importancia de que otros gobiernos regionales adopten medidas similares.

“Habrá una disminución significativa de las emisiones regionales si los países con altas emisiones como Trinidad y Tobago, Cuba y la República Dominicana, así como Belice, Guyana y Surinam, países con emisiones significativamente más altas por el uso de la tierra, toman a Jamaica como precedente”, dijo.

Gordon confirmó que Jamaica continuaría su labor en relación con los compromisos de 2015, lo que indica que los esfuerzos por reducir las emisiones del transporte y la generación de electricidad -que representan la parte más importante de las emisiones de gases de efecto invernadero- siguen su curso.

 

Este artículo fue publicado originalmente en SciDev.Net. Lea la versión original aquí.

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The IPCC 1.5 Report Has Dire Warning For The Caribbean And The World

Zadie Neufville
This is just a reminder for the people who are not paying attention. On Monday, October 8, 2018, the highly anticipated 1.5 degrees’ report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was released and as expected there was dire news. But while Scientists sounded ‘the alarm about complacency’, they gave hope that it was still possible to keep global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Caribbean SIDS are already dealing with the consequences of a warking climate and the increasing intensity of natural events

The report clearly outlined the risks of exceeding 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels; which researchers say is the upper limit of warming that small islands states like most of our Caribbean neighbours have advocated for many years.

“This report is a wake-up call for governments and the world, that we no longer have time for playing-around. It is time for hard-work to avert climate change and  the small islands states need significant financial help to make it happen” said Science Advisor and deputy executive director at the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) Dr Ulric Trotz.

In the Special Report on Global Warming at 1.5 Degrees, the IPCC warned that the global leaders need to quickly cut carbon emissions over the next decade. The landmark report by the world’s top scientists studying climate change noted, that to avoid going past 1.5 degrees Celsius of pre-industrial levels, the world needs to adopt “rapid, far-reaching and unprecedented changes in all aspects of society”.

Mapping Zika- Vector insects will expand their reach as in a warmer world. 

“From the small island perspective, this is probably the most important report the IPCC has done, not only because it was in part called for by Small Island Developing States (SIDS) but also because every important message we have been requesting over the years is now backed up by scientific assessment in this report,” Dr Michael Taylor one of the Caribbean’s leading climate scientists and a contributor to the report said.

Dr Taylor noted that Caribbean science underpins the assessments and supports the urgency of the messages that highlight not only the expected impacts on the region at 1.5 degrees”, but also “the enormous risks of 2 degrees, to the synergies with Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), to adaptation needs, deficits and costs, to the necessity for more mitigation”.

The report has outlined the considerable risks SIDS are facing in light of the escalating impacts of extreme events, from sea level rise to slowed economic growth, biodiversity loss and significant global risks, should global warming exceed 1.5°C.

For SIDS, the difference between warming at 1.5°C and 2°C is critical, resulting in increased water stress, more intense rainfall during tropical cyclones, and increased exposure to irreversible sea-level rise. Some coral reefs would be able to adapt at 1.5°C, at 2°C their chances of survival are next-to-none, irrecoverably damaging the fisheries and livelihoods that depend on them.

Droughts are more intense and frequent.

Here in the Caribbean, we are already experiencing the changes. The region is experiencing hotter days and nights, more intense rainfall as well as more and longer periods of drought, putting lives, livelihoods and economies at risk.

With significant data from the Caribbean and SIDS featuring prominently in this IPCC report, there is a more vivid picture of the level of devastation that would occur at 2 degrees. The inclusion of regional data sets in the IPCC report has been hailed a success by the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) the agency designated by CARICOM to lead the Caribbean’s response to Climate Change.

“We set out to have the Caribbean situation reflected in the report and we have accomplished that,” Trotz said.

The Centre has been working with regional and international organisations to pull together institutions such as Cuba’s Institute of Meteorology, the Caribbean’s own CIMH, the Universities of the West Indies and Suriname and others to coordinate the production of Caribbean-specific models and information which provided critical information to the special report.

The 1.5 report was released during the 48^th Session of the IPCC in Incheon, Republic of Korea.

