Carib Scope

分类： environment

  • GWP-C’s 2026 AGM highlights key achievements

    GWP-C’s 2026 AGM highlights key achievements

    St. GEORGE’S, GRENADA – Following its 2026 Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Grenada on October 11, the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean (GWP-C) has locked in its renewed commitment to advancing universal water security and climate resilience across the Caribbean region, closing a chapter of institutional progress and opening a new era of strategic action under refreshed leadership.

    The hybrid gathering drew water governance experts, regional stakeholders, and partner organizations from across the Caribbean and beyond, offering a structured space to review three years of organizational achievements, reflect on institutional growth since the 2022 AGM, and align on a forward-looking strategic agenda. A central and transformative outcome of the meeting was the election of six new members to GWP-C’s interim steering committee, a key step in the organization’s planned leadership transition. The incoming members – Sharon Archie, Cyprian Gibson, Alphonsus Daniel, Magnus Williams, Zilta Leslie, and Dr. Ronald Roopnarine – will join sitting committee members to shape the partnership’s strategic direction and deepen coordinated regional engagement on water-related challenges.

    In her opening address to attendees, outgoing GWP-C Chair Professor Paulette Bynoe underscored the urgent need for unified collective action to advance the organization’s foundational vision of a water-secure Caribbean. Bynoe emphasized that progress will depend on four core priorities: strengthening cross-border water governance, forging more inclusive, impact-driven partnerships, securing long-term institutional sustainability, and integrating water security planning across critical sectors including climate action, agriculture, public health, energy, and broader economic development. Bynoe’s remarks framed the leadership transition as a critical opportunity to accelerate momentum toward the region’s shared water and climate goals.

    Outlining the partnership’s track record of progress between 2023 and 2026, GWP-C Regional Coordinator Dr. Roxanne Graham Victor highlighted measurable gains across five core pillars: policy development, governance reform, on-the-ground project implementation, regional collaboration, and institutional strengthening. One of the most prominent achievements was GWP-C’s key contribution to drafting the Caricom Regional Action Framework for Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM), complemented by region-wide stakeholder consultations and the launch of six country-led IWRM mini action plans designed to strengthen national-level water governance capacity.

    Beyond policy work, GWP-C expanded knowledge sharing and skills development across the region through initiatives including the biennial Caribbean Water Science Symposium, targeted regional training programs, and widespread stakeholder engagement campaigns. The partnership also scaled up water and climate education outreach, creating new resources for secondary schools, early-career water professionals, and local community leaders. A landmark advancement in educational access was the migration of five core courses from GWP-C’s popular Water Academy for Youth (WAY) program to the global GWP Water Knowledge Hub, making flexible, self-paced training on IWRM and climate resilience available to a far broader audience across the region.

    Dr. Graham Victor also spotlighted tangible, community-focused water security investments delivered across three Caribbean nations over the past three years: In Montserrat, the partnership supported the full rehabilitation of Lawyer’s Spring, restoring daily water production of more than 132,000 gallons to serve 582 local residents. In Barbados, GWP-C collaborated with the Centre for Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) to deploy a nature-based greywater treatment system at Walker’s Reserve, which has achieved a 46% reduction in phosphate output to protect local water ecosystems. In Grenada, the organization led an irrigation improvement project including dam rehabilitation, installation of a four-mile water feed line, and new water storage infrastructure to support 16 local smallholder farmers.

    During the AGM, leadership also highlighted two new strategic partnerships formalized in 2025: a memorandum of understanding with the Caribbean Public Health Agency (CARPHA) to deepen collaboration on the intersection of water security and public health outcomes, and a second agreement with the Partnership Initiative for Sustainable Land Management (PISLM) to advance coordinated sustainable land and water management, drought mitigation, and climate resilience action across the region.

    Another major milestone announced at the meeting was GWP-C’s successful reaccreditation for the 2026–2030 period. The reaccreditation, awarded by the Global Water Partnership Organization, validates the strength of GWP-C’s governance structures, financial management practices, and long-term transition planning, while opening new doors for coordinated joint programming with the global partnership network.

