FORUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE CARIBBEAN Day (1/3): Stimulating

FORUM ON THE FUTURE OF THE CARIBBEAN
Day (1/3): Stimulating Radical Ideas
Session (4/5): From Resilience to Sustainability
Moderator: Mr. Kirk-Anthony Hamilton- World Economic Forum Global Sharper Kingston
Hub and Founder and CEO of the Infiniti Partnership
Speakers:
1. Mr Kahlil Hassanali and Dr. Rahanna Juman- Institute of Marine Affairs, Trinidad
and Tobago (Integrating climate change adaptation into coastal zone management)
2. Professor Eric Strobl- Ecole Polytechnique, Paris (The Inflationary Costs of the Extreme
Weather: Evidence from the Caribbean)
3. Dr. Asad Mohammed- Caribbean Network for Urban and Land Management, The
University of West Indies, St Augustine Campus (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
as Indicators of Resilience to climate change in the Caribbean)
Organized by: The United Nations Development Program and The University of West Indies.
Rapporteur: Shweta Sharma
1. Background/Context:
The Forum on the Future of the Caribbean is a thought provoking avenue designed to stimulate
discussion through the creation of Radical Ideas by academics and policy-makers across the
region by outlining practical analysis on key themes such as Caribbean Convergence, the
resilience of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), the quality of data for decision making and
pathways to a more sustainable future.
One of the Key themes for a sustainable future is understanding the impact of Climate Change,
integrating Climate Change into Coastal Zone Management, The inflationary costs of Extreme
Weather and the role of Micro, Small and Medium enterprises as indicators of Resilience to
climate change in the Caribbean.
The Caribbean is constituted of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Due to their
geographical location they are prone to Natural Disaster such as Hurricanes and Floods as well
as Man Made Disasters such as Oil spills and ocean pollution. Therefore it is important for
Policy makers and academics to utilize avenues such as these to create awareness amongst
members of the region by providing empirical evidence and working towards common solutions.
2. Summary of Presentations by the panelists
Global climate change and climate variability adds to the continuous pressure on coastal
environments especially in Small Island States (SIS), many of which are faced with a
limited resource base, logistical challenges and rising pressures from economic
development. The future risks associated with these drivers include loss of adaptive capacity and
ecosystem services critical to lives and livelihoods in small islands.
An attempt to counter these conflicts can be achieved through the creation of bodies such as the
Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM) which has outlined the key areas of focus:
intensive coastal development, establishing legal and institutional arrangements, creation of
awareness as well as developing a policy plan. A key component in the success of such bodies is
the implementation of such policies, the adequate funding (IDB) and access to resources.
Another aspect of Climate Change conflicts is the inflationary costs associated with Extreme
Weather such as Hurricanes and Floods. Prof Eric Strobl indicated that a 9% loss of GDP is
projected by 2030 due to the costs associated with Extreme Weather as the have a long term
domino effect which results in the increase in prices of goods and services due to their shortage
in supply.
And lastly the role of Micro, Small and Medium entrepreneurs was outlined as they are the back
bone of the economy and therefore play a major part in the resilience of SIDS towards Climate
change. It is therefore extremely crucial as outline by Dr. Asad Mohammed to ensure that such
entrepreneurs are provided and guided with the availability of resources such as lending
mechanisms as well as strengthening institutional framework to prevent vulnerability and failure.  
3. Comments by discussants
The discussion was based on the empirical data provided by the panelists which reinforced the
need for creating awareness amongst civil society as well as stressing on the need for adequate
institutional and legislative frameworks to guide this discussion by taking into consideration the
multi-dimensional factors affecting the region with respect to Climate change.
3. Questions and Answers
The session on Resilience to sustainability raised a lot of contribution from the members of the
audience, where approximately 8 speakers raised a mixture of questions as well as comments
with regards to the point raised by the panelists. The questions mostly touched on the role of
disaster management strategies within the Caribbean as well as raising concerns on the lack of
authentic and credible data collection mechanisms which is an issue being faced by most
countries within the region.