The Trade and Climate Change Interface
Dr. Jan Yves Remy, Rueanna Haynes and Kaycia Ellis-Bourne
November 2021
The phenomenon of “climate change” is linked to direct or indirect human activity which alters the composition of the global atmosphere over and above natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods. It results from a gradual increase in average global temperatures caused by the accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere. The principal GHGs are carbon dioxide (CO2), methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases. CO2 comprises 64.3% of GHGs and enters the atmosphere through the burning of fossil fuels, solid waste, trees and wood products, and certain chemical reactions. The adverse impacts of global warming and the resulting changes in the climatic conditions are formidable stumbling blocks to sustainable development, in particular, for small island developing states (SIDS) of which most Caribbean states are a sub-set.
An Overview of Food Security and Trade Across CARICOM
Chelcee Brathwaite
July 2021
Food security is a global challenge. Some like FAO (2016) and Breene (2016) believe that a 60% increase in global agricultural production (and nearly double in developing countries) will be required to feed a 9 billion-plus world population by 2050. Others like Mandyck and Schultz (2015) postulate that existing production can feed the world’s growing population, but food waste and unequal distribution obstruct this reality. However, more than simply feeding people, food security is a broad concept. Across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), major challenges still hinder progress under the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) – Zero Hunger (Sachs et al. 2020). Failure to reach these targets has wider socioeconomic implications which negatively impacts the achievement of other SDGs, further underscoring the importance of improving and achieving food security.
Investment Promotion and Facilitation for Financing Achievement of the SDGs in the Caribbean
Alicia Nicholls
June 2021
What are the SDGs?
The SDGs comprise 17 goals and their 169 targets announced as the outcome of the UN summit for the adoption of the post-2015 development agenda in a resolution by the General Assembly on September 25, 2015. They build on the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), but, unlike the MDGs which focused on developing countries, the SDGs are universal – applying to all countries. The SDGs are not just integrated, but indivisible. They comprise and balance the three pillars of sustainable development which are: economic, social and environmental (UN 2015a).
