Carib Scope

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  • COPRE adjusts dam operations amid projected rainfall deficit through November

    COPRE adjusts dam operations amid projected rainfall deficit through November

    In Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, water management authorities are rolling out targeted operational adjustments for the nation’s key dam network, responding to updated meteorological forecasts that predict a significant rainfall deficit across the September-to-November period. The Committee for the Operation of Dams and Reservoirs (COPRE), in a weekly coordination session held at the National Institute of Hydraulic Resources (INDRHI) alongside the Water Observatory, formalized a modified operation framework running from September 2 to 9 that prioritizes water access for public aqueduct systems and agricultural irrigation, aligned with current storage volumes and evolving climate conditions.

    Emmanuel Álvarez, a lead meteorologist with the Dominican Institute of Meteorology (Indomet), confirmed that all leading climate modeling systems align on the projection of below-average precipitation for the upcoming three-month window. He added that the already emerging rainfall deficit worsened dramatically between May and July, pushing the country into established meteorological drought conditions. This prolonged dry trend is closely linked to the ongoing strong El Niño event, which historically triggers reduced rainfall and suppressed tropical cyclone activity across the Caribbean region.

    Under the newly approved operational plan, each major dam system has been assigned specific flow allocations tailored to priority needs. The interconnected Tavera-Bao-López Angostura network will continue operations centered on meeting irrigation and municipal water demands: Tavera will focus exclusively on agricultural water needs, Angostura will maintain a steady outflow of 19 cubic meters per second, and Bao will deliver 4.43 cubic meters per second to public aqueduct systems.

    For the Monción dam, operations are set at 12 cubic meters per second for irrigation and 3.43 cubic meters per second for the Northwest Regional Aqueduct. Hatillo dam will hold a steady 25 cubic meters per second outflow for agricultural use, while Rincón dam will operate under strict rationing, delivering just 2.10 cubic meters per second to aqueducts. Rincón’s associated hydroelectric power plant will remain fully shut down through September 6, following the conclusion of the region’s second rice planting cycle.

    In the southeastern Jigüey-Aguacate-Valdesia-Las Barías dam complex, all connected hydroelectric facilities will stay offline as a precaution related to high humidity conditions, though Valdesia dam will maintain an 8.3 cubic meters per second discharge to support regional aqueducts. At Sabana Yegua, the local hydroelectric plant will also remain idle due to excessive humidity, while Sabaneta dam will operate at 10 cubic meters per second for 18 hours daily, with the remaining six hours reserved to deliver 2 cubic meters per second to the San Juan municipal aqueduct.

    Rafael Salazar, administrator of the Dominican Hydroelectric Generation Company (EGEHID), emphasized that all dam operational adjustments follow standardized, evidence-based protocols, which integrate the latest weather forecasts, measured storage levels and recorded inflow rates for each facility.

    As of the latest update, authorities noted that Monción dam still holds favorable storage volumes despite very low incoming water flows, and Hatillo, Valdesia and Sabana Yegua all currently maintain adequate reserve levels. At Sabaneta, officials have already implemented restrictions to limit cultivation of water-intensive crops in the dam’s service area, in a bid to conserve available reserves.

    COPRE has also called for strengthened cross-stakeholder coordination between agricultural producers, the Ministry of Agriculture and INDRHI to refine water allocation processes and encourage responsible water use as the drought persists. Moving forward, the committee will maintain continuous, real-time monitoring of hydrometeorological conditions and reservoir performance, allowing for quick operational adjustments to address emerging scenarios and protect water access for the country’s highest-priority needs.

  • Trial for owner of two dogs alleged to have attacked woman on beach

    Trial for owner of two dogs alleged to have attacked woman on beach

    A well-known Grand Bahama resident is set to stand trial over accusations that his unleashed dogs attacked and mauled a woman walking along a luxury Freeport residential beach earlier this year, a case that comes as Bahamian authorities ramp up enforcement of long-overlooked animal control laws following a string of deadly and life-threatening attacks across the archipelago.

