sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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A. IMPLEMENTATION OF INTERNATIONAL COMMITMENTS ON SUSTAINABLE
DEVELOPMENT BY THE CARIBBEAN SIDS
The pursuit of <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> in the Caribbean SIDS has met with many of the same challenges
as in Latin America, and the preceding analyses also largely apply to this group of countries, which
include the following Caribbean SIDS: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba,
Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. However, there are issues of
specific relevance to the Caribbean SIDS that have further hindered progress towards the original Earth
Summit commitments.
Sustainable <strong>development</strong> in a SIDS context is both more challenging and more urgent due to the
unique and distinctive vulnerabilities of SIDS: small populations; remoteness and insularity; human,
financial and technical constraints; dependence on scarce natural resources, such as coastal and marine
ecosystems; vulnerability to natural disasters that devastate entire sectors, including agriculture and
infrastructure; and excessive dependence on international trade and susceptibility to adverse global
<strong>development</strong>s. Also, SIDS are often unable to benefit from economies of scale (thus losing the advantages
of preferential market access and competitiveness) and are adversely impacted by high transportation and
communication costs (UNFCCC, <strong>20</strong>08; UNDESA, <strong>20</strong>10a).
To further compound the difficulties for long-term sustainability endeavours, climate change is
expected to result in changes in rainfall patterns, 1 increased temperatures in the Caribbean and increased
frequency of extreme events (IPCC, <strong>20</strong>07; Stern, <strong>20</strong>07; Campbell and others, <strong>20</strong>10; UNFCCC, <strong>20</strong>07;
Trotz, <strong>20</strong>08). These changes will pose additional risks to the Caribbean SIDS, such as rises in sea level
that will inundate coastal ecosystems and negatively impact mangrove forests, sea-grass beds and coral
reefs; increased opportunities for insect vectors of dengue fever and malaria to breed; and saline intrusion
of groundwater aquifers (IPCC, <strong>20</strong>07; Stern, <strong>20</strong>07; UNDESA, <strong>20</strong>10a; Trotz, <strong>20</strong>08). Given the challenges
faced by Caribbean SIDS in managing environmental issues, these additional risks would further
exacerbate the region’s vulnerability to disasters.
A review of the implementation of the Mauritius Strategy in the Caribbean indicates that some
progress has been made, despite serious constraints on technical, financial and human resources (ECLAC,
<strong>20</strong>10b). Specifically, countries have reported advances at both the national and regional levels as they
have increased their institutional capacity for <strong>sustainable</strong> <strong>development</strong> and made progress in carrying
out policy reforms and creating appropriate strategies and action plans, especially in the area of
climate change.
While some support has been received from the international community to implement the
Mauritius Strategy, the bulk of progress has been achieved primarily through the efforts of the Caribbean
SIDS themselves. The majority of Caribbean SIDS consider their financial resources to be insufficient to
fully implement the Strategy, and half of them deem their technical resources inadequate for achieving or
accelerating further progress (United Nations, <strong>20</strong>10c).
1
Annual precipitation is projected to increase in areas north of 22° N and decrease by 25% to 50% south of this
demarcation, according to a recent regional climate model (Campbell and others, <strong>20</strong>10).