— END —

Link to the Special Report on Global Warming at 1.5 Degrees: http://ipcc.ch/report/sr15/.

ENVIRONMENT-JAMAICA: Bauxite Mining Blamed for Deforestation

by Zadie Neufville

REPRINT: The following was published by Interpress Service on April 6, 2001
(IPS) – A land use and forest cover study to determine the rate of deforestation and to kick-start a forestry conservation programme here has revealed that bauxite mining is the single largest contributor to deforestation in Jamaica.

In 50 years of operation, the industry has stripped 5,099 hectares land of trees, including some 3,218 hectares of forest. It has also caused the destruction of an undetermined number of hectares by opening access roads into forests.

Bauxite is the island’s second-largest foreign exchange earner after tourism. Last year the industry earned 726 million dollars and the government received more than 68 million dollars in taxes on those earnings.

In 2015 Noranda Bauxite began accessing the Cockpit Country on prospecting expeditions. Back then govt promised to establish boundaries and protect the area. Read More

The price of those earnings, however, is a high one. Bauxite is extracted by open cast mining which requires the complete removal of vegetation and topsoil.

The study corroborates earlier Jamaica Bauxite Institute (JBI) and watershed management maps that show significant degradation of forests and watersheds in mining areas in the parishes of Trelawny and St. Ann on the island’s north coast and St. Elizabeth, Manchester, Clarendon and St. Catherine on the south coast.

Most affected are the parishes of St. Ann and Manchester mined by Kaiser and Alumina Partners (Alpart) respectively. Kaiser is the only exporter of crude bauxite and is owned by the US-based company of the same name. Alpart is owned jointly by Kaiser and Hydro, a Norwegian firm.

The JBI regulates and monitors the operations of bauxite companies, oversees and controls their access to lands for mining as well as monitors environmental effects and damages caused by the operations. The agency has denied that bauxite contributes to the destruction of forests.

JBI Public Relations Officer Hilary Coulton says that since the start of mining in 1951, 4,042 hectares have been mined by the companies operating here.

“Forest has been disturbed mainly where haul roads have been constructed. Bauxite does not generally support forest growth, as it is poor in nutrients,” she said.

Alcan Jamaica’s mining manager Richard Reid said his company, mined only pockets of land within wooded areas. Alcan estimates that it has mined 100 hectares of land annually since it began operations here 48 years ago. The second largest alumina producer behind Kaiser, Alcan is owned by Alcan Canada and the Jamaican government.

Reid agreed with the JBI that forests are affected only when access roads are constructed.

Once access roads are cut, however, loggers, coal burners and yam stick traders move in, taking the trees in and around the designated mining areas. These activities are among the biggest contributors to deforestation on this northern Caribbean island.

No one knows exactly how many trees are destroyed each year. But a 1994 Ministry of Agriculture project estimated that every year about 15 million yam sticks are used to prop up the vines of the tubers that are the backbone of many rural communities. This is equal to the 150,000 cubic metres of round wood consumed each year.

Approximately 59,000 cubic metres of hardwoods and 3,000 cubic metres of softwoods are reaped each year, says Owen Evelyn, the head of Trees for Tomorrow, the joint Jamaica/Canada programme which, in 1996, began the land-use study that is now providing information on deforestation of the island.

The Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry Department, which is administering the Trees for Tomorrow project, believes that firewood and charcoal production are perhaps responsible for the largest amount of trees reaped here annually. A UN/World Bank report puts firewood consumption at 745,000 cubic metres and the Planning Institute of Jamaica says 41 per cent of local households are regular users of charcoal.

The study is being used to develop a National Forest Conservation Plan which is due to be debated in parliament later this month.

Despite its findings, however, the forestry department has no power to prevent further degradation by the companies. Under Jamaican law, mining rights supersede all others, Conservator of Forests Marilyn Headley said.

Bauxite mining may also have additional consequences for the island’s long-term survival. Government Geologist/Mining engineer Oral Rainford speculates that the large scale removal of vegetation, as required by the opencast method, maybe causing abnormal rainfall patterns and prolonged droughts in some areas.