    Sixty-two-year-old David Jennette Jr. faces three charges: negligently causing bodily harm, failing to properly secure domestic animals, and allowing unrestrained animals to roam public areas, in connection with the April 22 incident on Coral Beach that targeted Angelika Christie. Prosecutors contend the two dogs that carried out the attack are owned by Jennette.

    When the case opened Wednesday before Grand Bahama Magistrate Uel Johnson, the scheduled start of the trial did not move forward as planned. Jennette’s legal representation, attorney Jerome Roberts, told the court his team had not received full disclosure of key evidence: Christie’s complete medical records from attending physician Dr. Camille Bowen, including detailed documentation of patient interactions and the full extent of her injuries.

    Roberts told the court he requires the full unredacted report from Dr. Bowen to properly prepare his client’s defense, not just a summary of the injuries Christie sustained. Prosecutor Kenton Smith confirmed Dr. Bowen is listed as a prosecution witness and stated the state is prepared to facilitate the release of the requested documentation. Magistrate Johnson granted the adjournment request, rescheduling the continuation of the trial for December 7 and 8.

    Both Angelika Christie and her husband Brenford Christie, a prominent Freeport-based attorney, were present in the courtroom for Wednesday’s preliminary hearing. Jennette was first arraigned on the charges on May 22, and was released from custody ahead of trial after posting $2,000 bail with a required surety.

    This high-profile case unfolds against a backdrop of growing public and governmental urgency around dangerous dog regulation in The Bahamas. After multiple high-severity attacks across the country this year, the Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources launched Mission Pawsible, a nationwide compliance initiative that includes a 30-day amnesty running through September. During this grace period, dog owners are encouraged to bring their animals into full compliance with existing laws – including mandatory licensing, proper vaccination, secure containment, and official identification – without facing fines or citations.

    Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister Jomo Campbell has emphasized that the amnesty is not a permanent reprieve for non-compliant owners, and formal citations and penalties will go into effect immediately after the amnesty period ends. The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the Royal Bahamas Police Force to ensure consistent enforcement across all islands.

    The government’s decision to adopt a stricter, prevention-focused approach to animal control came after a string of high-profile attacks that shocked the nation and drew international attention. In June, 66-year-old Kemp Road resident Don Smith was mauled by unrestrained dogs, followed by a July attack on 70-year-old Jackie Livingston Thompson. Most notably, nine-year-old American tourist Beau Brattain suffered life-threatening injuries during an attack by multiple dogs on Bimini on July 28, an incident that made headlines around the world.

    In that Bimini case, 34-year-old Harrington Rolle pleaded guilty to charges including negligently causing grievous bodily harm and allowing a dangerous dog to roam at large, and was subsequently sentenced to 12 months in prison.

    Pearline Jones, head of the Bahamian Animal Control Unit, recently revealed that dog attack complaints are the most frequent calls the unit receives, with an average of three to four reports filed every day – and sometimes even more during peak periods. Minister Campbell has framed the new policy as a fundamental shift: instead of only responding to attacks after people are injured, the government will prioritize proactive prevention through broader compliance and stricter enforcement of existing animal control laws.

  • Dominican Republic joins Geneva Consensus Declaration on women’s health and family

    Dominican Republic joins Geneva Consensus Declaration on women’s health and family

    In an official signing ceremony held in Santo Domingo, the Dominican Republic has completed its formal accession to the Geneva Consensus Declaration, a global initiative centered on advancing women’s health, protecting the fundamental role of family in society, and expanding equitable opportunities for women across all sectors.

    The accession agreement was signed by three key figures: Dominican Republic Foreign Minister Víctor O. Bisonó Haza, U.S. Ambassador to the Dominican Republic Leah Francis Campos, and Bethany Kozma, who serves both as Secretary of the Geneva Consensus Declaration and Director of the Office of Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

    Addressing attendees at the signing event, Bisonó highlighted that the Dominican Republic’s decision to join the declaration is a deliberate reaffirmation of every nation’s sovereign right to craft domestic policies aligned with its own constitutional framework, national legislation, and unique local context. He went on to underscore the Caribbean nation’s long-standing commitment to upholding equal treatment under the law and removing systemic barriers to expand economic, political and social opportunities for women across the country.

