Saving for a ‘Rainy Day’ takes on new meaning in Caribbean
By Kenton X. Chance
KINGSTOWN, Mar 4 2019
(IPS) — In the tiny eastern
Caribbean nation of St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, proverbs
relating to the weather are very
common.
Everyone knows that “Who
has cocoa outside must look
out for rain,” has nothing to
do with the drying of the bean
from which chocolate is made
or the sudden downpours common
in this tropical nation.
So when the government
of St. Vincent and the Grenadines
announced in 2018 that
there was a need to put aside
some money for “a rainy day”
because of climate change, citizens
knew that the expression
was both figurative and literal.
In this country, highly
dependent on tourism, visitors
stay in hotel and other rented
accommodation have to contribute
three dollars per night
to the climate change fund.
They join residents who had
been contributing to the Climate
Resilience Levy, for over
one year, paying a one percent
consumption charge. The
funds go into the Contingency
Fund.
As with many other small
island developing states, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines
has had to struggle to finance
mitigation and adaptation for
climate change.
In the year since the Climate
Resilience levy was established,
4.7 million dollars has been
saved for the next “rainy day.”
The savings represents a
minuscule portion of the scores
of million of dollars in damage
and loss wrought by climate
change in this archipelagic
nation over the last few years.
In just under six hours in
2013, a trough system left damage
and loss amounting to 20
percent of the GDP and extreme
rainfall has left millions of dollars
in damage and loss almost
annually since then.
The 4.7 million dollars in the
climate fund is mere 18 percent
of the 25 million dollars that
lawmakers have budgeted for
“environmental protection” in
2019, including climate change
adaptation and mitigation.
However, it is a start and
shows what poorer nations can
do, locally, amidst the struggle
to get developed nations to
stand by their commitments
to help finance climate change
adaptation and mitigation.
Caribbean L 24 ife, May 17–23, 2019 BQ
“Never before in the history
of independent St. Vincent
and the Grenadines have we
managed to explicitly set aside
such resources for a rainy day,”
Minister of Finance Camillo
Gonsalves told lawmakers this
month as he reported on the
performance of the fund in its
first year.
He said that in 2019, the
contingency fund is expected
to receive an additional 4.7 million
dollars.
“While this number remains
small in the face of the multibillion
potential of a major natural
disaster, it is nonetheless
significant. If we are blessed
with continued good fortune,
in the near term, the Contingency
Fund will be a reliable,
home-grown cushion against
natural disasters,” Gonsalves
told legislators.
He said the fund will also
stand as an important signal to
the international community
that St. Vincent and the Grenadines
is committed to playing
a leading role in its own disaster
preparation and recovery.
Dr. Reynold Murray, a Vincentian
environmentalist, welcomes
the initiative, but has
some reservations.
Extreme weather associated to climate change has resulted
in million of dollars in loss and damage in St. Vincent and
the Grenadines over the past few years.
Inter Press Service / Kenton X. Chance