Rationale for shifting to a green economy

This briefing summarizes the outcomes of a February 2011 workshop in Trinidad regarding the transition to a green and resilient economic pathway for the Caribbean. It outlines the region's current vulnerabilities, the systemic obstacles preventing a paradigm shift, and the necessary foundations and characteristics of a green economy designed to enhance resilience and social equity.

• The Caribbean region faces severe economic and social vulnerabilities, including extreme income disparities—with per capita income ranging from $949 in Haiti to $24,233 in Trinidad and Tobago—and skyrocketing public debt that ranges from over 70% to nearly 200%.
• The region is highly susceptible to natural hazards such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions, with some disaster impacts exceeding 180% of GDP. The document notes that the current strategy of relying on state or international aid to cover these costs is unsustainable.
• Major economic sectors are seeing diminishing returns: tourism is limited by a heavy reliance on imports, agriculture has reached virtual stagnation, and the energy sector suffers from a lack of investment and unsustainable consumption.
• Several systemic factors lock the region into its current unsustainable paradigm, including political disincentives to alienate powerful interest groups, a declining human resource base due to brain drain and poor education performance, and outdated regulatory frameworks that may encourage perverse practices.
• A transition to a green economy in the Caribbean should be characterized by the use of 'triple bottom line' principles, reduced dependency on high carbon energy, the creation of mutually reinforcing rural-urban linkages, and the implementation of pro-poor policies that address the needs of specific groups like female heads of households.

APA

Green Economy Coalition (2011). Rationale for shifting to a green economy. http://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/sites/gecnew.iiedlist.org/files/GEC_Caribbean_0_0.pdf

Chicago

Green Economy Coalition. Rationale for shifting to a green economy. 2011. http://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/sites/gecnew.iiedlist.org/files/GEC_Caribbean_0_0.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Economy Coalition |title=Rationale for shifting to a green economy |date=March 2011 |url=http://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/sites/gecnew.iiedlist.org/files/GEC_Caribbean_0_0.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greeneconomycoalition2011rationale, author = {{Green Economy Coalition}}, title = {{Rationale for shifting to a green economy}}, institution = {Green Economy Coalition}, year = {2011}, month = mar, url = {http://www.greeneconomycoalition.org/sites/gecnew.iiedlist.org/files/GEC_Caribbean_0_0.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }