Climate change book launched

THERE is usually a divide between the science of climate change and diplomacy and policy-making on climate change: the scientific documents are filled with difficult-to-read jargon and the diplomatic texts, filled with politics.

Dr Michelle Scobie’s debut book, Global Environmental Governance and Small States: Architectures and Agency in the Caribbean, seeks to bridge that gap with a comprehensive explanation of how climate change is affecting small island developing states (SIDS) including TT and the policies surrounding the Caribbean region.

The book was launched on Tuesday at the Hotel Normandie, St Ann’s. Published by Edward Elgar Publishing of the UK, the book took two years to be put together. Topics covered include the foundations of Caribbean environmental governance, sustainable tourism, climate change governance, global marine and ocean governance, renewable energy and energy security, and cultural and natural heritage governance.

“This paper is not a paper on biology or geography. It is an analysis of what makes environmental policy happen at the local to global level,” Scobie said.

Scobie is a lecturer at the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies, St Augustine where she teaches courses such as global environmental governance, which discusses how global environmental politics and governance operate for SIDS.

One case study she highlighted of how policy affects the Caribbean was the cruise ship industry. She said one would assume cruise ships in the Caribbean could run unchecked by disposing of garbage in the sea if they wanted. However, that industry is one of the cleanest in the world because it is a global industry with high standards. If anyone on a cruise ship sees that ship polluting, the company can be sued and the whistle-blower gets a portion of those fines.

“There are many other factors that determine what happens to the environment around the world and in the Caribbean, which impact way beyond your traditional suspects on what states can do. Cruise ships in the Caribbean are about the cleanest in the world,” she said.

Economist and former politician Winston Dookeran said the only thing that gets momentum into a movement, in spite of rigorous academic work, is the drive from politicians to implement change.

“Globally there is a raging debate on the scientific foundations of climate change. We know this from reading the various positions of political leaders in the world today.

“Politically, there is an urgency for global action and funding that today continues to divide the nations of the world, and diplomatically there is still room to design the doable road map in this race against time,” he said.

Dookeran hopes this book can be edifying for politicians, policy makers and individuals who want to learn more about governance and the science of climate change.