    Through its formal membership, the Dominican Republic has aligned with the declaration’s core principles, which include formal recognition of the inherent human rights of women and girls, the promotion of equal access to opportunities in political, economic and public spheres, expanded access to quality health services and inclusive development, and the strengthening of health systems to serve vulnerable women and children.

    A defining pillar of the declaration is its formal recognition of the family as the fundamental unit of society. It calls on member states to design public policies that uplift women, girls and family units, while upholding the principle that national governments hold the responsibility to set health policy priorities based on their own domestic needs and strategic goals.

    The initiative also fosters collaborative action between member states across multilateral platforms, most notably within the United Nations system, to advance its shared principles through open dialogue and structured international cooperation.

    First launched in 2020 under the first administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump, the Geneva Consensus Declaration now unites a global coalition of countries around shared commitments to women’s health, the protection of life, and the strengthening of family institutions worldwide.

  • Asonahores rejects claims of widespread restaurant closures in Dominican Republic

    Asonahores rejects claims of widespread restaurant closures in Dominican Republic

    SANTO DOMINGO – The Dominican Republic’s food and beverage industry is posting strong momentum, with nearly 70 new restaurants launched across the capital city of Santo Domingo in the last 12 months. This upward trend was confirmed by Juan Bancalari, the top executive of the Dominican Republic Hotel and Tourism Association (Asonahores), who pushed back against widespread narratives that the sector is struggling with mass closures.

    In his remarks addressing recent market speculation, Bancalari clarified that occasional restaurant shutdowns are a natural byproduct of healthy market competition, not a sign of systemic industry decline. While some existing operations do exit the market each year, the flow of new dining ventures has not slowed, he noted.

    To back his claim of ongoing expansion, Bancalari highlighted a specific high-growth corridor in the capital: the neighborhood surrounding República de Colombia Avenue, located near the city’s embassy district. In that area alone, 10 new restaurants have opened their doors over the past year, concentrated in the newly developed Patio Colombia and Plaza Los Altos commercial spaces.

    According to Bancalari, the steady influx of new dining establishments underscores the long-term growth of the Dominican Republic’s gastronomic landscape, as well as the nation’s growing appeal as a destination for travelers seeking immersive leisure, dining, and entertainment experiences. Beyond the food sector, he also celebrated the Dominican Republic’s remarkable rebound in the broader tourism industry following the global COVID-19 pandemic, noting that the country has claimed the top spot for post-pandemic tourism recovery across the entire Caribbean and Latin American region. Bancalari attributed this impressive performance to the nation’s sustained efforts to draw in international visitors and reinforce the foundations of its tourism-driven economy.

  • Bautista proposes replacing D’Hondt Method in Dominican elections

    Bautista proposes replacing D’Hondt Method in Dominican elections

    In Santo Domingo, a senior Dominican legislator has ignited a critical debate over electoral system reform with a bold proposal to overhaul how legislative and municipal seats are distributed across the country. Senator Félix Bautista, representing the San Juan region, has formally introduced legislation to the upper chamber of Congress that would eliminate the D’Hondt method, a seat-allocation framework that has been a core part of Dominican electoral rules for nearly three decades. The D’Hondt system was first integrated into the nation’s electoral architecture as part of the sweeping 1997 electoral reform package, which established the proportional representation model currently in use.

    Bautista’s proposal does not just call for removing the existing framework—it also puts forward a replacement model designed to deliver a more equitable distribution of elected positions, one that he says will more closely mirror the actual will of Dominican voters at the polls. In justifying the overhaul, Bautista has repeatedly emphasized that the D’Hondt method carries an inherent structural bias that consistently benefits the nation’s largest, most established political parties. This bias, he argues, has systematically squeezed out smaller emerging parties and underrepresented minority political groups from gaining seats in collegiate governing bodies, from national representative assemblies to local municipal councils. Over time, he contends, this exclusion has eroded the foundations of democratic pluralism in the Dominican Republic, narrowing the range of voices that can shape policy at both national and local levels.