    As GWP-C enters this new phase with updated governance, a growing portfolio of regional partnerships, and a sharpened focus on delivering on-the-ground impact, the organization remains fully dedicated to supporting Caribbean countries and local communities in building a more water-secure, climate-resilient future for all residents of the region.

  • DOE Sounds Alert Over Declining Water Quality in the New River

    DOE Sounds Alert Over Declining Water Quality in the New River

    As unusually dry weather continues to impact Belize, the country’s Department of the Environment (DOE) has issued a public alert and launched an official investigation into a steady decline in water quality along the New River. The agency warns that ongoing shifts in key water metrics could put the river’s entire aquatic ecosystem at serious risk if left unaddressed.

    In an official statement released Friday, the DOE reported that its continuous monitoring station on the New River had tracked a consistent downward trend in critical water quality indicators over the three days prior to the announcement. These impacted measurements include Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Oxidation-Reduction Potential (ORP), conductivity, salinity, and chlorophyll-a levels. Each of these metrics plays a core role in supporting healthy aquatic life, and the documented shifts could have cascading negative effects on native organisms and the long-term stability of the New River ecosystem, the agency explained.

    In response to the alarming readings, the DOE has deployed specialist field teams to conduct on-site surveys of the river and collect water samples for comprehensive laboratory analysis. The primary objectives of this field work are to verify the initial monitoring data, identify any potential anthropogenic or natural sources of the water quality decline, and determine whether targeted remedial interventions are required to reverse the damage.

    Department officials linked the emerging water quality issue to the extreme dry conditions currently affecting Belize, noting that reduced rainfall and the corresponding slowdown in river flow alters natural water chemistry and contributes to destabilized conditions in waterways across the nation. “Lower water volumes concentrate pollutants and organic matter, creating conditions that throw aquatic ecosystems out of balance,” the DOE contextually noted.

    This alert comes just weeks after the department publicly released its findings from a previous major ecological incident: a large-scale fish kill that stretched across 17.5 miles of the nearby Belize River. Speaking at a September 11 public information session held in Double Head Cabbage, Chief Environmental Officer Anthony Mai explained that the 2026 Belize River fish kill was triggered by a sudden large input of organic matter into the waterway. That input sparked uncontrolled algae blooms, which in turn depleted dissolved oxygen levels in the water to the point that they could no longer support fish life.

    To strengthen its monitoring and response efforts, the DOE is calling on all local residents, recreational users, and commercial operators that access the New River to report any visible signs of ecological distress immediately. These signs include unexpected changes in water color, unusual foul odors coming from the water, fish showing visible signs of distress, or any new fish kill events. Early reporting, the agency emphasizes, will allow teams to respond faster and limit the scale of potential ecological damage.

  • Belize Seeks IDB Support to Tackle Sargassum Crisis

    Belize Seeks IDB Support to Tackle Sargassum Crisis

    Against the backdrop of the 2026 World Bank-IMF Annual Meetings held in Bangkok, Thailand, Belize has placed its pressing environmental and energy challenges at the center of bilateral talks, pushing for expanded partnership with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to tackle two critical priorities: strengthening national energy security and mitigating the escalating sargassum crisis.

    During high-level discussions between Belizean Prime Minister John Briceño and IDB President Ilan Goldfajn, the two sides covered a broad agenda of development priorities for the small Central American nation. On the energy front, talks centered on solutions to skyrocketing domestic electricity costs, plans to expand sustainable energy generation capacity, critical upgrades to core energy infrastructure, and deeper integration of Belize’s energy grid with regional networks. Additional specific conversations included targeted support for state-owned utility provider Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), a planned submarine cable infrastructure upgrade serving the popular coastal town of San Pedro, and new avenues for scaled-up technical and financial investment from the IDB in Belize’s energy transition.

    However, the most urgent topic raised by the Belizean delegation was the widespread sargassum influx that has already wreaked havoc on the country’s coastal communities, framed explicitly as both a national and transboundary regional crisis. Prime Minister Briceño’s administration highlighted that heavy sargassum accumulation has already devastated key tourism hotspots including San Pedro and Hopkins, where iconic shorelines like Hopkins Beach are visibly eroding and retreating due to sustained algal blooms. Beyond the immediate blow to the $1.8 billion tourism sector that forms the backbone of Belize’s economy, the crisis carries cascading risks to public health, coastal ecosystems, and household livelihoods across the country.

    To build a comprehensive, long-term response to the crisis, the Belizean government is pushing for the global development community to formally reclassify large-scale sargassum events as a qualifying disaster risk, a shift that would unlock greater access to concessional financing and technical support. To date, the government has already directed public investment toward four core response pillars: offshore sargassum collection infrastructure, integration of sargassum waste into renewable energy production, development of carbon credit frameworks tied to sargassum mitigation, and research into commercializing valuable by-products harvested from collected algal biomass. In collaboration with domestic private sector stakeholders, the administration is currently exploring pilot waste-to-energy projects that would convert collected sargassum into grid-compatible electricity, turning a costly environmental hazard into a potential energy resource.

    Following the bilateral talks, IDB President Ilan Goldfajn acknowledged the cross-border scope and growing severity of the sargassum crisis, affirming the bank’s commitment to advancing potential support frameworks. The IDB will now deploy its specialist technical teams to assess possible intervention models, ranging from grant financing for pilot projects to technical assistance for policy and infrastructure development, aligning with Belize’s existing mitigation and adaptation plans.

  • Beaches and Parks Authority chairman defends construction of boundary wall near Stokes Beach

    Beaches and Parks Authority chairman defends construction of boundary wall near Stokes Beach

    A contentious construction project for a boundary wall near Stokes Beach in Yamacraw has ignited a fierce public debate over public shoreline access in The Bahamas, pitting government authorities against a local beach advocacy group over regulatory compliance and public rights. At the center of the disagreement is Jamal Strachan, chairman of the country’s Beaches and Parks Authority, who has pushed back against growing criticism of the project, emphasizing that public access to the coastline will remain fully intact despite widespread community concerns.

    The controversy erupted after a video of heavy machinery conducting excavation work near the beach spread across local social media channels, prompting alarm among residents and activists who feared the development would permanently cut off public land access to the popular shoreline. Critics have also claimed that construction was suspended after regulators intervened because the private property owner failed to secure required environmental clearance for the project.

    Addressing these claims in a public defense of the approved project, Strachan clarified that the work stems from a correction to a previously erroneous property survey. He confirmed that the Ministry of Works has already issued a legally valid construction permit for the wall along the adjusted boundary line. Rejecting assertions that the project amounts to a covert privatization of public beach access, Strachan acknowledged that the existing public access route will likely need to be realigned to accommodate the new boundary. He stressed, however, that a clear, usable route to the shoreline will remain open to all Bahamian residents once construction is completed.

    These claims stand in direct contradiction to statements from Dis We Beach, a local advocacy organization dedicated to protecting public beach access. The group says construction has indeed been halted, citing unresolved safety concerns and the developer’s failure to obtain mandatory environmental clearance from the relevant government body. According to Dis We Beach representatives, the property owner has acknowledged plans to build the wall all the way out to the high-water mark, a proposal that would effectively block traditional public access along that stretch of coastline.

    The group also confirmed that Zane Lightbourne, who serves as both the Member of Parliament for Yamacraw and the country’s Environment Minister, has publicly raised safety concerns about the proposed wall structure. While the Ministry of Works issued the construction permit, Dis We Beach points to Bahamian regulations that require separate environmental clearance from the Ministry of Environment before any coastal construction can begin. The organization says the Environment Ministry ultimately stepped in to pause work on the project after the oversight was brought to officials’ attention.

