Earth Today | Energise transition from fuel-intensive economy, urges environmental pro
Published:Wednesday | March 28, 2018 | 12:00 AM
IT IS necessary for Jamaica to energise the movement towards a green economy, environmental professional Eleanor Jones has insisted.
"I think it is lagging, and I think it needs to be re-energised, or maybe energised, because I don't think it was ever energised," the head of Environmental Solutions Limited (ESL) told The Gleaner.
The move to a green economy, according to the island's 2016 Green Economy Scoping Study, entails "shifting the investment focus toward economic activities that use natural resources sustainably and are structured to include training and developing the labour force to enhance productivity, as well as fostering linkages with micro, small and medium enterprises".
Jones admits that steps in this direction have been taken but says that they are not enough and should be done in a concerted way.
"We are still operating a little bit in silos, and maybe the understanding is coming particularly since the impact of changes in climate are being so manifest in terms of the economic implications, particularly for the agriculture sector and our infrastructure," she noted.
Jones' comments come against the background of the 2016 study, which identified some clear opportunities while acknowledging the variety of challenges that exist for Jamaica.
Those challenges include:
- historical momentum in favour of traditional brown (fossil fuel-intensive) industries,
- the predisposition of the governance structure to actions on sectoral issues as opposed to joined-up approaches to cross-cutting issues,
- bias in the political system towards short-run and against long-run perspectives,
- the burden of the national debt that limits the Government's fiscal space, and
- the enormity of the social and economic needs of the poor and the vulnerable.
Challenges
Still, despite the challenges, which, according to information out of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, also include funding, Jones believes that the green economy "should not be some idyllic thing".
"Several years ago, we had a greening of government exercise that went very well ... We had sensitisation sessions and worked with the Cabinet Office, introducing environmental assessments of policy and major projects from the Cabinet level and then in the individual ministries, and it was included in the corporate planning process. After two years or so, it stopped," she said.
Jones noted that it is past time that 'fits and starts' were replaced by consistent planning and execution.
"We make fits and starts. The amount of money invested in trying to get Jamaica on an environmentally sustainable path is tremendous from the early '90s. But we are not seeing enough of it. Yes, we declare Cockpit Country and so on, and that is important, but that is not a really integrated approach," she insisted.
"Things are happening, but it is happening in isolated tracks. We have to look at the bigger picture, take the holistic approach. And we have to think of not just the natural environment, but the built environment, and ensure effective planning with the appropriate infrastructure," the ESL boss added.
She said that it is critical, too, to help the average Jamaican connect the dots, providing answers to the questions: "What's in it for me? What does it mean to my life, my health, my livelihood, my children?"