    The senator stressed that his legislation is intended first and foremost to open up a broad, inclusive national conversation about updating the country’s electoral rules to meet the needs of modern Dominican democracy. Beyond simply changing the allocation formula, the core goals of the initiative are to reinforce the principles of proportional representation and guarantee a far more level playing field when it comes to distributing seats across all competing political groups. If the Senate advances the bill and it ultimately receives final approval, analysts and political observers note that the reform would reshape the landscape of Dominican elections dramatically. Most notably, it would open the door for smaller, less established political organizations to win seats and gain a meaningful foothold in national and local decision-making processes, a shift that could rebalance power dynamics across the country’s political sphere.

  • Experts examine Hispaniola’s history of major earthquakes and seismic risk

    Experts examine Hispaniola’s history of major earthquakes and seismic risk

    For centuries, Hispaniola — the Caribbean island shared by the Dominican Republic and Haiti — has been repeatedly reshaped by devastating seismic events that have leveled communities, destroyed critical infrastructure, and claimed thousands of lives. Recently, a public panel discussion titled “The Island That Moves: Historical Earthquakes in Hispaniola”, hosted by the Taíno Cultural Center Casa del Cordón in Santo Domingo, brought together leading specialists to unpack the island’s long-running seismic risk and renew calls for strengthened disaster preparedness across the region.

    Geographically, Hispaniola sits directly along the volatile boundary between the North American and Caribbean tectonic plates, a geologic position that has left the island crisscrossed by 14 documented active seismic faults. Two of these fault lines, the Septentrional Fault running along the island’s northern corridor and the Enriquillo-Plantain Garden Fault cutting through the southern region, have been linked to nearly all of the most destructive earthquakes recorded across Hispaniola’s modern history.

    During the panel, experts walked attendees through the most significant seismic events documented on the island since the colonial era. One event that stood out as a key point of analysis was the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck off the northeastern coast of the Dominican Republic on August 4, 1946. To date, this tremor remains the strongest earthquake ever recorded by scientific instruments across Hispaniola. It caused widespread structural collapse across northeastern communities and triggered a destructive tsunami that swept across low-lying coastal areas, cementing its place as one of the worst natural disasters in the Dominican Republic’s recorded history.

    Beyond the 1946 event, specialists also deep dived into major seismic events in 1751, 1770, and 1842, as well as the catastrophic 7.0-magnitude 2010 earthquake that hit Port-au-Prince, Haiti, killing an estimated 220,000 people and leaving 1.5 million homeless. Reviewing these events reinforced a core geological truth: seismic activity is not an isolated anomaly for Hispaniola, but a constant, recurring feature of the island’s geologic identity.

    The panel featured leading voices across geology and history, including Osiris de León, a geological engineer specializing in seismicity and disaster risk reduction, and Joan Ferrer, a prominent historian, lawyer and genealogist. The discussion was moderated by José Enrique Delmonte, cultural adviser for the Taíno Cultural Center Casa del Cordón.

    De León and other specialists explained that the constant movement of the two tectonic plates surrounding Hispaniola creates gradual, ongoing deformation of the Earth’s crust along active faults. Over time, stress and tectonic energy build up along these fault lines until the pressure is suddenly released in the form of an earthquake. Crucially, they noted, the deadliness and destruction of a seismic event does not depend solely on its magnitude. A range of human factors — from substandard building construction and high urban population density to proximity of residential areas to active faults and low levels of community preparedness — can dramatically amplify the harm of even a moderate tremor.