    Local reporters from The Tribune have launched their own investigation into the approval process, seeking to confirm whether all required regulatory clearances were obtained and clarify the official current status of construction work. Dis We Beach first learned of the project when community members alerted the group to active excavation on the site. During their initial visit to the property, organization representatives met with on-site security staff, left contact information to request a meeting with the developer, and observed that the existing access point remained unobstructed at that time. Even so, the group says it is seeking formal, written guarantees that public access will not be restricted once the wall is completed.

    Following the initial site visit, Dis We Beach representatives spoke directly with the property owner, who has indicated a willingness to engage in dialogue over the group’s safety and access concerns. This latest dispute comes amid decades of ongoing tension over public beach access across The Bahamas, where repeated conflicts between private property developers and coastal communities have consistently raised questions about Bahamians’ legal right to reach shorelines via land routes.

    Dis We Beach says the current standoff over the Yamacraw wall underscores the urgent need for new national legislation that explicitly protects and codifies public land access to all Bahamian beaches. In a public statement posted to the group’s Facebook page, representatives argued that access to the public foreshore cannot be limited to access by sea alone. “Access to the public foreshore must mean more than being able to reach it by sea. Bahamians must have protected, practical access by land, too,” the statement read. The organization says it continues to investigate the situation and will release additional updates as more information becomes available.

  • DOMLEC sourced 80 percent of electricity from July-September from renewable sources, says Cenac

    DOMLEC sourced 80 percent of electricity from July-September from renewable sources, says Cenac

    The Caribbean island nation of Dominica has reached a major milestone in its transition to clean energy, with its only electricity provider confirming that over 80 percent of its grid supply now comes from renewable sources. In remarks made during a recent public radio appearance, Dwayne Cenac, General Manager of Dominica’s Sole Electricity Company (DOMLEC), outlined the rapid progress the utility has made since integrating newly developed geothermal capacity into its energy mix.

    Geothermal development on the island entered its commissioning phase back in March of this year, Cenac explained. In those early months, the new energy source contributed only a small share to the country’s total electricity consumption. But within months of full-scale integration, the addition of geothermal power paired with DOMLEC’s existing hydroelectric infrastructure has transformed the island’s energy profile.

    “Since July, August, September, we are averaging over 80 percent of our electrical energy coming from renewables,” Cenac told radio listeners. This dramatic shift marks a staggering reversal from DOMLEC’s historic energy portfolio, where imported fossil fuels once accounted for 70 to 75 percent of total generation. Today, Cenac noted, fuel-based power makes up less than 20 percent of the utility’s average monthly output.

    Beyond the clear environmental benefits of this transition, the shift to domestic renewable resources is delivering tangible economic relief to Dominica’s residential and commercial energy consumers. By cutting reliance on volatile imported fossil fuels, DOMLEC is now able to deliver far more stable electricity pricing for customers. While global fluctuations in fuel prices still create some minor pressure on consumer bills, Cenac emphasized that the impact is drastically reduced compared to conditions before March and in years prior.

    The milestone positions Dominica as a standout example of small island developing states advancing rapid clean energy transitions, aligning with global climate goals while improving energy security for local communities.

