[Coral-List] Copenhagen flop: article raises serious question

Fri Sep 4 07:32:00 EDT 2009

Hi Milton,

Apologies for taking such a long time to respond... I didn't actually see your response until recently. 

Wow.what an e-mail.  You however seem to be unaware of much that has been and still is going on..at least in my neck of the Caribbean woods with respect to Climate Change.  Flying into the region for one meeting in Aruba?..maybe more? has clearly not given you a holistic understanding of our regional issues. 

I'll respond to each point in blue below. 

Dear Mrs. Brathwaite,

The problem with all UN conferences, summits and meetings is that if you want to throw stones, your own slate must be clean.
People have been throwing stones at UN meetings for years from unclean slates, just look at the US stance on pressing for disarmament by states which have ratified the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, a policy they are yet to enforce at home. But it's not clear to me how this relates to the issue at hand. It's purely a matter of scale, it would be like you claiming that our sinking of a boat for recreational purposes has significantly affected the iron content of the Atlantic.

I am afraid that the climate issues go much further beyond just emissions, we also have to deal with climate change adaptation issues which are conveniently forgotten, in particular by the leisure and lodging industries, who are contributors to emissions, as are cruise lines and airlines.
On the contrary, we cannot forget this point.  I'm jotting down a few notes on our Climate Change history for you and sharing with the list, since it appears much of this is not known outside of the Caribbean.

1994 - Barbados hosts the Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Smeall Island Developing States.  Out of this came support to develop regional projects  aimed at building capacity to adapt to climate change.

1997-2001 - The Caribbean Planning for adaptation to Climate Change (CPACC) funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) was launched and run.  The goal was to build capacity in the Caribbean region for the adaptation to climate change impacts, particularly sea level rise.  

Participating countries were Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent. 

It consisted of 4 regional projects and 5 pilot projects.  The projects included Coastal vulnerability and risk assessment, Economic valuation of coastal and marine resources, the formation of economic/regulatory proposals and coral reef monitoring.    They resulted in the establishment of a sea level and climate monitoring system, increased appreciation of climate change issues at the policy level, the articulation of national climate change adaptation policies and implementation plans etc. Please see link below for more information.
http://www.caricom.org/jsp/projects/macc%20project/cpacc.jsp?null&prnf=1 

2004- present - Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC), followed on from the CPACC project.
http://www.caricom.org/jsp/projects/macc%20project/macc.jsp?menu=projects

Furthermore, most if not all Caribbean states are signatories of, and about to submit second national communications to, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. We have been leaders in developing and supporting renewable technologies, particularly solar especially in our leisure industries. Many regional states provide financial incentives for activities like rainwater harvesting which reduce electricity and as a result fuel consumption from pumping mains water to residences, with knock-on reductions in carbon generation.

And in terms of cruise ships and airlines, I'm sure you would agree that it is at the design and build stage that greatest savings in greenhouse gas emissions could be provided for or obtained. And I'm also sure you're not suggesting that those activities take place in the Caribbean.

In 2008 a consultant for the ECLAC visited a number of island in the Caribbean to gather input for a Stern Review style report economics of climate for the entire Caribbean.

The premise being what are the costs if we do NOTHING?

We attended the meeting in Aruba with the consultants and found out that on average the attitude in the Caribbean was one of being uninformed and a lack of policies dealing with adaptation and mitigation issues.

The crux being that integrated coastal zone management, integrated watershed management, ecosystem based management of marine resources and agriculture were not seen as directly tied to climate change issues.
I'm so curious about who you spoke to and who attended this meeting, as clearly many of us are well informed..we have to be.  While many bigger countries could lose a part of their countries as a result of climate change, we might lose our entire islands.  With the suite of climate related coral reef issues, we're losing the ecosystem benefits already.  Trust me we know.  We do have much work to do on the adaptation front..as do many other countries..but we have started.  The establishment of a functioning Coastal Zone Management Unit in Barbados for example, since 1982, charged with developing coastal and marine policies certainly speaks to this. As does the incorporation of climate change factors such as sea level rise into the design of coastline protection structures.