    A core takeaway from the discussion centered on a dangerous common misconception: many residents and policymakers assume that a long gap between major earthquakes means the seismic threat has passed. Experts pushed back strongly on this idea, emphasizing that tectonic stress is constantly building along Hispaniola’s active faults, regardless of how much time has passed since the last major event. While scientists cannot yet predict the exact timing, location, or intensity of future earthquakes, detailed knowledge of historical seismic events and mapped active faults gives planners critical data to model potential risk scenarios and update targeted prevention policies.

    Historical earthquake records also offer invaluable insights into which regions face the highest vulnerability, what types of structural damage are most common in local geographies, and which pieces of critical infrastructure are most at risk of failure during a major tremor. The panel closed with a clear call to action: authorities and communities across the island must prioritize expanding public awareness of seismic risk, updating emergency preparedness plans at the family and community level, and integrating seismic safety standards into all national and local land-use planning.

    Key prevention measures highlighted include mandating and enforcing seismic-resistant building codes for all new construction, developing coordinated multi-community emergency response plans, and ensuring all residents understand basic safety protocols for during and immediately after an earthquake. The discussion’s overarching message remained consistent: earthquakes are an unavoidable part of living on Hispaniola, but the scale of their future impact depends almost entirely on how prepared communities and governments choose to be today.

  • Dominican Government declares environmental terrorism a matter of high national interest

    Dominican Government declares environmental terrorism a matter of high national interest

    Santo Domingo – The Dominican government has formally elevated the campaign against environmental destruction to a matter of supreme national importance and long-term strategic priority via Decree 615-26, rolling out a sweeping set of enhanced measures to crack down on deliberate attacks on the country’s national parks and other irreplaceable natural assets.

    During an official ceremony unveiling the new policy at the National Palace, President Luis Abinader issued a clear warning that any individual involved in the destruction or systematic degradation of the nation’s protected natural areas will face far stricter enforcement and aggressive criminal prosecution – a standard that applies equally to Dominican citizens and foreign nationals.

    Addressing longstanding gaps in the protection of the country’s ecological heritage, Abinader noted that for generations, Dominican national parks have operated without adequate legal backing or state enforcement to safeguard them from exploitation. When his administration took office, he explained, a review uncovered a startling gap: many of the country’s designated protected areas were not even formally registered as state-owned property under Dominican law. To remedy this vulnerability, a nationwide land titling initiative is currently underway to formalize state ownership of all protected natural zones.

    The president also drew a direct connection between recent large-scale wildfire events, including blazes that swept through Sierra de Bahoruco National Park, and illegal activities that erode fragile ecosystems. Beyond damaging biodiversity, these intentional acts put critical public resources – including drinking water supplies and the foundation of the country’s food security – at severe risk, he added.

    To address weaknesses in outdated legal frameworks that previously allowed environmental offenders to avoid meaningful punishment, the new decree mandates that authorities apply existing statutes under the nation’s updated Penal Code with far greater rigor. Under the enhanced rules, the most severe offenses against protected national parklands can carry prison sentences ranging from 20 to 30 years, among the harshest penalties for environmental crime in the region.

    The executive order also assigns formal responsibilities to multiple government agencies: the Dominican Armed Forces, General Directorate of Migration, and national intelligence bodies are all directed to ramp up coordinated efforts to prevent, investigate, and prosecute all parties involved in environmental destruction – including third parties that finance, incite, or facilitate these illegal acts.

    The decree explicitly prioritizes the prevention, early detection, and thorough investigation of acts classified as environmental terrorism, and extends special enhanced protection to a broad range of critical ecological infrastructure: protected wilderness areas, major watersheds, dams, water reservoirs, coastal mangrove forests, inland wetlands, and the source rivers that supply most of the country’s drinking water.

    It further requires the National Anti-Terrorist Committee, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Environment, National Police, and General Directorate of Migration to collaborate on developing a unified National Policy for Prevention and Combat, specifically focused on the growing threat of intentionally set forest fires and targeted attacks on water and energy infrastructure.