  • Overwegend warme en wisselvallige dinsdag

    Overwegend warme en wisselvallige dinsdag

    Published on October 13 at 04:55, this daily weather forecast outlines highly variable conditions across the day, marked by high humidity, extreme peak heat, and scattered chances of rain and thunderstorms. The day kicks off with extensive cloud cover and a moderate chance of light rain, building a warm, muggy atmospheric profile from the earliest hours. Early morning temperatures hover around 29°C, with high relative humidity creating a stuffy, uncomfortable feel even before the peak heat sets in. While most of the morning will bring gradual clearing of cloud cover, a passing shower is possible by late morning, with precipitation probabilities reaching 40% during this window. The afternoon brings the most extreme conditions of the day, as temperatures surge to a peak of 37°C, making it the hottest period of the 24-hour cycle. Though early afternoon may bring periods of bright sunshine, the unstable warm atmosphere creates a 45% chance of scattered rain or thunderstorms moving through the region. Solar intensity is classified as very strong for this day, so health officials remind residents that adequate sun protection – including sunscreen, hats, and limited exposure during peak heat hours – is a critical precaution, not an unnecessary measure. As evening approaches, temperatures will gradually cool down to around 28°C, bringing much-needed relief from the afternoon heat. The evening weather pattern will remain variable, with patches of broken cloud cover, but conditions are expected to stay mostly dry across most of the region through the end of the day.

  • Missing Person: Pink Alert- Kenan Peters

    Missing Person: Pink Alert- Kenan Peters

    The United Nations has issued a stark new warning that the world is drastically off track to meet its critical climate goals, with the 1.5°C warming threshold set for 2030 likely being passed a full decade earlier than previously projected if countries do not urgently ramp up their greenhouse gas emission reduction commitments. The latest UN Emissions Gap Report, released ahead of the upcoming COP28 climate summit in Dubai, finds that current national climate pledges put the planet on track for 2.5°C to 2.9°C of warming by the end of the century — far above the 1.5°C target agreed under the Paris Agreement that scientists say is needed to avoid the worst irreversible climate impacts.

    According to the report, global greenhouse gas emissions need to be cut by 43% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels to keep 1.5°C within reach. Instead, current policies are projected to increase global emissions by almost 10% over the rest of the decade. The gap between what countries have promised to cut and what is actually required has barely narrowed over the past year, leaving the world in what the UN Secretary-General António Guterres called a “climate timeout.”

    “Climate change is here, it is terrifying, and it is speeding up faster than many scientists predicted,” Guterres said in a foreword to the report. “Even if we temporarily breach the 1.5°C threshold, we need to show that we can bring temperatures back down by rapidly cutting emissions this decade. Every fraction of a degree matters, every year matters, every decision matters.”

    The report also highlights that current finance commitments from developed nations to support developing countries with their climate transitions fall far short of what is needed. The $100 billion per year target promised by 2020 has still not been met, while estimates suggest developing economies will require more than $1 trillion per year by 2030 to fund both adaptation and mitigation efforts. In addition to funding gaps, the report calls for a dramatic phase-out of fossil fuels, a rapid scale-up of renewable energy deployment, and stronger policy frameworks to drive decarbonization across all major economies.

    As world leaders prepare to gather for COP28 in late November, the report serves as a critical wake-up call. The UN climate chief Simon Stiello noted that the summit must deliver tangible progress on three key fronts: scaling up mitigation ambition, doubling adaptation finance, and moving forward on the new loss and damage fund agreed at last year’s COP27. “This report is not just a warning—it is a roadmap. We have the tools and knowledge to close the emissions gap, but we lack the political will and collective urgency to act,” Stiello said. “The window to keep 1.5°C alive is closing, but it is still open if we act now.”

  • St. Kitts and Nevis strengthens response to recurring sargassum influxes

    St. Kitts and Nevis strengthens response to recurring sargassum influxes

    Against the backdrop of growing seasonal sargassum inundation challenges facing small Caribbean island states, the federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has marked a major step forward in coastal protection, upgrading its response capacity through the launch of two purpose-built DESMI workboats and targeted hands-on training for local operational teams.

    This expansion of sargassum management infrastructure forms part of a region-wide effort to address the recurring environmental crisis, with the new vessels designed to operate in tandem with pre-existing offshore containment systems. The integrated strategy shifts core intervention activities further from shore, allowing teams to intercept and collect massive floating mats of brown seaweed before they can wash onto popular beaches and accumulate along coastlines. By acting earlier in the seasonal influx cycle, authorities aim to cut down on the strain facing onshore cleanup crews and reduce disruption to coastal communities that rely on clean shorelines for their livelihoods.

