Transcript - Shridath Ramphal Centre

Policy Responses to the threat of
Climate Change in the Caribbean
Keron Niles
Research Consultant
Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy
and Services
The University of the West Indies
Cave Hill Campus
Barbados, W.I.
Structure of Presentation
• Impact of Climate Change in the Caribbean
• Strategic Policy Responses for the
Caribbean
• Challenges & Opportunities in
implementing CC Policies
CLIMATE CHANGE
IMPACT ON THE CARIBBEAN
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Climate Change Impacts:
Fourth Assessment Report
of the IPCC
• Sea level rise: flooding, beach erosion
• Changed weather patterns: more intense/extreme
weather (e.g. drought, floods), more intense
hurricanes
• Coral bleaching / Damaged coral reefs
• Biodiversity Loss
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Impact of Climate Change on SIDS
• Secondary Implications:
– Infrastructural damage (due to increased likelihood of
hurricanes and sea level rise)
– Loss of revenue from tourism
• Storm-torn islands less attractive
• Potential tourists (from traditional tourist markets) less
willing to make ‘carbon expensive’ long-haul flights
• Dying coral reefs = less tourist attractions
– Environmental degradation
• Flooding of Agricultural produce
• May modify composition of the region’s bread basket
Geographic Distribution of Major Climate Change Impacts Affecting
Tourism Destinations
Source: UNWTO/ UNEP/WMO
STRATEGIC POLICY RESPONSES
FOR THE CARIBBEAN
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Key Stakeholders within the Global Policy
Context
Funding Agencies
-GEF
- Kyoto CDM
Intergovernmental
National
-UNFCCC, IPCC, UNEP,
-UNWTO
-Djerba declaration 2003
-Mitigation measures
-Adaptation measures
Climate
Change
Non-Governmental
Country Groupings
- Annex I: US, EU
- WWF, OXFAM,
Green Peace
- AOSIS, G77 & China
Corporate
-IATA
-Cruise Ship industry
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Strategic Policy Responses to CC
• Increased use of Environmental Goods and
Services
• Increased use of renewable energy, including:
– Solar Water Heaters
– Solar for Lighting
• Public Education on effects and nature of
Climate Change
Strategic Policy Responses to CC
• Fiscal regime should cater for the proliferation
of Environmental Goods and Services (EGS):
– Importation of environmentally friendly
technologies – e.g. solar panels
– Tax rebates for purchase of EGS: particularly for
residential purposes.
Strategic Policy Responses to CC
• The Negative list approach - for
environmentally harmful goods e.g. CFC
emitting appliances – should perhaps be
avoided (may be viewed as trade disruptive).
• Internal Regulations can instead be used to
prevent the accumulation or entry of
environmentally harmful goods.
Strategic Policy Responses to CC
• Multilateral Environmental Agreements
– Multilateral Environmental Agreements can be
used to arrive at international consensus on
environmentally-friendly measures that can be
adopted by individual entities and industries in
different countries.
Multilateral Environmental Agreements: Int’l
Conventions, Protocols & Declarations (select examples)
Int’l Conventions
Protocols to Int’l
Conventions
Declarations
1.
1.
1.
2.
3.
Convention on the
Protection of the
Underwater
Cultural Heritage
(2001)
United Nations
Framework
Convention on
Climate Change
(1992)
Convention on
Biological Diversity
(1992)
2.
3.
Kyoto Protocol on
UNFCCC (1997)
Protocol for the
Protection Marine
Environment
against pollution
from Land-Based
Sources (1990)
Protocol for the
Protection S.E
Pacific against
Radioactive
Contamination
(1989)
2.
3.
4.
Davos Declaration
(2007)
Djerba Declaration
(2003)
Nairobi Declaration
on UNEP (1997)
Rio Declaration &
Agenda 21 (1992)
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Strategic Trade Policy Options
• Emissions Trading Schemes
– May be most effective if such schemes are ‘open’
and regional (instead of ‘closed’ or national)
• Liberalisation of eco-friendly goods
– Perhaps a Duty-free, Quota-free regime can be
used for such goods
– A positive list approach can be used to define
environmental / eco-friendly goods
Strategic Trade Policy Options
• However, regardless of policy tools that are chosen,
measures cannot attempt to regulate or change the way
that products are harvested or made in other countries
– Turtle/Shrimp WTO Case
• If policy measures do result in WTO dispute settlement,
use of Gary Sampson ‘cool air’ Article XX exception should
be explored:
– Based on US-Gasoline Case (clean air viewed as ‘exhaustible
natural resource)
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Strategic Trade Policy Options
• To avoid conflict between the aims of abating the
effects of climate change and expanding international
trade, policies aimed at tackling climate change
should not deter or disrupt trade; for example:
– ‘like products’ must be afforded the same National Treatment
within domestic markets, regardless of the carbon footprint of its
production process.
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CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES
IN IMPLEMENTING CLIMATE CHANGE
POLICIES
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Challenges in implementing Climate
Change Policies
• Cost of Adaptation (Projects)
– Relocation of Communities in Vanuatu and Cuba
– Construction of sea defences
• Cost of Mitigation (Programmes)
– Public Education Campaigns
– Purchase & Promotion of Environmentally Friendly
Technologies (Commercial & Industrial)
• Lack of local Technical expertise
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Challenges in implementing Climate
Change Policies
• Lack of financial resources to execute projects
and programmes.
• Eco – friendly policies can have negative
unintended ‘side effects’
– Increasing carbon taxes and environmental levies
particularly on airline tickets will increase the cost
of air travel which could have adverse effect on
tourism in SIDS.
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Challenges in implementing Climate
Change Policies
• Measures to decrease emissions often increases the
cost of production of tradeable goods and services.
• Creates need for offsetting measures: to dampen
effect on entities whose ability to compete (with other
bodies that are not subject to emission-reducing
measures) might be adversely affected.
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Opportunities for the Caribbean
• Climate Change a useful platform to promote
alternative development and use of renewable
energy.
– Particularly solar energy (increased usage in homes
and Hotels)
• Can encourage use of environmentally friendly
technologies – can facilitate proliferation of trade
in environmental goods and services
• Increased use of EGS within the Tourism industry
can create opportunities to promote the region
as a “Carbon Neutral” / Eco-Friendly Zone.
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Opportunities for the Caribbean
• Can provide a sound basis for the adoption of
emissions trading schemes in SIDS.
– Rewards entities that emit less greenhouse gases
into the atmosphere
– Encourages firms to invest in R&D in energyefficient technologies that would be particularly
useful in SIDS.
– Increased investment in R&D could make SIDS less
dependant upon technology transfer developed
nations.
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Opportunities for the Caribbean
• Encourages diversification of economy – particularly
into high knowledge-content service providers
– Can facilitate a higher local value-added shift in indigenous
production.
– Can also encourage increased export of environmental
services
• Encourages development of non-traditional branches
of tourism:
– egs. Eco-Tourism, Heritage Tourism.
• Specific climate-change eco-tourism opportunities
exist:
– e.g. Underwater Climate Change Exhibits/Museums
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Summary
• Climate Change threatens viability of prominent
industries in the Caribbean (e.g. tourism &
agriculture).
• There are constraints to ability of Caribbean
nations to implement adaptation and
mitigation policies (e.g. lack of human and
financial resources).
• Strategic policy options do exist at a national
and international level. In this regard, M.E.A.s,
Internal Regulations & incentives to increase
trade in EGS should be considered.
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR TIME AND ATTENTION
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