In recent years Manchester, St. Elizabeth and Trelawny, three of the parishes with severely degraded mining areas, have experienced abnormal weather patterns including prolonged droughts and changes in the rainy season.

Island-wide, rainfall has decreased by 20 per cent over the last 30 years, dry spells are longer and harsher and the temperature has risen by one per cent.

The National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA) says bauxite mining may have done some environmental damage to the island given the range of interlocking activities. The agency listed dust, which causes health and property damage, and noise pollution as possible environmental problems.

“Denudation of hillsides and displacement and destruction of flora and fauna also impact negatively on the environment. These changes have not been significant enough to impact on the climate, water or food balance, but if efforts are not made to control the tree loss, there could be serious localised disorders,” NEPA added.

Alcan’s Farm Manager Silvan McDonald says the company is dedicated to easing as much as possible, the problems associated with its operations. In a move to protect some of the island’s biodiversity Alcan established two sanctuaries to relocate and preserve wild orchids found inside its mining areas.

A plan to plant one million food and timber trees in mainly marginal areas is half-way complete. The tree planting is in addition to the company’s land restoration programme.

Bauxite companies are required by law to return the land to a productive state, once a mine closes. Land restoration involves filling the cavities and laying some 38 centimetres of topsoil. So far the land recovered has been suitable for only housing, the planting of food crops such as vegetables and for pasture for cattle.

As of today, 3,059 hectares have been restored, the JBI’s Coulton said. But Rainford believes that some lands must go back to their original forested state if permanent environmental damage is to be avoided.

McDonald says, his company has no plans to plant forests. The bauxite companies, under the National Forest Management and Conservation Plan, will work with the government to plant some trees.

The programme will also include stricter levels of monitoring and more vigilant protection of the island’s forests, says Headley.

The original article is here

Mayan Farmers in Southern Belize Hold Strong to Their Climate Change Experiment

by Zadie Neufville

The following was first published by IPS on Sep 5 2018
In one of Belize’s forest reserves in the Maya Golden Landscape, a group of farmers is working with non-governmental organisations to mitigate and build resilience to climate change with a unique agroforestry project.

Marcus Tut at his plot in the Ya’axché  agro-forestry concession

The Ya’axché Conservation Trust helps farmers to establish traditional tree crops, like the cacao, that would provide them with long-term income opportunities through restoring the forest, protecting the natural environment, while building their livelihoods and opportunities. Experts say the farmers are building resilience to climate change in the eight rural communities they represent.

The agroforestry concession is situated in the Maya Mountain Reserve and is one of two agroforestry projects undertaken by the 5Cs, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), in its efforts to implement adaptation and mitigation strategies in communities across the Caribbean.

Close to 6,000 people both directly and indirectly benefit from the project which Dr. Ulric Trotz, science advisor and deputy executive director of the 5Cs, noted was established with funding from the United Kingdom Department for International Development (UK DFID).

“It is easily one of our most successful and during my most recent visit this year, I’ve seen enough to believe that the concept can be successfully transferred to any community in Belize as well as to other parts of the Caribbean,” he told IPS.

The Trio Cacao Farmers Association and the Ya’axché Conservation Trust have been working together since 2015 to acquire and establish an agroforestry concession on 379 hectares of disturbed forest. The agroforestry project was given a much-need boost with USD250,000 in funding through the 5Cs.

According to Christina Garcia, Ya’axché’s executive director, the project provides extension services. It also provides training and public awareness to prepare the farmers on how to reduce deforestation, prevent degradation of their water supplies and reduce the occurrence of wildfires in the beneficiary communities and the concession area.

Since the start, more than 50,000 cacao trees have been planted on 67 hectares and many are already producing the white cacao, a traditional crop in this area. To supplement the farmers’ incomes approximately 41 hectares of ‘cash’ crops, including bananas, plantains, vegetable, corn and peppers, were also established along with grow-houses and composting heaps that would support the crops.

This unique project is on track to become one of the exemplary demonstrations of ecosystems-based adaptation in the region.