    The new equipment was acquired through the Caribbean Project for Improving National Sargassum Management Capacities, a regional initiative coordinated by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and funded via a grant from the Government of Japan. The cross-border collaboration underscores the shared nature of the sargassum challenge, which threatens the ecological and economic stability of dozens of island nations across the Caribbean basin.

    A core component of the project goes beyond just the delivery of new machinery: local technicians and marine operations staff have completed comprehensive practical training covering safe vessel operation, routine maintenance, and strategic deployment of both workboats and offshore containment barriers. Project organizers emphasize that building this local expertise is critical to ensuring the long-term functionality and impact of the new infrastructure, as effective sargassum management for small island states depends equally on specialized equipment and the skilled workforce needed to adapt to shifting seasonal conditions. In St. Kitts and Nevis, the deployment of the new system is overseen jointly by the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Marine Resources and the country’s Department of Marine Resources, with a core mandate to protect fragile coastal ecosystems and safeguard the tourism sector, which forms the backbone of the nation’s economy and depends entirely on the appeal of unspoiled, accessible beaches.

    For small island developing states, proactive sargassum management is far more than a routine beach maintenance task. Uncontrolled large-scale accumulations of the seaweed trigger overlapping environmental and economic crises: they smother coral reefs and seagrass beds, drive away marine life, and deter the international tourists that sustain local employment. This makes early interception, coordinated operational frameworks, and trained local teams foundational to long-term coastal climate resilience.

    Beyond the immediate benefits of improved shoreline protection, the new workboats also lay critical groundwork for the future of sargassum management in the region. Reliable offshore harvesting systems open the door to moving beyond emergency cleanup, allowing authorities to develop consistent, structured processes for transporting, processing, and repurposing collected sargassum as a valuable natural resource.

    Regional bodies including the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States have increasingly explored this innovative approach, framing sargassum not as a useless waste product but as a potential raw material that can drive new economic activity for island nations. Current research into viable commercial uses includes production of biochar for soil improvement, organic agricultural fertilizers, biodegradable bioplastics, and renewable bioenergy. These emerging applications could unlock new avenues for green economic innovation across the Caribbean, but widespread adoption will require rigorous testing, well-designed infrastructure for collection, storage and processing, and ongoing environmental monitoring to ensure practices remain sustainable. For a future sargassum-based industry to succeed, it will need to meet two core standards: it must produce commercially viable products, and all processing must align with strict environmental protections to avoid harming coastal and marine ecosystems.

    Against this context, St. Kitts and Nevis’s investment in new workboats, upgraded containment systems, and local skills development serves two connected goals: it delivers an immediate, actionable solution to the pressing recurring threat of seasonal sargassum influxes, while building the foundational infrastructure and expertise needed to unlock long-term innovative uses for harvested seaweed. By strengthening its ability to intercept sargassum at open sea before it reaches shore, the federation is protecting its critical coastal ecosystems and tourism economy today, while laying the groundwork to turn a costly environmental challenge into a potential driver of sustainable economic growth tomorrow.

  • Dominican Republic signs agreement with IRENA to accelerate clean energy

    Dominican Republic signs agreement with IRENA to accelerate clean energy

    Against the backdrop of a global push to speed up the clean energy transition, the Dominican Republic has formalized a landmark collaboration with the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) to drive renewable energy expansion across Latin America and the Caribbean. The partnership agreement, signed through the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM), aligns directly with the global commitment to triple installed renewable energy generation capacity by 2030.

    The non-binding letter of intent was signed by Dominican Energy and Mines Minister Joel Santos and IRENA Director-General Francesco La Camera on the sidelines of the High-Level Global Forum on Energy Transition. The signing officially launched the Alliance for the Acceleration of Renewable Energies in Latin America and the Caribbean, better known by its Spanish acronym PARLAC.

