Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator initiative
I was procrastinating (somewhat). I wanted to write this post from the day I attended the launch of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator initiative on August 9, 2018. Of course, reality presented itself. Of the several things competing for my attention on my ‘to-do’ list, I just thought writing a blog post wasn’t at the top of my agenda. I simply went on to doing other things.
But then during one of my ‘refresh’ times on my schedule, I was scrolling through Twitter where I was led to this article written by Senior Software Engineer at LinkedIn, Kamilah Taylor (she is Jamaican, gotta throw that in there).
Anyway, that, coupled with the memory of one of my previous morning reflections about being a better steward of my environment and just the pure guilt of not completing a task I had given a timeline of ‘soon’, led me to start writing.
This – as it turns out – is priority. It is priority because, whether or not we believe it, climate change or global warming (whatever term you are more comfortable with) is happening right before our very eyes – at an accelerated rate. We are no longer able to ignore it, passing it off as ‘not our business but that of generations to come.’
Irma’s Wrath
While there are still varying schools of thought about what is causing the severe change of weather patterns the world is a witness to, one thing is sure, it’s that the activities of humans have weighed heavily on these changes, with very negative implications.
If Irma’s savagery which brought about desolation of catastrophic magnitudes taught us anything, it’s that the Caribbean needs to be concerned about the implications of the actions of its citizenry.
Here comes the great news – one we wish would have come sooner (anyhoo, better late than never) – the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator programme has been launched. “Since the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes, twenty-six Caribbean government heads and some of the largest global companies, financial institutions, and foundations have joined the Accelerator”.
Sir Richard Branson
The Accelerator is “the first high-level commitment coming out of President Macron’s One Planet Summit.
During the launch event, “Prime Ministers Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica, Keith Mitchell of Grenada, Allen Chastanet of Saint Lucia and Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson articulated a far-reaching vision for the world’s first climate-smart zone.”
It is “an entrepreneurial engine that catalyses and fast-tracks priority initiatives towards a “climate-smart” zone, delivering resilience, social development and broad-based economic growth for the Caribbean.
Over the next five years, it will do so by identifying and uniting commitments to building a more sustainable and resilient future for island nations through collaboration between national governments, regional and international institutions as well as public and private sector organisations.
Twenty-six Caribbean government heads and some of the largest global companies, financial institutions, and foundations have joined the Accelerator since the aftermath of the 2017 hurricanes.”
As I read the article by Taylor and reflected upon the launch event, some questions came to mind:
- How can we become doers rather than simple hearers, practicing what we preach?
- What will be the strategy to include ordinary Jamaican entrepreneurs to shift their thinking, recognizing this initiative as being very relevant to and for them?
- What can we stop doing, starting doing or continue doing to show respect for our environment?
- What are the practical ways that the man on the street can be involved in as part of the solution?
- What, if any, will be some of the national-level initiatives that will be introduced to incentivize persons to take action?
- What is the plan to educate the populace about actionable steps to be taken to care for the environment?
Self-Examination
While there is no need to emphasize the points above as they are meant for self-examination and reflection, point 1 is worthy of a little commentary. The irony was not missed on me that while Jamaica’s Prime Minister, the Honurable Andrew Holness, stood at the lectern to give his address, it was Sir Richard Branson (the only person who dressed climate-smart) that had to partially disrobe the PM. It was quite funny that at an event promoting climate-smart activities, our culture of dress stared us squarely in the face and says, “time for a change”.
I continue to be baffled by the way we dress in our tropical, island home. We complain bitterly against the price of fuel, yet we dress uncomfortably so that we have to blast our air conditioning. If we are to have any success with this initiative, our way of life must be changed; a paradigm shift must take place and there must be a top-down example to be followed.
Steps must also be taken to ensure that Jamaicans, in this already classist society, don’t see this initiative as one for the ‘uptowners’ but extreme care must be appropriated to get all hands on deck.
Be SMART
In the same manner that we promote the SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound) plan for entrepreneurs and leaders, there must be extreme care in communicating a SMART plan for this very important climate-smart initiative.
Play your part in becoming climate-smart by making a commitment to doing at least one thing differently that will have a positive impact on the environment.
What is the one thing you will do today to positively impact your environment? Leave a comment and let me know or send me an email at henekawatkisporter@gmail.com
