Barbados’ Blueprint for Climate Resilience

As a small wooden fishing boat returns to shore, she writes down the fishermen’s observations about the sargassum’s spread and direction. Then, back at Pile Bay’s small processing facility, she turns to the fish, documenting in her notebook the species, weight, and size of each boat’s haul, along with where and how the fish were caught.

This will be one of the final weeks Chapman uses paper and pencil to document Pile Bay’s busy days, because  digital tablets are en route to the facility. The tablets are tools to support the new DigiFish initiative, a collaborative program between government, civil society, and the private sector to capture and digitize data. The data collection project aims to improve efficiency, facilitate entry into new markets, integrate generational knowledge, and navigate the consequences of global warming.  

But in Barbados, global warming is not just a problem for the fishing industry.  The country’s  geographical location leaves it and its people vulnerable to the varied consequences of the climate crisis. Unpredictable weather events, coastal erosion, soil depletion, and groundwater instability all add up to what Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley calls an existential threat.

For Barbados and other coastal nations and cities, "Our very survival is at stake," says Mottley. “This is why we must act decisively and act now. The challenges we face are daunting, so we are meeting them head-on, pairing bold policies with practical, community-based measures that are already helping us move toward our climate targets. The time is now to do even more."

To confront this challenge, the government of Barbados launched Roofs to Reefs, a national strategy to build resilience to climate change and unpredictable weather-related events. Digitization, and the use of data to identify hazards and set targets, is a key element of that response.  The delivery of tablets on its way to Katrina Chapman is part of technology-focused, data-driven approach to fortifying infrastructure, promoting renewable energy, and cultivating green jobs. 

“Without technology and data that allow us to set climate resilience targets, we don’t have a chance at sustainability,” says Shantal Munro-Knight, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister with Responsibility for Climate Resilience.  “When we can deploy resources that match the data we have about vulnerability, we can be systematic rather than scattershot…and protect our environment as well as the communities that need [help] most.”

“The scope and impact of the climate challenge demands leadership,” says Makhtar Diop, IFC Managing Director. “Barbados’ Roofs to Reefs program is innovative and practical, and has the potential to be adapted across the Caribbean and other vulnerable island nations.”

“When we have this kind of information, we can mitigate the effects of a potential disaster and start considering the resources that need to go into building a future hospital,” she says.  This could include laying new roads and water pipes, setting up distributed power generation systems, and building nearby neighborhoods and schools—long-term plans that require cooperation among many government agencies as well as the private sector.

The hypervisor was designed to show where private sector development opportunities exist, Bardouille says. “The real value is in aligning with government on where they need more or less of something in order to achieve resilience targets, whether it’s agriculture, tourism, wind-based power capacity, a new transformer, or a desalination plant—and signaling to the private sector where they can come in to support government’s development plans.”  

Because the hypervisor is a live tool, it can be updated as new data on risks becomes available and new infrastructure projects are planned, approved, or completed—helping government, development partners, the private sector, and citizens track progress.

This is consistent with the goals of the International Monetary Fund’s new $189 million Resilience and Sustainability Fund for Barbados, which calls for the mainstreaming of climate change in the national budget.

Confronting water scarcity

Technology and data modeling also have the potential to strengthen individual sectors, such as the water sector, according to Karl Payne, a lecturer and the water resources management program coordinator at the Center for Research Management and Environmental Studies at the University of West Indies, Cave Hill campus. 

Barbados, like half of the Caribbean islands considered water-scarce, is confronting the seepage of seawater into its aquifers, as well as rainfall that might drop by as much as 40 percent by the end of the century, UN research shows. 

New solutions such as artificial intelligence (AI) applications for climate resilience are especially promising in Barbados, Payne says, noting the “democratization of AI tools” such as open-source cloud computing and machine learning.  Data can train AI models to place wells in location that will minimize salt water intrusion, for example, or propose scenarios for re-use that will bolster food security and prevent a food crisis. Models can also predict how water levels will change in response to rainfall and pumping regimes, directing the water authority on how much to conserve. Other data, such as information from drones, can help inform optimal roof designs for harvesting rainwater. 

Amgad Elmahdi, water sector lead at the Green Climate Fund, also thinks that the use of new technology can unlock solutions for Barbados and other countries that face long-term water security challenges. “Many water authorities, confronting climate change, aging assets, growing populations, expenditure constraints, changing customer expectations, and growing sustainability, environmental, and governance expectations…[can] leverage the rapid advancement in digital technology and use data-driven modeling and decision-making,” he says.  He cites the use of drones in creating high-precision flood hazard models to help predict and identify people at risk.

