Barbados LGBTQ victory
Dec. 14, 2022
Barbados High Court struck down colonial-era laws that criminalize gay sex, on Monday. It is the third Caribbean country to do so this year, after Caribbean courts found such laws in Antigua & Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis unconstitutional.
There are now six remaining countries in the region with similar laws, including Guyana, Grenada, Dominica, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica. A case in St. Lucia is pending.
The Barbados court won’t release a written judgment detailing its reasons until late January. It wasn’t immediately clear if the government planned to appeal. Barbadian Prime Minister Mia Mottley is considered an ally of the LGBTQ community and once called for abolishing the laws when she was the island’s attorney general.
The case was filed by two Barbadian LGBT advocates with local organisation Equals Barbados providing community support, and the regional LGBT umbrella organisation, the Eastern Caribbean Alliance for Diversity and Equality, convening the process.
(Associated Press, UNAids, Gay Times)
Climate Justice and Energy
Interview with Cindy Forde, author of Bright New World, a children’s book that aims to empower children and their families to be part of co-creating the world they want in the face of climate change. (The Diversity Blog)
A report this year by the Global Mangrove Alliance shows a decline in the overall rate of mangrove loss and outlines concrete actions to halt the loss for good and help mangroves begin regaining ground. As the climate continues to change, mangroves are our “ecosystems of hope,” the report states. (Mongabay)
Extensive analysis by think-tank Influence Maps has found that the world’s five super major oil companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars each year as part of “a systematic strategy to portray themselves as positive and proactive on the issue of climate change,” despite actions to the contrary. (Kaieteur News)
U.S. oil major ExxonMobil has embarked on an aggressive public relations campaign in Guyana, pushing the message that the country was receiving 52% of the profits from its oil resources in the Stabroek Block. But Guyanese are not buying it, with many taking to social media to express disgust at the message on the billboard, reports Kaieteur News.
The U.S.-owned Hess Corporation has agreed to buy $750 million worth of carbon credits from Guyana in the next decade. Hess is a consortium partner in Guyana’s offshore oil sector. The deal was signed under the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation program (REDD) and is the second such major deal the country has negotiated in the past decade, reports the Associated Press.
But some Indigenous leaders questioned the agreement, noting that local communities were not consulted, nor have the reports substantiating the deal been shared with them. (Stabroek News)
Small-scale fishers and Indigenous people say blanket fishing bans, part of conservationist ambitions to protect 30 percent of the world’s oceans (30x30), punishes them for a crisis they didn’t create while commercial vessels can still trawl with impunity, reports the Guardian.
The residents of Bonaire in the Dutch Antilles are at great risk due to the consequences of climate change, according to a lawsuit planned by Greenpeace, together with residents, against the Dutch State to demand “climate justice for the island.” Research for the litigation highlights the racial and historical injustices that make Bonaire residents vulnerable to climate change. The protection of Bonaire is "in stark contrast" to the coastal protection of the European portion of the Netherlands and other European countries, according to Greenpeace. (NL Times)
The Climate Change impacts predicted over four decades ago are unfolding across Trinidad and Tobago, and the broader world: increased temperatures and increased extreme rainfall events, including stronger hurricanes and rising sea levels. In October and November 2022, Trinidad and Tobago was lashed by record-breaking rains. CNC3 News Weather Anchor Kalain Hosein speaks to those impacted on the frontlines of climate change, academics, business CEOs and government officials.
Puerto Rico does not have an energy security plan, reports the Centro de Periodismo Investigativo.
Food Security
The U.N.’s Food and Agriculture Organization’s “Caribbean Strategy for Climate-Resilient Forests and Rural Livelihoods” matches prioritised forestry initiatives for vertical and horizontal scaling with suitable funding streams. It also identifies possible regional and national partners for project development and execution. The strategy is focused on forest resources management, but also emphasizes poverty alleviation and food security
Economics and Finance
A new U.N. resolution gives the body a mandate to kickstart intergovernmental talks on tax, a move that could give developing nations a greater say over global tax rules by moving control of the regime from the OECD, reports the Guardian.
Jamaica’s government is considering issuance of both green and blue bonds, and will likely move forward with a proposal next year, reports the Jamaica Observer.
Racial Justice
David Alston’s book about Scottish involvement in slavery, Slaves and Highlanders: Silenced Histories of Scotland and the Caribbean, won the top prize at Scotland's national book awards. (BBC)
Gender Equality
At least 4,473 women were victims of femicide last year in Latin America and the Caribbean. The latest report from Eclac means an average of 12 women per day died violent, gender-based deaths in the region. (Kaieteur News)
Two Barbadians are in the Forbes 2022 Top 100 Most Powerful Women list: Robyn ‘Rihanna’ Fenty at #73 and Prime Minister Mia Mottley at #98. (Barbados Underground)
Biodiversity
Opportunities
Join SOA to call for a moratorium on deep-sea mining.
Call for submissions: “Caribbean Feminisms: Genealogies and Geographies of Resistance,” — University of Costa Rica
Events
19 Dec. — Webinar: “Perspectivas latinoamericanas sobre la solicitud de opinión consultiva sobre cambio climático y derechos humanos a la Corte Internacional de Justicia” - La Ruta del Clima — Register