As long as big resorts, marinas, and commercial residential and shopping projects seem to dictate the policies of many island nations in the Caribbean, not to forget the airline and cruise line industries, the pivotal role of the Caribbean will be forgotten.

The Caribbean holds a large number of vested US interests in the tourism, resort, gaming entertainment and travel industries, and with the turning of the tide in the USA of the Obama administration it would be logical to assume the Caribbean also to get up to speed.
When you suggest that the Caribbean islands "get up to speed" do you mean that we should agree with US policy?  In that each time a new President is voted in, that we change our policies to get in line with those of the US?  If we did that we'd have been denying that Climate Change was even happening during the Bush era.  At any rate, we're happy that the Obama administration has taken responsibility for their Climate Change impacts and seems to be working towards reducing them.  But the Caribbean has been in front of the US in terms of acknowledging and trying to address the problem from Kyoto to this day.

By the way we are still waiting for the ECLAC final report, and this fact underscores the general problem in the Caribbean, an incoherent regional policy or at least willingness to collaborate.
Surely, you're not suggesting that length of time..in a vacuum, with no supporting information on why the report is taking so long such equates to "an incoherent regional policy or at least willingness to collaborate"  Oh come on!
The Caribbean was declared a Special Area by the UN General Assembly, which designation comes with huge benefits, but also obligations. The latter seem to have been swept under the rug citing the 2008 financial sector meltdown and ensuing global and regional economic crisis as a severe restricting factor in allocating resources to policy creation and implementation.

In the end by doing nothing in the Caribbean we are ignoring the plight of small island developing nations in the Pacific, to whom by virtue of solidarity principles we are obliged to tackle the climate issues.
The climate issues are global in nature and we can at our own peril choose to ignore them in the Caribbean, only to have to face "the music" tomorrow at a higher cost than if we chose to act now.
I agree completely, climate change issues are global and should be addressed by all nations. However the causes of these issues are owned by a small number of developed states who have been woefully negligent in doing anything about them for decades, and we in the Caribbean and our Pacific cousins are suffering the consequences. Tell me, what adaptation would you suggest for a Pacific island that will be completely submerged by 2100?

Milton Ponson, President
Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation
(Rainbow Warriors International)
Tel. +297 747 8280

Angelique Brathwaite
Marine Biologist
Coastal Zone Management Unit
Bay St. St. Michael
BB11156

Phone: (246) 228 5950/51/52 ext 231 
Fax: (246)228 5956
e-mail: abrathwaite at coastal.gov.bb
skype: seaeggz  

----------------------------------------

From: "RainbowWarriorsInternational" <southern_caribbean at yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 4:09 PM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov, abrathwaite at coastal.gov.bb
Subject: re: [Coral-List] Copenhagen flop: article raises serious question 

Dear Mrs. Brathwaite,

The problem with all UN conferences, summits and meetings is that if you want to throw stones, your own slate must be clean.

I am afraid that the climate issues go much further beyond just emissions, we also have to deal with climate change adaptation issues which are conveniently forgotten, in particular by the leisure and lodging industries, who are contributors to emissions, as are cruise lines and airlines.

In 2008 a consultant for the ECLAC visited a number of island in the Caribbean to gather input for a Stern Review style report economics of climate  for the entire Caribbean.

The premise being what are the costs if we do NOTHING?

We attended the meeting in Aruba with the consultants and found out that on average the attitude in the Caribbean was one of being uninformed and a lack of policies dealing with adaptation and mitigation issues.

The crux being that integrated coastal zone management, integrated watershed management, ecosystem based management of marine resources and agriculture were not seen as directly tied to climate change issues.

As long as big resorts, marinas, and commercial residential and shopping projects seem to dictate the policies of many island nations in the Caribbean, not to forget the airline and cruise line industries, the pivotal role of the Caribbean will be forgotten.

