LCDS also critical to sustaining Caribbean tourism
COUNTRIES need to be aware of the existential threats to the region, the word, and more particularly the tourism product offered, in order for tourism within the Caribbean to be sustainable. Former President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo sounded this warning yesterday, as he delivered the keynote address at the Caribbean Conference on Sustainable Development (STC 13) at the Guyana International Conference Centre, at Liliendaal.
In a video recording, he expressed the hope that the Caribbean Conference will focus on finding solutions to climate change, while making reference to a World Bank study, which determined, sometime ago, that ten or fifteen of the countries most vulnerable to climate conditions are found in the Caribbean.
He said: “We already know that a disaster could have a systemic impact in our societies. Having seen hurricanes and floods wipe out the equivalent of sixty, seventy five, eighty percent of gross domestic product, we know how this has affected the product that we offer. Right now, we are in a global situation where we have had failures, lots of failures in Copenhagen, in Cancun and at Durban; failure of the developed world to come up with an agreement that would lead us on a path to sustainability.”
Jagdeo used the opportunity to remind delegates that an intergovernmental panel on climate change determined that, in order to have a sustainable trajectory, there is a need to limit global temperature two degrees Celsius above green industrial level by 2050.
Alluding to how this can be achieved and to the dangers of failing to address the issue, he said: “The only way that we can do that is if we, by 2020, were to cut the greenhouse gas emissions by twenty-five percent to forty on a 1990 baseline. Until now, there is no such agreement and, had we such an agreement, we had 50 percent probability of avoiding catastrophic climate change. We are, currently, on a pathway of four degrees rise in global temperature. At four degrees rise in global temperature above pre-industrial level, the forest will die naturally, the coral will die and the sea will rise, so we will lose most of our beaches in the Caribbean.”
Having pointed to this stark reality, the former Guyanese Head of State listed five key areas which he would like to see highlighted during the STC-13 discussions.
Among those he underscored the important role that influential tourism officials have in terms of creating awareness, particularly at the government level.
Raise awareness
Jagdeo said: “We have too many governments that are sleepwalking on this issue and to raise awareness in our societies about the threat to our way of life in the Caribbean and to the product that we offer. We will never have sustainable tourism if we do not observe those consequences and without a sound global agreement to limit greenhouse gases.”
He pointed to Caribbean territories grasping opportunities that arise as a result of the influx of middle class people in the developing world, by 2030 and to them taking advantage of the markets that will be created as a result, thereby ensuring sustainable economies.
Jagdeo explained, too, that, while some countries are already actively pursuing this, there exists a definite lag in relation to attitudes and policy implementation.
“Some countries have been doing this, but I think, on the whole, our attitude and many of the things that we have to do to secure these markets lag behind. So too many of our immigration officials think that they have[to] keep people from China, Brazil and India out of our markets. Their entire immigration policies are dedicated to keeping people out from this Region rather than encouraging them to come. Many of our tourism institutes and structures are not training people to deal with those tourists, our language training, training on culture and food and customs practices are lagging way behind those growing markets,” he pointed out.
On that note, Jagdeo expressed the hope that stakeholders attending the present conference will examine a specific plan to get the entire Caribbean, perhaps through a single visa policy, to make it easier for people from the developed world travel to the Region.
He said: “Maybe we can have governments rethink their immigration policies and set up institutes to train people in the culture of these new markets.”
Another issue he raised is that of Caribbean territories retaining their attractiveness, in the wake of the global competition for tourists.
Natural beauty
To achieve this, Jagdeo suggested combining the region’s natural beauty, the sun, sand, sea and the forest with a range of other services that new tourists are travelling for, including health, education and agriculture, all in an effort to remain viable, attractive and competitive.
The fourth and critical area he highlighted was that of financing tourism-related activities, which he indicated has been “a vexing question” on the table for the Caribbean Tourism Organisaation (CTO) for ages, particularly in conditions where governments have large deficits and they have a large debt overhang, not only in the developed world but in the Caribbean.
“We have to look for innovative forms of financing, climate financing. Funds that are already there for adaptation and migration can be used in the tourism sector and we have to be creative about putting together products that ensure us to have some of these funds throw into the tourism sector for green energy, for greening many of these activities, so cheaper energy, through renewable supply, a supply of renewable energy for many of the hotels, etc, funded by these international funds for adaptation mitigation using some of those funds to promote alteratives to polluting activities and the tourism sector has to think how it will  tap into those funds and it is something that I hope will be considered at the Conference itself,” he posited.
The fifth and final issue stressed by Jagdeo was the need to  ensure greater intra-regional travel, using cheaper flights as one of the means of achieving this.
In closing, he apologised for not being able to attend the conference but challenged participants to avoid the mundane route taken at past conferences, in coming up with plans that, for one reason or another, may not be implemented.
“Let us try to see how we, in all these areas we can have dedicated plans and we can work in partnership with governments in the developing world, developed world as well as among ourselves to ensure that our product is not only sustainable but that it keeps growing and it creates more wealth for our people and for those who invest in those sectors,” Jagdeo appealed.
Immediately after that speech, Prime Minister, Samuel Hinds, performing the duties of President, expounded on the many projects and policies being implemented by Guyana, including the Amaila Falls Hydroproject, the Hinterland Electrification Programme (Solar Panels) and the LCDS.
Global leaders
He said Guyana has emerged as one of the global leaders in the fight against climate change through the implementation of the LCDS, which is the brainchild of Jagdeo and, through which the country receives funding.
Mr. Hinds said: “Guyana takes pride in the fact that we have received numerous accolades for our eco-system management, biodiversity conservation and for our climate change efforts. We owe a great deal to former President, Bharrat Jagdeo, who has been leading the fight against climate change.”
The Prime Minister remarked on the theme of the STC-13 ‘Keeping the Right Balance: Sustaining our Resources’, agreeing that it resonates well with Guyana, as the vision for  the country’s tourism sector is based on sustainable tourism principles, meeting the existing tourism need, while protecting and enhancing opportunities for the future.
After his presentation, the day’s activities got underway with several others and discussions on Climate Change Adaptation-Educating and Innovating for Tourism Sustainability and Reducing the Vulnerability of Caribbean Tourism Infrastructure.
Presenters included representatives from CTO member States, including Mr. Shyam Nokta, Adviser to the President and Head of the Climate Change Office in the Office of the President.