ISLANDS AN INCUBATORS OF CLIMATE RESILIENT ECONOMIC
DEVELOPMENT
Kalim Shah, Ph.D.
School of Public & Environmental Affairs
Indiana University, United States
October 5, 2016 Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC.
Funafuti, the main island of the nation state of Tuvalu in the South Pacific. (Associated Press, 2014)
Islands are Complex Socio-Ecological Systems
Climate
Change
Stresses
Climate
Resilience
CHARACTERISTICS OF CLIMATE RESILIENT SYSTEMS
Photo: Mott MacDonald 2016
Diversity and Redundancy
Inter connectivity
Manages Slow Variables, Feedback and shock
Integrative Thinking
Encourages Learning
Broadens Participation
Polycentric GovernanceSystems
Photo: World Wildlife Fund 2016
AGENTS AND INSTITUTIONS BUILD CLIMATE RESILIENT SYSTEMS
Government
Business
&
Industry
Imple-
menting
Agencies
/Donors
Community
/ Civil
Society
Barbados News 2015
CASE STUDIES IN BUILDING RESILIENCY
…In Action
…For (more) Action
• BHP Billiton and the Turtle Village Trust
(TT)
• Parish Councils System (Barbados)
• Tropical Shipping and Ports (Caribbean)
• PAHO Green Hospitals (St. Kitts, BVI)
• Hotels, hospitality & value chains
• Business & industry associations
• Production & manufacturing Clusters
Climate
Resilience
1. BHP BILLITON AND THE TURTLE VILLAGE TRUST (TT)
GovernmentBusiness
&
Industry
Community /
Civil Society
1. BHP Billiton and the Turtle Village Trust (TT)Turtle populations
stabilized; attendant coastal
ecosystems
Eco-tourism;
NGO community
meeting place
Micro-business
generation beyond
seasonality
Coastal ecology;
fisheries;
entrepreneurship
Build eco-tourism
marketing
networks; Tobago
Community
based
economic
activities
Climate
Resilience
Fill Legitimacy
gaps in
partnerships;
adaptive cycle
PARISH COUNCILS SYSTEM (BARBADOS) Business
&
Industry
GovernmentCommunity /
Civil Society
2. PARISH COUNCILS SYSTEM (BARBADOS)
Build Back Better
opportunities in
partnership with
government and businesses
Sustainable
agricultural systems;
micro-businesses
Several leadership and
networking opportunities
for Women
Distributed efforts
to control invasive
snail population
Builds out and
extends from
traditional parish
church and village
assemblies
Network with other
government
programs; agencies;
resources
Climate
Resilience
Women in
Leadership and
Gender/ Diversity
mainstreaming
TROPICAL SHIPPING AND PORTS (CARIBBEAN) Government
Busines
s &
Industr
y
Community /
Civil SocietyGovernmentBusiness
&
Industry
Community /
Civil Society
3. TROPICAL SHIPPING AND PORTS (CARIBBEAN)
Emergency management;
health and safety;
customs hardware and
software
More efficient early
warning systems;
port operations;
asset management
Port authority training;
community involvement
Caribbean wide
networking among
port authorities;
sharing best
practices
Energy efficiency
and conservation
practices
Incorporation of
local operational
norms
Climate
Resilience
Technology;
Resiliency for
competitiveness
and national
development
PAHO GREEN HOSPITALS (ST. KITTS, BVI) Government
Imple-
menting
Agencies
/Donors
4. PAHO GREEN HOSPITALS (ST. KITTS, BVI)
Climate
Resilience
Storm resistant
building
rehabilitation;
winds, floods
Improved services of
community hospital
including in
emergencies
Improved emergency medicine
capabilities; emphasis on women,
elderly, special needs
Community health
and preventative
services outreach
Eco-efficiency upgrades
and re-engineering
Inclusion of
community
norms in
operations
Build back Better;
adapting cross-
sectorally; cross-
jurisdictionally
CHARACTERIZING WHAT WORKS IN AGENT BASED RELATIONSHIPS
• Building Legitimacy and Trust among diverse and distant agents and maintaining throughout policy/ program cycle is critical to ongoing sustainability of efforts.
• Responsiveness through co-ordination and collaboration matrices: Ability to organize, or reorganize in a timely manner; response to operational threat, or organizational failure (e.g. political environment changes); and to respond quickly in its aftermath.
• Manage and leverage resource dependencies: Capacity to mobilize assets and resources for action. This includes the ability to access financial and other assets, including those of other agents and systems.
• Capacity to learn: Agent groups internalize past experiences, avoid repeated failures and innovate to improve performance. This includes the capacity to build and retain knowledge over time.
RELEVANCE OF FINDINGS TO CLIMATE RESILIENT ISLAND DEVELOPMENT
Sustainability of efforts and not ‘pockets of fireworks’
Scale Up, Scale Out
South-South transferability
Shared Burden, Shared Rewards
Resource Alignment and Optimization
MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR ‘AGENT ENGAGEMENT’ TO BUILD CLIMATE RESILIENCY IN ISLANDS
• Production and Manufacturing Clusters
Value Chains and Networks in
Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation
Business and Industry Associations
Industrial Park Clusters
THANK YOU…
ISLANDS AN INCUBATORS OF CLIMATE RESILIENT DEVELOPMENT
Kalim Shah, Ph.D.
School of Public & Environmental Affairs
Indiana University NW, United States
Email: [email protected] ; [email protected]
Phone: (219) 980 6617; (219) 789 4175