In the face of the recent enormously destructive impact of Hurricane Beryl, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), through its Country Manager, came a-calling in Kingston recently. Anton Edmunds, General Manager of the Country Department at the Inter-American Development Bank’s Caribbean Group, came a-calling to register the IDB’s support for a ‘Build Back Better’ rallying cry for businesses across the region even as some territories remain engaged in seeking to repair the damage visited upon by Beryl’s unwelcome visit.
Speaking at a Re-align Business & Investment Conference at the AC Hotel Kingston last week, the IDB official asserted that the region’s ‘Build Back Better’ approach in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl’s destructive impact should embrace a perspective for Caribbean businesses to adopt sustainability strategies crucial to prepare themselves for the effects of climate change.
A report in the Friday, July 26th issue of the Jamaica Observer, states that Edwards underscored the point about the importance of the region preparing for the vicissitudes of climate change during a presentation centred around driving sustainable growth through environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sustainability strategies. “We’re going to have to embrace sustainable solutions to ensure that our businesses maintain, sustain, and then recover after these kinds of events,” the Observer Friday July 26th story stated.
Jamaica’s business sector, particularly its agricultural-sector was hard-hit by Beryl’s rampage that reportedly left the sector with more than J$ 5billion in direct crop losses and a further J$10.25 billion in infrastructural damages. The Gleaner story also named Barbados, and the various islands comprising St. Vincent and the Grenadines, as being among the countries in the region that have suffered destruction that embraces both physical destruction and loss of crops under cultivation.
In his address, the IDB official reportedly warned that disruptive occurrences like Beryl may well become “the new norm in the Caribbean,” going forward, adding that beyond the more widely reported impact of Berly’s onslaught, “many entrepreneurs had to prioritize family care, while employees struggled to return to work or engage fully due to personal circumstances, which added to hidden costs significantly affecting businesses and operations,” according to The Observer report.
In his presentation. Edmunds also drew attention to the adjustments that will have to be made in response to such destabilizing environmental phenomenon including issues relating to “waste, pollution, resource depletion, and greenhouse gas emissions,” adding that “socially, businesses must prioritize employee treatment, working conditions, community engagement, and health and safety.”
