Port of Spain, December 14, 2017 – The Caribbean needs to pay attention to findings by top economists which show that the decline of nature poses severe threats to continued national and global prosperity.
Following the devastation of hurricanes Irma and Maria, the importance of natural ecosystems to climate resilience has gained prominence in the reconstruction agenda for affected Caribbean islands and in the economic decision-making of other islands across the Caribbean. The recent announcement by Prime Minister Andrew Holness to ban mining in the Cockpit Country Protected Area in Jamaica is one example of this. According to Prime Minister Holness, the Jamaican government could not put a price tag on the loss of the country’s water resources and biodiversity.
This type of recognition of the value of natural capital in economic decision-making is vital for the Caribbean and globally.
CANARI is working as a member of the Green Economy Coalition to take this work forward in the Caribbean region. As part of CANARI’s ‘#GE4U: Transformation towards an inclusive green economy in the Caribbean’ project supported by the European Union, CANARI is engaging Caribbean stakeholders in exploring pathways for transformation of economic development models towards a green, fair and resilient economy. Recognising the value of natural capital for economic development is a central principle in this. See here for full media release.
