1. Greening in the Face
of Crisis
Presentation by Cletus I. Springer,
Director, Department of Sustainable Development,
Organization of American States to Conference on Sustaining
Development in Small States in a Turbulent Global Economy
Commonwealth Secretariat, London
July 6-7, 2009

2. Outline of Presentation
 The Crisis in the Context of Notions of :
 Vulnerability,
 Resilience
 Sustainability
 Challenges and Opportunities
 Sustainable Energy
 Sustainable Transport
 Water Security
 Risk Management and Climate Change
 Land Degradation
 Waste management
 Towards and International Agenda

3. Implications and
Complications of Global
Crisis
 consensus on roots and impacts of crisis
and its relationship to vulnerability of SIDS
 Concern that crisis will:
 Deepen vulnerability
 Weaken environmental sustainability
 Roll back gains achieved under preferential
concessionary arrangements conditions that
will not return
 Combine with return of high oil prices

4. Implications and
Complications of Global
Crisis - 2
 Tight policy space
 Limited fiscal options
 Inherent vulnerability features such as thin
markets
 Capacity constraints
 Limited access to technology
 Human resource challenges

5. Key Messages
 No room for policy errors so need for ….
 Risk analysis
 Priority setting
 Cost benefit analysis
 Quick but thorough EIAs
 Integrated development planning
 Corruption watch
 Win-win options
 No retreat from vulnerability reduction and resilience building
 Targeted “no regrets” investments in areas that:
 Conserve foreign exchange
 Are cost effective
 Create more and new jobs
 Have high multiplier effect
 Sustains the health of the environment
 Are market-based but not market distorting

6. Challenges and Opportunities
 Energy
 Sustainable Transport
 Water
 Natural Hazards
 Land Degradation
 Waste Management

7. Energy
 Return of high energy prices - nightmare scenario
 Conventional energy sources impede
competitiveness
 Heavy use of bio-mass energy in some SIDS with
human and environmental impacts
 Extensive RE options but lack of capacity to
evaluate options and understand trade-offs
 Myth of low returns from RETs

8. Energy - 2
 Reform laws to support IPPs
 Make RET transfer core of bilateral and multilateral negotiation eg in EPAs
 Use MBis to promote use of energy efficient appliances in homes and
technology in industry
 Ramp up investments in RETs using available carbon financing and
environment funding (CDM, GEF, etc)
 Explore all financially feasible and appropriate options
 Solar-ize hospitals, hotels, schools and commercial and public buildings
 Retrofit public buildings to make them more energy efficient
 Move to high-end solar uses eg: solar-thermal technology (mirrors to
concentrate sunlight = heat=steam=electricity
 Heat storing and more stable than PVs
 24/7 sunlight not necessary
 Co-generation possibilities

9. Energy - 3
 More RE options
 Wind power (Jamaica)
 Cellulosic ethanol (Belize)
 Geothermal (St. Kitts, Dominica)
 Hydro (Dominica)
 Sugar plant (Mauritius)
 OTEC (Saga, Japan, Hawaii)
 Tidal

10. Energy - 4
 RETs need upgrading of power grid – “smart
grids” through digital sensors to:
 Make T&D system more responsive and
interactive
 Better cope with new sources of RE power
 Achieve better efficiency and reliability
 Better management of demand and supply of
electricity
 Reduce need for expansion of power plants

11. Energy - 5
 Hurdles
 High capital costs but… huge forex and environmental
benefits
 Costs can be offset through CDM + carbon trading
 Fear that reduced consumption will reduce revenues
but…
 Savings from improved operational efficiencies
 Evidence from Europe that RE cost recoverable in 5 years
 COMSEC +OAS+UNIDO+ IEA collaborative effort needed.

12. Sustainable Transport
 Issues
 Current vehicle fleet inefficient
 Drain on foreign exchange (capital and recurrent)
 High polluters
 Policy response
 MBIs for replacement of inefficient fleet
 Curbs on importation of high vehicles with high CC capacity
 Promote efficient public transport system
 Build infrastructure for use of hybrid vehicles
 Encourage safe use of bicycles, scooters
 Consider car auction permits a la Singapore

13. Water Resources
 Key issues:
 Contamination of water resources (chemicals and
waste)
 Deforestation
 Impacts of climate change and variability
 Narrow freshwater lenses
 Rapid Urbanization
 Waste in production (line loss ) and consumption
 Challenge to attainment of MDGs

14. Water Resources - 2
 Introduce IWRM
 Protect water systems through PES
 Curb deforestation and land degradation
 Build natural coping systems for floods
 Reduce U-A-W through replacement of aging
infrastructure
 Introduce MBIs to encourage water conservation
and investment in rainwater harvesting
 Introduce drought-resistant crop varieties
 Invest in EWS for drought and floods

15. Natural Hazards
 High inherent susceptibility to natural hazards
 High acquired vulnerability to hazard through
policy conflicts
 Increased vulnerability from CC/CV + SLR
 High annual disaster losses
 Inadequate treatment of disaster risk
 Low research capacity for climate change
 Modelling challenges

16. Natural Hazards - 2
 Tackle root causes of vulnerability
 Strengthen local and national capacity for DRM
 Mainstream DRM in Development Planning
 Aggressively pursue available funding for CC adaptation
 Make “no regrets” investments in risk reduction
 Drainage building and repair programs *
 Protect (risk-proof) critical facilities*
 Underground cabling of electricity and communications in
business districts*
 MBIs for retrofitting homes and businesses

17. Land Degradation (LD)
 Issues
 Limited options to SIDS to raise productivity of
land, intensify land use and raise farm outputs
 LD :
 affects agricultural productivity and social
livelihoods
 Threatens food security
 Erodes biodiversity on which tourism and agriculture
depends
 Increases vulnerability to natural disasters

18. Land Degradation -2
 Policy Responses
 Aggressively pursue Sustainable Land Management
(SLM)
 Remove policy barriers to improved land management
 Promote PES as option to land acquisition to protect
sensitive lands
 Strengthen land use planning and development control
regimes
 Invest in hard and soft SLM project eg: retaining walls,
re-afforestation, mangrove rebuilding, artificial reefs,
soil-retaining plants etc

19. Waste Management
 Issues
 limited land space = limited space for landfills
 Increasing Urbanization = high waste volumes
from cities = high haulage costs
 Increasing consumption = increasing waste
 Rapid increase in use of white goods = reduced
landfill space = rising costs of collection,
haulage and disposal

20. Waste Management - 2
 Responses:
 Work with suppliers to reduce waste at source
 Promote reuse and recycling
 Invest in modern landfill technology eg crushers
+ compactors
 Identify and reserve land for future landfill
expansion
 Encourage manufacturers to pursue cradle to
cradle (C2C) approaches

21. Elements of An International
Agenda
 Make international environmental relations centrepiece of foreign
policy
 Push for Global Green New Deal
 Build solid inter-regional partnerships in water, energy, land
management and hazard risk management
 Include green issues in bilateral and multilateral agreements
 Build capacity to access existing financing mechanisms eg. CDM,
Carbon markets , WB Forest Carbon Partnership Facility
 Use sea carbon sink argument more aggressively
 Promote technology transfers through north-south, south-south
cooperation
 Promote sustained research and development into green technologies
at Universities