Barbados is on the right path, Payne believes. “There are some things the government is already doing right, like the use of solar energy to power water tanks,” he says.  “As we start applying more scientific and technological approaches to our water resource issues, I’m optimistic that we will make progress in other areas as well.”

Technology powers the shift to renewables

The solar photovoltaic (PV) panels that stripe the island hint at a third “R” in the government’s “Roofs to Reefs” climate resilience strategy: renewables.  The government has pledged to transition to a 100 percent renewable-based power generation, and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 70 percent, by 2030.

“Energy security is part of our development trajectory, and renewable energy specifically is critical to our future,” says Lisa Cummins, Barbados’ Minister of Energy and Business Development.  “We don’t have all the answers, but we are learning from other countries what works, and sharing our knowledge with small islands and developing states that face similar hazards.”

As in many other tropical islands, the sun is plentiful in Barbados, and solar technology is already widely accepted. Locally-produced residential solar water heaters have been on the market since 1974 and are ubiquitous across the country, perched next to small, traditional chattel houses as well as more modern homes. PV panels that generate electricity are also widespread, dotting roofs, bus canopies, and neighborhood grocery kiosks.

In 2016, Barbados Light and Power Corporation (BLPC), the privately-owned national electricity utility, commissioned a 10MW PV farm, to which 20MWh of battery storage was added in 2018. It generates sufficient power for 7,700 households. It also helps Barbados create the circular economy envisioned in the Roofs to Reefs program—because a population of 500 Black Belly sheep graze between the solar panels, munching on 42 acres of grass and other vegetation, while enjoying the shade provided by the panels. 

The idea of a mixed-use renewable energy facility is appealing on an island because space is a valuable resource, according to Aidan Rogers, Strategic Advisor for the eastern Caribbean at Hydrogène de France (HDF Energy). HDF and French fuels distributor Rubis SCA, supported by IFC and IDB Invest, are developing Renewstable Barbados, the Caribbean’s largest hydrogen project. This 50 MW solar generation facility with green hydrogen and lithium-ion battery storage will provide electricity to Barbados’ grid, demonstrating the potential for storage of electricity.

An inclusive definition of resilience

Each of those new private sector partnerships creates green jobs for people in Barbados, where tourism has long been the biggest source of employment.  The World Travel and Tourism Council estimates the total contribution of tourism to be around 31 percent of the country’s GDP, supporting 33 percent of jobs. Those figures don’t include people who work in the informal sector, which is significant. 

This reflects the heavy dependence on tourism throughout the Eastern Caribbean, where it is the main driver of the economy, according to the World Bank.

As in other Caribbean nations, COVID-19 devastated Barbados’ tourism-dependent economy, making it clearer than ever that the country needed to diversify its economy.  That’s where green jobs come in, Staples says. “Whether it's installing low-flow toilets, working to minimize waste, or doing data modeling, the definition of a green job is evolving, and green jobs will continue to grow as sustainability becomes a focal point in Barbados.” 

The World Bank’s recent $100 million financial support for sustainable development in Barbados will be used to help create jobs in the blue and green economies, Prime Minister Mottley said at the time of the announcement. The blue economy includes fisheries, tourism, and shipping, as well as emerging sectors such as mariculture, renewable energy, and biotechnology.

At Pile Bay Fish Landing, where data collectors carrying digital tablets will soon greet fisherfolk returning from a morning at sea, Katrina Chapman welcomes the support for the next phase of the fishing industry.  She remembers how much her grandmother’s life improved when the first landing facility was built: her grandmother could sell her catch there rather than walk door to door, peddling individual fish she carried on a tray on her head.  

“If there’s more attention paid to the people who do the fishing, and they can bring more money in and support their families, it’s a good thing,” Chapman says.

This focus on the quality of life for individuals and communities throughout Barbados is essential to the idea of resilience, according to Munro-Knight, the Minister with Responsibility for Climate Resilience. 

“Climate resilience isn’t just about infrastructure,” she says. “When we’re talking about housing, or water, or a physical development plan, we’re also talking about people and poverty and the social sector.  All of those parts make up sustainability.  [Resilience] is about being able to encourage and support people at the community household level, to make sure that we build things that are going to help protect their resources and things that they value.”