    Under the new rules, any documented attack on the Dominican Republic’s environmental heritage must be immediately referred to the Public Prosecutor’s Office for fast-track criminal prosecution, eliminating procedural delays that previously slowed enforcement. To expand public participation in crackdown, the decree also creates dedicated digital technological platforms and confidential anonymous reporting systems, enabling ordinary citizens to share tips about environmental crime with authorities while protecting the identity and safety of people who cooperate in good faith.

  • Currie wil uniform protocol voor mobiele telefoons op scholen

    Currie wil uniform protocol voor mobiele telefoons op scholen

    On September 2, the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of Suriname announced a push to develop consistent, nationwide regulations for mobile phone use in primary and secondary schools, following a troubling incident that exposed gaps in how educational institutions manage student technology use.

    Minister Dirk Currie has already held roundtable discussions with principals from both public and private education sectors to align on a shared framework for responsible device use. In an extensive address to the National Assembly (DNA), Currie framed the mobile phone policy debate as more than a disciplinary issue, linking it closely to student mental health and holistic learner support.

    Currie revealed that one local school recently dealt with a serious incident where a group of students used digital devices to create non-consensual pornographic content. The school ultimately expelled all the involved students in response, but Currie argued that this punitive outcome does not resolve the underlying problem. He challenged parliament to reconsider the approach to these young people, asking: “The question remains: how do we avoid simply throwing these children away?” Instead of permanent exclusion, Currie says policymakers and school leaders must explore pathways for these students to re-enter the education system with targeted guidance and support.

    The incident, Currie noted, underscores a broader systemic question: how can schools strike the right balance between embracing modern technology and mitigating its harms? That is why the ministry is pushing for a uniform national protocol that can be adopted by all schools, regardless of their public or private affiliation. One widely discussed proposal requires students to store their personal mobile phones in dedicated lockers or storage spaces upon arriving at school, with access only permitted for structured educational activities during the school day, before students retrieve their devices when heading home.

    But Currie emphasized that any new rules should not be created behind closed doors and imposed unilaterally on young people. Instead, students themselves must be part of the conversation to shape agreements around responsible technology use. “Let’s not pretend that children have no capacity for reason,” Currie told the assembly. He argued that rather than just mandating rules from top-down, educators must explain to students why clear boundaries are necessary, building buy-in instead of resentment.

    At the same time, the minister stressed that the policy push is not an attempt to ban technology from education entirely. On the contrary, the ministry is accelerating its investment in educational digitalization, in large part to address ongoing teacher shortages across the country. The core challenge, Currie explained, is not just restricting inappropriate phone use—it is equipping young people with the skills and judgment to interact with digital technology responsibly for the rest of their lives.

  • AOSIS: 1.5°C Climate Goal Is Non-Negotiable Despite Risk of Overshoot

    AOSIS: 1.5°C Climate Goal Is Non-Negotiable Despite Risk of Overshoot

    The 1.5°C global warming limit is far more than a flexible policy target that nations can abandon or negotiate away – it is a binding commitment enshrined in the Paris Agreement, rooted in the urgent need to shield communities and ecosystems from the worst ravages of climate change. This obligation has further been cemented by the International Court of Justice, which formally recognized that all states hold legal responsibilities to protect the global climate system for current and future generations.

    For generations, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have stood at the frontline of climate impacts, ringing the alarm bell about the catastrophic consequences of uncurbed greenhouse gas emissions. Today, cutting-edge climate science is validating and amplifying those early warnings. Human activity has already pushed the planet far beyond its natural equilibrium, and continued delay in cutting emissions amounts to a reckless game of chance that puts global communities, economic systems, and entire ecosystems at existential risk.

    Every extra tenth of a degree of warming beyond the 1.5°C threshold amplifies the likelihood of irreversible, devastating outcomes. These range from catastrophic sea-level rise that renders low-lying island nations uninhabitable, to widespread glacial and ice sheet collapse, mass forest die-off, the total degradation of tropical coral reef systems, and growing threats to global food and water security. For SIDS, these risks are not abstract projections far in the future – they are unfolding crises that are already disrupting lives and threatening national sovereignty.

