The Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) endorsed the views of Bill Gates, this week at the climate negotiations in Paris:
“If you could pick just one thing to lower the price of, to reduce poverty, by far, you would pick energy.”
The meeting of 196 countries aims to establish a legally binding deal on climate change, that will limit GHG emissions, and to essentially change the nature of business. The goals of COP21 are particularly relevant to the Caribbean and speak directly to efforts to address the impact of climate change. While Caribbean governments largely ignored the MDGs, CaPRI’s September publication, an SDG Agenda for the Caribbean, stressed that the environmental dangers that the Caribbean faces are urgent.
The framework presented by COP21 offers support to the Caribbean to change the course of industrial evolution and reduce the impact of climate change in the region, and globally. CaPRI has articulated several recommendations in our September SDG brief that include: review and enforcement of existing regulations as they relate to sustainable development, engage in a coordinated push to mobilize promised funding under the auspices of COP21, conserve at least 10 percent of marine and coastal areas, fully implement UN conventions on sustainable use of the oceans, and conduct audits of the remaining important and healthy natural resources (articulate a plan to preserve them). Energy production and use is an important issue for the region; the value of petroleum imports represents, on average, one-third of Jamaica’s GDP.
A group of 28 leading entrepreneurs that includes Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Richard Branson, George Soros and others, have launched the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. These investors have partnered with 20 countries to form Mission Innovation, their aim is to increase R&D into new technologies to deliver clean energy at a low cost. Caribbean governments and private-sector leaders should, therefore, position themselves to benefit from these opportunities. The recent Covenant for Fiscal Responsibility, Good Governance and Social Inclusion,advanced by CaPRI, along with private-sector leaders and civil society two weeks ago, is a good place to start. Government and private-sector groups are also invited to use CaPRI’s Energy Investment Analytical Tools, easily accessible on our website, to empirically inform their energy investment decisions.
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