    In his remarks following the signing, Santos reiterated the Dominican Republic’s long-standing dedication to restructuring its national energy portfolio. The country’s core priorities include broadening the share of renewable resources, cutting reliance on carbon-intensive imported fossil fuels, and shoring up national energy security to insulate against global market volatility. He went on to note that meeting the ambitious 2030 global renewables target will demand far more than political commitment; developing economies across the region need scaled-up private and public investment, upgraded and expanded power transmission grids, advanced utility-scale energy storage systems, broader adoption of end-use electrification, and improved access to cutting-edge clean energy technologies.

    La Camera echoed Santos’ assessment, noting that widespread clean electrification holds transformative potential for developing economies across the region, unlocking lower energy costs, reduced emissions, and greater energy independence. Still, he emphasized that unlocking this potential requires three critical foundational changes: a dramatic increase in accessible climate finance, the implementation of clear, supportive regulatory frameworks, and the systematic removal of administrative and policy barriers that slow project deployment. As the leading global intergovernmental organization for renewable energy, IRENA will support PARLAC through facilitating cross-border knowledge sharing, advising on national policy design, and coordinating efforts to attract more investment, upgrade energy infrastructure, and strengthen climate resilience across the entire Latin America and Caribbean region.

    Betty Soto, Dominican Vice Minister of Innovation and Energy Transition, highlighted the unique value of targeted regional cooperation to address the uneven challenges facing countries across the area. Small island Caribbean nations, in particular, face a disproportionate set of barriers: nearly universal dependence on expensive imported fossil fuels, heightened exposure to climate-fueled extreme weather events that disrupt energy infrastructure, limited available land for large-scale renewable projects, constrained existing grid capacity, and far higher capital costs for clean energy projects than larger economies. A one-size-fits-all approach cannot deliver results, making region-specific collaboration all the more critical, Soto explained.

    At its core, PARLAC is designed to bridge the gap between global climate commitments and tangible, on-the-ground action. Through coordinated cross-country cooperation, sustained high-level political engagement, and intentional mobilization of investment, the alliance will work to advance renewable energy deployment across the region, ultimately contributing to the global goal of tripling installed renewable energy capacity by the end of the decade.

  • Offshore-olie en ‘oliedomheid’: Suriname op weg naar schijnwelvaart (slot)

    Offshore-olie en ‘oliedomheid’: Suriname op weg naar schijnwelvaart (slot)

    As the seventh installment of Jack Menke’s investigative series on Suriname’s growing offshore oil boom, this op-ed argues that the South American nation is on the precipice of repeating decades of harmful, failed development if it continues to prioritize fossil fuel extraction over a sustainable, nature-centered alternative.

    Today, Suriname’s political and business elites are in the grip of offshore oil fever, aligning with major international oil giants to advance the Ministry of Oil, Gas and Environment’s (OGM) three-phase Suriname 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 development strategy. By 2026, an estimated 50% of Suriname’s offshore territory – totaling at least 44,142 square kilometers – is already covered by active production sharing contracts, with elites eagerly anticipating full commercial production set to launch in 2028. Menke warns that this path will lock Suriname as a dependent junior partner to foreign multinational corporations, leaving the nation vulnerable to the widely documented “resource curse” that has plagued extractive-dependent economies across the Global South.

    To understand why this new oil push is likely to fail, Menke traces decades of structural dysfunction in Suriname’s political and economic systems. Since independence in 1975, three overlapping economic spheres have taken root: a formal sector, a legal informal sector, and a large criminal economy dominated by illicit activities like cocaine trafficking. Over time, these three sectors have become increasingly intertwined within a corrupt patronage political system, where criminal interests hold outsized influence. Political elites divide up natural resource concessions and government positions among allies, placing unqualified party loyalists in key state institutions and blocking inclusive, long-term development to protect concentrated power.