    Critically, a recent UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report warning of growing near-term risks should not be misread as a signal to abandon the 1.5°C target. Instead, it must act as a jarring wake-up call to ramp up climate ambition and action with far greater urgency than we have seen to date.

    Crucially, the trajectory of global warming is not yet locked in. The landmark UNFCCC Global Stocktake has already mapped out clear, actionable pathways to close the existing emissions gap and keep the 1.5°C goal within reach. Leading climate science confirms that even if temperatures temporarily overshoot the 1.5°C mark, the length and severity of that overshoot can still be limited with bold immediate action. As such, governments must shift their focus beyond debating whether a temporary overshoot will occur, and instead prioritize every possible measure to minimize the overshoot and return global temperatures to below 1.5°C as quickly as possible.

    To support this goal, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) emphasizes that the next Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report must be finalized in time to inform the next Global Stocktake. World leaders require the most up-to-date, robust scientific evidence to guide the high-stakes decisions that will shape the course of global warming for decades to come.

    AOSIS is sending a clear, uncompromising message to all nations: it is imperative that we uphold the commitments made under both the Paris Agreement and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. This means accelerating the global transition away from fossil fuels, and deploying every available climate solution to cut greenhouse gas emissions rapidly. Technological innovation must go hand in hand with deep, systemic decarbonization across all global economies. If governments move now with the highest level of ambition, it is still possible to reverse current warming trajectories and stabilize the global climate as close to the 1.5°C threshold as possible.

    Every fraction of a degree matters, for SIDS and for every nation on Earth. As the world grapples with growing climate uncertainty, scaled-up, accessible, and sufficient financing for adaptation, climate resilience, and addressing loss and damage is non-negotiable for vulnerable nations on the frontline.

    In sum, the UNEP report should not be interpreted as a final death sentence for the 1.5°C target. It must be understood for what it is: a stark warning of what stands to be lost if we fail to act. This is a defining call to action for global leaders. Governments must immediately enact ambitious policies that limit the magnitude and duration of any potential temperature overshoot, and keep the pathway back to 1.5°C well within reach. The 1.5°C threshold must remain the guiding North Star for global climate action, and talk of temporary overshoot must never become an excuse for continued inaction.

  • Grenada: Don’t make the mistake the rest of the world is now trying to undo

    Grenada: Don’t make the mistake the rest of the world is now trying to undo

    As a 30-year veteran educator, I have spent years sponsoring Grenadian secondary students to access the textbooks they need to succeed. This year, however, I encountered a stark shift: nearly all core learning materials have moved exclusively to digital platforms. The surprise of this transition left me stunned. Today, Grenada is rushing to join a global trend of putting a personal laptop in every student’s hand — a policy that many early adopter nations are already hastily reversing after witnessing its negative impacts on learning.

    This sudden push toward full digitalization brings my own CXC exam preparation days into sharp focus. I still remember Teacher Henry leading a group of us to Pope Paul’s camp in Palmiste, the site that later became NEWLO, for a weekend of intensive, book-based study ahead of our national exams. Another year, a larger cohort camped overnight at Saint Rose Secondary School, each of us toting 6 to 7 physical textbooks, working through past exam papers until the concepts clicked into place. In those days, A-level students organized their own study groups, meeting in whatever small space they could find — a kitchen corner, a family veranda — to work through course material together. One former student I spoke with put it plainly: “When I sat my A-levels in sociology, it was physical textbooks that got me through. I wrote every essay by hand. If I made a mistake, my teacher caught it, and I rewrote the entire piece from scratch until I got it right.”