The 35 farming families here are native Maya. They live and work in an area that is part of what has been dubbed the Golden Stream Corridor Preserve, which connects the forests of the Maya Mountains to that of the coastal lowlands and is managed by Ya’axché.

Farmers here believe they are reclaiming their traditional ways of life on the four hectares which they each have been allocated. Many say they’ve improved their incomes while restoring the disturbed forests, and are doing this through using techniques that are protecting and preserving the remaining forests, the wildlife and water.

On tour of the Ya’axché Agroforestry Concession in the Maya Golden Landscape. From right: Dr Ulric Trotz, deputy executive director of the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC); Dr Mark Bynoe, head of project development at the 5Cs; Isabel Rash, chair of the Trios Cacao Farmers Association; Magnus Tut, farmer and ranger and behind him Christina Garcia, executive director Ya’axché Conservation Trust. 

Other members of the communities, including school-age teenagers, were given the opportunity to start their own businesses through the provision of training and hives to start bee-keeping projects. Many of the women now involved in bee-keeping were given one box when they started their businesses.

The men and women who work the concession do not use chemicals and can, therefore, market their crops as chemical free, or organic products. They, however, say they need additional help to seek and establish those lucrative markets. In addition to the no-chemicals rule, the plots are cultivated by hand, using traditional tools. But farmer Marcus Tut said that this is used in conjunction with new techniques, adding that it has improved native farming methods.

“We are going back to the old ways, which my father told me about before chemicals were introduced to make things grow faster. The hardest part is maintaining the plot. It is challenging and hard work but it is good work, and there are health benefits,” Tut told IPS.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) supports the farmers’ beliefs, reporting that up to 11 per cent of greenhouse gases are caused by deforestation and “between 24 and 30 per cent of total mitigation potential” can be provided by halting and reversing deforestation in the tropics.

“The hardest part of the work is getting some people to understand how/what they do impacts the climate, but each has their own story and they are experiencing the changes which make it easier for them to make the transition,” said Julio Chun, a farmer and the community liaison for the concession. He told IPS that in the past, the farmers frequently used fires to clear the land.

Chun explained that farmers are already seeing the return of wildlife, such as the jaguar, and are excited by the possibilities.

“We would like to develop eco-tourism and the value-added products that can support the industry. Some visitors are already coming for the organic products and the honey,” he said.

Ya’axché co-manages the Bladen Nature Reserve and the Maya Mountain North Forest Reserve, a combined 311,607 hectares of public and privately owned forest. Its name, pronounced yash-cheh, is the Mopan Maya word for the Kapoc or Ceiba tree (scientific name: Ceiba pentandra), which is sacred to the Maya peoples.

Of the project’s future, Garcia said: “My wish is to see the project address the economic needs of the farmers, to get them to recognise the value of what they are doing in the concession and that the decision-makers can use the model as an example to make decisions on how forest reserves can be made available to communities across Belize and the region to balance nature and livelihoods.”

Scientists believe that well-managed ecosystems can help countries adapt to both current climate hazards and future climate change through the provision of ecosystem services, so the 5Cs has implemented a similar project in Saint Lucia under a 42-month project funded by the European Union Global Climate Change Alliance (EU-GCCA+) to promote sustainable farming practices.

The sweet taste of white cacao

The cacao-based agroforestry project in Saint Lucia uses a mix-plantation model where farmers are allowed to continue using chemicals but were taught to protect the environment. Like the Ya’axché project, Saint Lucia’s was designed to improve environmental conditions in the beneficiary areas; enhance livelihoods and build the community’s resilience to climate change.

In the next chapter, the Ya’axché farmers project is hoping that, among other things, a good Samaritan will help them to add facilities for value-added products; acquire eco-friendly all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) to move produce to access points; and replace a wooden bridge that leads to the main access road.

Tut and Chun both support the views of the group’s chair Isabel Rash, that farmers are already living through climate change, but that the hard work in manually “clearing and maintaining their plots and in chemical-free food production, saves them money”, supports a healthy working and living environment and should protect them against the impacts of climate change.