    This structural dynamic dates back to the 1987 constitution, which established a decentralized unitary state on paper but never implemented meaningful devolution of power. As interests tied to gold, drugs, bauxite, and logging took root, they were later joined by large-scale agricultural development and offshore oil, creating a seven-sided overlapping power structure that blends underworld and upperworld interests. After every election, the patronage model of coalition government is reinforced, leading to steady democratic erosion and further concentration of power – outcomes that directly contradict equitable development and the recognition of collective land and resource rights for Indigenous and tribal peoples.

    Menke emphasizes that this current oil push is just the latest iteration of a colonial-era extractive development model that all nine post-independence civilian governments have continued. For more than a century, Suriname has experienced repeated cycles of temporary, non-inclusive economic boom driven by non-renewable resource extraction, that collapse as soon as the resource is depleted or the project ends. The iconic Brokopondo hydroelectric dam project serves as a stark case study: between 1965 and 1967, the project delivered an average annual economic growth rate of 13%, but growth turned negative immediately after construction concluded. None of the government’s promised goals of sustainable growth, widespread employment, or social justice were achieved. Meanwhile, multiple Maroon villages were submerged by the project’s reservoir, destroying local ecosystems and eliminating any prospects for long-term local development.

    For the current offshore oil expansion, Menke points out that nearly all extracted crude will be exported with no local processing or value addition, creating few lasting linkages to Suriname’s domestic economy. Compounding this risk, the government has once again failed to develop a cohesive, long-term national development plan to anchor the oil sector. Instead, the current rush for oil concessions has opened the door to widespread illegal activity, destroying vast swathes of intact forest and Indigenous communal lands that hold far greater potential for sustainable long-term development.

    Against this failing status quo, Menke outlines a clear, actionable alternative development path centered on Suriname’s greatest natural asset: its intact ecosystems and renewable resource base. This model is built on three core pillars: broad community participation, long-term environmental sustainability, and respect for harmonious cultural and biological diversity, and stands in direct opposition to the extractive model that destroys nature and marginalizes interior communities.

    The alternative strategy focuses on five interconnected core priorities:
    1. **Green economy development**: Prioritize sustainable agriculture, agroforestry, forestry, and ecotourism, supported by purpose-built core institutions for education, research, integration of traditional knowledge, and public health that enable broad public participation in development.
    2. **Renewable energy expansion**: Scale up the development and deployment of domestic sustainable energy resources to meet national demand.
    3. **Nature conservation and biodiversity protection**: Preserve Suriname’s globally significant ecological wealth for current and future generations.
    4. **Local and collective development**: Invest in the growth of local communities while protecting their traditional lands, cultures, and natural environments.
    5. **Sustainable production and income generation**: Build long-term economic activities that deliver stable employment and shared prosperity across all regions.

    Menke calculates that this nature-centered model could deliver billions of dollars in annual revenue to Suriname from sustainable sectors including non-destructive forest products, medicinal plant cultivation, and ecotourism – far more shared and durable prosperity than oil extraction. This framework of Local Development, which centers people and nature in a national development plan, offers a sustainable alternative to the narrow Local Content policies promoted by the oil industry, which deliver limited benefits to most Surinamese.

    To enable this transition, Menke calls for institutional reform that prioritizes knowledge building and sustainability, in partnership with credible international actors that center integrity, democracy, and shared development. He argues that fragmented civil society groups, academic experts, green NGOs, and ethical actors within existing political institutions must unify to build a strong countervailing power to challenge the influence of oil and extractive interests. Crucially, active participation of local Indigenous and tribal communities is required to ensure that any resource development projects respect Indigenous rights, protect the environment, and deliver tangible benefits to the communities that live on and steward Suriname’s lands.

    Finally, strengthening local democracy and inclusive decision-making processes will ensure that revenue from natural resource development reaches all segments of Surinamese society and reduces persistent social inequality. A new development path, Menke argues, is the only way to stop the OGM’s oil-centered strategy from reinforcing decades of failed development, environmental destruction, false prosperity, and deepening inequality that has held Suriname back since independence.