Building a climate resilient power sector in the context of the Caribbean small island developing States’ energy transition. Policy Brief

In Caribbean small island developing States (SIDS), electrical power outages are frequent in the aftermath of major weather events. While local service disruptions often last a few days after these events, nationwide power grid failures lasting several weeks, or months have resulted in enormous social and economic impacts. In 2017, Hurricane Maria left 90 per cent of the population of Dominica without access to electricity for over four months (Commonwealth of Dominica, 2020) and caused a systemwide collapse of Puerto Rico's power grid that took 11 months to be entirely restored (Campbell…

Caribbean Outlook 3: Economic recovery and repositioning in the era of COVID-19. Policy Brief

The economies of the subregion were hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly those dependent on tourism. As a result, the Caribbean has seen a reversal of the hard-won gains achieved in growing their economies and reducing unemployment and inequality. The inflation stemming from pandemic supply chain disruption, which has been exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, has made the sustained uptick in economic performance beyond pre-pandemic levels unlikely, notwithstanding strong growth estimates for 2021 and 2022. The last two years have taught the region that continued ‘business as usual’ is…

Policy Issues towards effective Applications of Geospatial Technologies and Data in Disaster Risk Management (DRM)

This workshop is the first of a two-part series and is designed for senior technical officers having responsibilities in selecting and using technologies to support DRM.…

Conceptualizing a circular economy in the Caribbean: perspectives and possibilities. Policy Brief

Although the notion of a circular economy (CE) has been conceived and debated for more than half a century (Henrysson and Nuur, 2021), it has gained considerable popularity in the lexicon of economists, ecologists and other development thinkers over the past two decades. The increasing evidence of the existential threat of human-induced climate change and the related imperatives of decarbonizing the global economy, have led to greater focus on strategies for a more sustainable use of the natural and environmental resource base.…

Technical Issues towards effective Applications of Geospatial Technologies and Data in support of Disaster Risk Management (DRM)

This workshop is the second of a two-part series and is designed for technical officers responsible for GIS and application developers supporting DRM.…

Report of the twenty-ninth session of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean

Mainstreaming disaster risk management strategies in development instruments: Policy briefs for selected member countries of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee

This policy brief has the objective of profiling disaster risk management policies in five selected member states of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee: The Bahamas, Belize, The Dominican Republic, Haiti and Jamaica, and analyze their interactions with broader development issues and instruments, such as national development plans and climate change adaptation strategies. To this end, firstly, it presents the five pillars for Disaster Risk Managenent (DRM), namely risk identification, risk reduction, preparedness, financial protection, and resilient recovery, as well as their a…

Policy Brief: Planning for resilience: an integrated approach to tackle climate change in the Caribbean

The Caribbean subregion is exceptionally vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and extreme weather events. Vulnerability is a key multidimensional concept at the heart of resilience building, relating to each country’s multiple spatial and socioeconomic risks and conditions. In fact, due to its geographical location and concentration of population and activities in low-lying coastal areas, the Caribbean is the second most hazard-prone region in the world...Moreover, impacts of extreme weather events on Caribbean small economies are of national proportions. For example, in the hurricane s…

Financing and Planning for Disaster Risk Management in Caribbean Small Islands Developing States

The Caribbean is considered one of the most disaster-prone regions in the world. Indeed, the financial impact of disasters such as hurricanes on Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) is invariably several times greater than their gross domestic product (GDP). Governments of the subregion therefore must continue to seek innovative approaches to mobilize both domestic and external sources to finance their sustainable development and resilience efforts.…

Caribbean in Brief: an information document for Caribbean Small Island Developing States

This brief is intended to provide general information on the upcoming United Nations Ocean Conference on scaling up ocean actions based on science and innovation for the implementation of Agenda 2030 - Sustainable Development Goal 14 (SDG 14), with a view to stimulating more active, engaged participation of the Caribbean in the discussions. The United Nations Ocean Conference will be co-chaired by Kenya and Portugal, and hosted by the Government of Portugal in Lisbon, during 2021. The objective of this conference is consistent with the 2017 UN General Assembly proclamation on the Decade of Oce…

Expert survey on priorities for the information society in the Caribbean

An on-line survey of experts was conducted to solicit their views on policy priorities in the area of information and communication technologies (ICT) in the Caribbean. The experts considered the goal to “promote teacher training in the use of ICTs in the classroom” to be the highest priority, followed by goals to “reduce the cost of broadband services” and “promote the use of ICT in emergency and disaster prevention, preparedness and response.” Goals in the areas of cybercrime, e-commerce, egovernment, universal service funds, consumer protection, and on-line privacy rounded out the top 10. S…

Advancing the Decade of Action for Sustainable Development in the Caribbean

Damage and Loss Assessment Methodology and Planning for Disaster Risk Reduction

Language: English Target Audience: The course is aimed primarily at key actors in the process of planning, implementing, following up and monitoring Agenda 2030 for the achievement of sustainable development objectives. The course is mainly aimed to government officials from ministries of planning, public works and national emergency offices in charge of the development and implementation of strategies for disaster risk reduction Duration: During this 4-week course, lessons will be enabled for students on a weekly basis. Each lesson has an estimated duration of 10 hours and should be completed…

SIDS 4: Now or never for small island survival

Strategies for Post COVID-19 Recovery in the Caribbean

Artificial Intelligence for Caribbean Sustainable Development

Caribbean Technology Partnerships for the SDGs

A Blue Path for the Caribbean: Ocean Sustainability for Prosperity and Resilience