Postcolonial institutional arrangements, which politically situate several non-sovereign climate-vulnerable countries in the Global North, may be affecting the extent to which these countries are able to respond to climate threats—such as coastal erosion, sea-level rise, water resource management, and more. This piece highlights the issue by specifically examining France’s postcolonial footprint in the eastern Caribbean while also presenting an example of a climate resiliency measure implemented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands in an overseas Caribbean jurisdiction. In presenting this analysis, the overall objective is to ultimately minimize the exclusion of non-sovereign nations from existing and emerging supranational mechanisms for climate adaptation financing that they might otherwise be eligible for, if it were not for their longstanding status as postcolonial overseas territories of a European nation.
A Five-Year Case Study Analysis of USAID Local Governance Programming and Public Investment Spending in Post-Earthquake Haiti
December 30, 2023 in Decentralization, Economic Development, Haiti, Local GovernanceIn the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the central government operations were paralyzed, and municipal officials became even more important as they were more readily able to respond to their constituents’ needs during this time of crisis. The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) five-year post-earthquake Limyè ak Òganizasyon pou Kolektivite yo Ale Lwen (LOKAL+) program aimed to bolster the capacity of municipalities – beyond this disaster event – through revenue mobilization activities, within quake-affected and non-quake affected areas. The intended outcome of this effort was to improve local public service delivery throughout Haiti.
Nearly all participating LOKAL+ municipalities experienced increased local revenue collection, particularly in property and business taxes, from 2012 through 2017. However, the impact of these increases on public investment spending was not evident even though this was a stated objective of the program. To evaluate whether public services improved in two of the nine LOKAL+ localities, due to USAID’s local revenue mobilization efforts, I employed a case study analysis using descriptive statistics, in-depth interviewing, and content analysis.
The findings revealed modest public service improvements in one of the two case study sites. However, the political climate within which LOKAL+ was executed – mainly, the unlawful installation of interim executive agents throughout the country at the time – had an observed impact on the study’s findings. The implications of country-specific political economic realities on the timing of donor-led local governance efforts are underscored, as Haiti continues to navigate compounding political crises – including the assassination of the President in 2021 – since the end of the LOKAL+ program.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2452292923000620?dgcid=author
The French Case for Climate Justice in the Caribbean (English translation)
March 27, 2023 in Climate Justice, Eastern Caribbean, French CaribbeanFrom Hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017, Hurricane Dorian in 2019, and Tropical Storm Elsa in 2021, Caribbean islands have faced environmental disasters that are becoming more frequent and intense because of climate change. Though climate change is a global phenomenon, its impacts are not being felt equitably nor does every country, such as the small island developing states of the Caribbean, have the necessary resources to adequately respond to its challenges. Moreover, select Caribbean countries which belong to the Outermost Regions of the European Union are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to the limitations of this post-colonial institutional arrangement on their ability to access global financing instruments for their climate adaptation needs.
The goal of this paper is to therefore offer initial research regarding potential multi-scalar approaches to climate adaptation planning and implementation for non-sovereign countries in the region, starting with the French Caribbean. By evaluating the territorial fractures between mainland France and its overseas regions – the majority of which are in the Caribbean region – the paper serves as a preliminary basis for an eventual study examining political economic considerations for climate adaptation in non-sovereign Caribbean countries, like Guadeloupe and Martinique, through a climate justice lens.