The Caribbean holds a large number of vested US interests in the tourism, resort, gaming entertainment and travel industries, and with the turning of the tide in the USA of the Obama administration it would be logical to assume the Caribbean also to get up to speed.

By the way we are still waiting for the ECLAC final report, and this fact underscores the general problem in the Caribbean, an incoherent regional policy or at least willingness to collaborate.

The Caribbean was declared a Special Area by the UN General Assembly, which designation comes with huge benefits, but also obligations. The latter seem to have been swept under the rug citing the 2008 financial sector meltdown and ensuing global and regional economic crisis as a severe restricting factor in allocating resources to policy creation and implementation.

In the end by doing nothing in the Caribbean we are ignoring the plight of small island developing nations in the Pacific, to whom by virtue of solidarity principles we are obliged to tackle the climate issues.

The climate issues are global in nature and we can at our own peril choose to ignore them in the Caribbean, only to have to face "the music" tomorrow at a higher cost than if we chose to act now.

Milton Ponson, President
Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation
(Rainbow Warriors International)
Tel. +297 747 8280
PO Box 1154, Oranjestad 
Aruba, Dutch Caribbean 
Email: southern_caribbean at yahoo.com
Web Sites: http://www.southerncaribbean.org 
http://www.rainbowwarriors.net  (Global)
http://www.projectparadigm.info

To unite humanity in a global society dedicated to a sustainable way of life 

--- On Wed, 8/26/09, Angelique Brathwaite <abrathwaite at coastal.gov.bb> wrote:

From: Angelique Brathwaite <abrathwaite at coastal.gov.bb>
Subject: re: [Coral-List] Copenhagen flop: article raises serious question
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Cc: "RainbowWarriorsInternational" <southern_caribbean at yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, August 26, 2009, 11:08 AM

Hi,

Speaking from the perspective of a scientist in a developing country (Barbados), the "use" of the tens of thousands of scientists showing up from 
especially developed countries would be to consider/find solutions to the problems created by primarily developed countries.
If all the SIDS cut their emissions, I doubt it would make a dent.  I speak subject to correction...not being a climate change expert.

We all have to play our part..developing and developed nations, but there is no getting away from the fact that developed nations have to take a larger share of the blame for the Climate Change problems
and also have a lot to more money at their disposal to find solutions.

That said..my Government will be "showing up" in Copenhagen.

Angelique Brathwaite
Marine Biologist
Coastal Zone Management Unit
Bay St. St. Michael
BB11156

Phone: (246) 228 5950/51/52 ext 231 
Fax: (246)228 5956
e-mail: abrathwaite at coastal.gov.bb
skype: seaeggz  

----------------------------------------

From: "RainbowWarriorsInternational" <southern_caribbean at yahoo.com>
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 12:43 PM
To: coral-list at coral.aoml.noaa.gov
Subject: [Coral-List] Copenhagen flop: article raises serious question 

See the article:

http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/88-national/46609-climate-summit-flop-feared.html.

Is there a grain of truth to the threat of a flop?

We know for a fact that e.g. in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the Netherlands, Aruba, and the former Netherlands Antilles (Bonaire, Curacao, Dutch St.Martin, Saba and St. Eustatia, aka Statia) ONLY the Netherlands are in compliance with climate change treaties.

The
Dutch Caribbean islands like many Caribbean nations are not and make no
excuse for this, except lack of expertise and government resources.

What
is the use of tens of thousands of scientists and researchers and NGOs
being on board, if governments in developing nations do not commit
themselves to the cause and even consider NOT showing up in Copenhagen?

Milton Ponson, President
Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation
(Rainbow Warriors International) Tel. +297 747 8280
PO Box 1154, Oranjestad 
Aruba, Dutch Caribbean 
Email: southern_caribbean at yahoo.com Web Sites: http://www.southerncaribbean...org http://www.rainbowwarriors.net (Global)
http://www.projectparadigm.info

To unite humanity in a global society dedicated to a sustainable way of life

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