Climate Justice in the Caribbean

The concept of climate justice has risen to prominence more and more as the world reels from the effects of the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events brought about by climate change. Rising sea levels, ocean acidification, droughts, changing weather patterns and global warming have collectively resulted in an onslaught of climate catastrophes across the globe that have disastrous effects on lives and livelihoods.

It is this loss and the resulting devastation that have both led to a shift in the collective consciousness of the populations of the global south, including the Caribbean region. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the least developed countries of the world are responsible for only approximately 1% of the greenhouse gasses that cause climate change, but are bearing the horrific brunt of the climate crisis. It is this enhanced awareness that has led to a focus on the importance of climate justice, and the role it plays in building Caribbean regional resilience.

The Concept of Climate Justice

According to Yale Climate Connections, the term “climate justice” has come to signify a movement that acknowledges how climate change can have differing social, economic, public health, and other adverse impacts on underprivileged populations. Stakeholders in the fight against climate change are seeking to have these inequities properly addressed by implementing long-term mitigation and adaptation strategies.

A prevailing ethos at the heart of climate justice is that there must be accountability for those who have caused harm, and redress for those who are experiencing harm. This is particularly true in the context of the history of the Caribbean region, a history steeped in the violence and economic exploitation of colonialism. The Prime Minister of Barbados, the Honourable Mia Amor Mottley, highlighted this intersection during her speech at COP27 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. She stated “We were the ones whose blood, sweat, and tears financed the industrial revolution…are we now to face double jeopardy by having to pay the cost as a result of those greenhouse gasses from the industrial revolution? That is fundamentally unfair.”

UNICEF has established that, in order for climate justice to be meaningfully implemented, there must be representation, inclusion, and protection of the rights of those most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. Any discussions must prioritise a focus on the general principles of Climate Justice, which can be explored with particular emphasis on Caribbean realities.

Climate Justice in the Caribbean Context

There are some categories of Climate Justice that are particularly relevant to the sociohistorical background of the Caribbean region. These include:

• Social, Racial and Environmental Justice – There has been a disproportionate impact of climate change on lower-income and BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) communities around the world, and those in the Global South. This is an unfortunate irony, as these are the people and places least responsible for the problem. Territories across the Caribbean are also more vulnerable to climate change as a result of the negative effects of colonialism on economic development, a phenomenon outlined by various studies, including those carried out by the Inter-American Development Bank.  This serves to exacerbate the impacts of climate change, and impede infrastructural recovery.
• Climate Education and Engagement – There is an opportunity to collaborate intra-regionally and conduct curriculum reform to include information about climate change in a Caribbean context. This new curriculum should not only include climate science, but also address the ways in which climate change is connected to a  range of other social, racial, historical and environmental issues that define our daily lived experiences. Climate education can also highlight the role played by the ocean in the proliferation of the Blue Economy.
• Indigenous Climate Action – Further opportunities exist to gather specific data on Caribbean Indigenous communities, and the ways in which these communities are reliant on their local ecosystems for their lives and livelihoods. There can also be a focused exploration of Indigenous Caribbean identity, and the extent to which this is deeply entwined with the land and ocean. This exploration can help to shed light on the  effective climate solutions that exist within the intersection of Indigenous knowledge and western science.

• Just Transition – The shift away from fossil fuel-based economies is an integral part of Climate Justice in the Caribbean, because the extraction and utilisation of these fossil fuels plays a role in the increasing levels of global warming. It is this global warming that is partially responsible for the proliferation of extreme weather events that causes devastating consequences in the region. Additionally, the people in the Caribbean face some of the highest energy costs in the world because the reliance on the importation of fossil fuels costs millions of dollars each year. Data released by the World Bank has established that electricity prices in the Caribbean are more than double the average price in the United States, and some Caribbean territories import 90% of their energy. Allocating these funds to research and development of ways to optimise the abundant sources of renewable energy in the region will facilitate positive technological change, and create employment in renewable energy and other green sectors.
• Community Resilience and Adaptation – Facilitating regional resilience to strengthen Caribbean territories’ capacity to recover from the impacts of extreme weather events such as a hurricane, drought, or flood is one of the most pertinent aspects of Climate Justice. Regional leaders have called for the requisite funding flows to bolster adaptation efforts, and thereby reduce the ongoing and intensifying negative impacts of climate change within a community. Developing Caribbean territories often face challenges to attain the requisite levels of adaptation, and climate justice must therefore focus on the creation of economic models and funding flows rooted in social justice and equity.
• Nature-Based Solutions – This is an aspect of Climate Justice that highlights the important role played by land-based ecosystems and agricultural lands as critical aspects of achieving equitable climate action. Nature-based climate solutions focus on regenerative farming, permaculture, and the restoration of natural landscapes like mangroves, which play a vital role in both carbon capture and protecting coastal communities from storm surges. Caribbean Climate Justice should seek to ensure that those who live on and steward the land have the self-determination and governmental support to  undertake decisions that generate social, ecological and economic benefits for themselves, their communities, and the environment.

• Human-Rights Based – All human beings depend on the environment in which we live, and in the Caribbean there is a shared, intergenerational bond with the landscape. Therefore, if we protect the rights of nature, we are also protecting our own rights. According to the United Nations, a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment is integral to the full enjoyment of a wide range of human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation. In the Caribbean we can utilise Climate Justice as a way to ensure that everyone, including those who are the most marginalised, can fulfil their social and economic potential, and lead lives of dignity and beauty. There has been an increase in the quantity and scope of international and regional laws, judicial decisions, and academic studies on the relationship between human rights and the environment. Once again, the opportunity exists for an analysis of Caribbean environmental jurisprudence in the context of the intersection between human rights and the Caribbean environment, particularly in light of the experiences of the indigenous Caribbean population that has resulted from extractive mining practices.
• Gender Equality – On a global scale, the World Economic Forum has identified that women and girls experience the greatest impacts of climate change, which magnifies pre-existing gender inequalities and creates specific threats to their livelihoods, health, and safety. Furthermore, as the negative effects of climate change become worse, women and girls face heightened vulnerabilities to all forms of gender-based violence, including conflict-related sexual violence, human trafficking, child marriage, and other forms of violence. The UN Global Fund for Women has stated that in the aftermath of climate disasters such as hurricanes, women’s vulnerability to gender-based violence increases, as does economic reliance on men. It is an unfortunate reality that in addition to acute disasters, the changing Caribbean climate is having an effect on the daily livelihoods of women and gender-diverse people, which leads to an exacerbation of  existing inequities. In the Caribbean there is a vibrant and emerging feminist climate justice movement that seeks to resolve these inequities, and can therefore strengthen the principles of Climate Justice.

I would love to hear your thoughts about climate justice, so please feel free to comment and share! (N.B. This content was first published in a blog post I wrote for Island Innovation in June, 2023.)