    This global reversal of full classroom digitalization is not rooted in nostalgia alone; it is backed by rigorous research and evidence-based policy change. A 2023 Norwegian research study confirmed that handwriting practice builds far greater neural connectivity in the brain regions specifically tied to memory retention and learning, a finding that has already prompted policy shifts across Europe. In February 2024, Sweden rolled back its national digital-first education strategy, allocating hundreds of millions of kronor annually to restore printed textbooks and school library resources, and mandating that all primary and secondary schools become completely phone-free by autumn 2026. This reversal came after pediatricians and neuroscientists sounded the alarm on the harms of early overexposure to screens, prompting the government to overrule the education agency’s original digital-first agenda. The Netherlands implemented a full ban on phones, tablets, and smartwatches in classrooms starting in January 2024, and Finland passed identical restrictions the same year. In Madrid, regional education authorities have introduced age-based caps on classroom screen time, limiting the youngest primary students to just one hour of screen use per week — a policy that impacts more than 500,000 students across the region. These are not trivial, marginal policy adjustments; they are deliberate, data-driven course corrections by national and regional governments that have already lived through the costs of full digitalization.

    We do not need to look across the Atlantic for evidence of the risks of unfettered digital learning. The Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), the governing body that accredits Grenadian students’ secondary exam results, announced in July 2025 that it will phase out School-Based Assessments (SBAs) for most subjects. The reason? Generative AI, easily accessible via personal laptops and digital devices, has irreparably compromised the academic integrity of student work. For decades, the SBA was one of the most well-designed components of the CXC syllabus: students selected their own research topics, conducted independent inquiry, wrote up their findings, and defended their work before their teachers. Today, widespread access to digital tools has made it far too easy for students to skip the entire learning process and submit AI-generated work they never created, forcing the regional exam board to rebuild the entire assessment model from the ground up.

    Grenada’s own universal laptop program, which includes e-textbooks and a free Microsoft 365 account for every student, began rolling out to Form One and Form Two students in September 2025, covering all core subjects from mathematics and English to geography, science, agriculture, home economics, and foreign languages. Government officials say parents who prefer physical textbooks can still purchase them independently. While this may hold true on paper, my own trip to local bookstores told a different story: the entire education system has already shifted to prioritize digital materials, with physical textbooks now an afterthought that requires extensive searching to locate, rather than the default learning tool every student receives.

    The nations now reversing course — Sweden, the Netherlands, Finland, Madrid — are not speaking from abstract theory. They tested universal laptop access for every student, measured the damage to students’ reading proficiency, writing skills, attention spans, and critical thinking abilities, and are now investing significant public funds to undo the policy. This leaves Grenada with a unique advantage these nations did not have: we have not yet locked in this mistake. We can learn from the experience of other countries’ students instead of learning the same hard lesson through our own children’s suffering.

    This is not an argument to ban computers from Grenadian classrooms entirely — digital tools certainly have a valuable role to play in modern education. But that role is as a dedicated subject on the school timetable, just like English, mathematics, agriculture, or social studies. Students should have scheduled computer lab periods where they learn explicit, structured skills: typing proficiency, coding, ethical research practices, and how to use generative AI responsibly. That is where laptops earn their place in education. They should not replace the physical textbook students carry into every other class, nor replace the hands-on practice of handwriting, in-person classroom discussion, and the slow, deliberate work of reading a physical page and developing an independent opinion on its content.

    Every one of the nations rolling back full digitalization is fighting to return to the model Grenada already maintains. Right now, Grenada could be a global leader in evidence-based education: we could stand firm in keeping physical books in students’ hands, and other nations could look to our example. Instead, we are rushing in the opposite direction, heading straight for the exact policy failure the rest of the world is now desperate to escape.

    I am calling on Grenada’s Ministry of Education and on parents across the country to examine closely the 15 years of costly lessons Sweden has learned, and the urgent fixes our own regional exam board is already implementing. Move laptops to the dedicated computer lab where they belong. Put physical textbooks back in every child’s hands, where they have always supported strong learning. If we move forward with putting a personal laptop in every child’s hands today, we are not playing catch-up — we are taking a massive step backward, straight into the mistake the rest of the world is already spending billions to undo. We have a rare opportunity to avoid this mistake entirely, instead of living through it and paying to fix it decades later, just like every other nation that rushed into this policy.