2023 was the year in which the world at large experienced the power of AI – both positive and negative – and the potential to be transformative in every aspect of our lives.
Long-awaited ESG disclosure standards were also published: International Financial Standards (IFRS) Foundation’s International Sustainability Board Standards (ISSB), the European Sustainability Standards Board (ESSB) and the Taskforce on Nature-related Disclosures (TNFD), which have the most far-reaching implications.
The global order is shifting. Institutions are under attack at national and international levels, and the number of wars is increasing.
The Argyle Declaration, in which Guyana and Venezuela reiterated their commitment to Latin America and the Caribbean remaining a zone of peace, stands out as a welcome exception to the general trend.
COP28
In November, COP28 concluded with the headline commitment to transition away from fossil fuels. That is unlikely to shift much in fossil fuel-based economies, including those in Caricom, such as TT, Guyana, and probably Suriname. UN secretary-general António Guterres warned delegates, with no let-up in fossil fuel extraction, “We’re heading towards a calamitous three-degree Celsius temperature rise by the end of the century.” Far beyond the maximum 1.5C increase that the Caribbean demanded and the world agreed to in 2015.
National commitments themselves are generally not ambitious enough, and on top of that, the implementation gap is still far too large.
Only 23 per cent of the measured Sustainable Development Goal (SGD) indicators in the Caribbean are currently on track.
A tragedy that is well-understood
The tragedy of the situation consists in the fact that we are all aware of this and have individual and collective capability to do something about it.
But too many are too cynical and selfish, convincing themselves that when the expected tragedy hits home, they might as well be the ones with more money since the costs will have to be shared.
So, according to their internal argument, in the absence of enforceable regulation, it makes sense for them to continue to strip mine our natural resources and social capital, move as much of their capital as possible abroad, secure foreign passports for themselves and their family, and continue to operate their business with only cosmetic changes.
ESG, sustainability, SDGs
What should we make of talk of ESG and sustainability in this context? Two years ago, most of the requests I received from companies were to understand what ESG is about. Now, most talk about it and many medium to large organisations have started to act on it. At the same time, some SMEs and start-ups have embraced it and are making sustainability their central business proposition. You can even observe quite a few annual reports of listed companies in the Caribbean liberally using the terms ESG, sustainability and SDGs – but few are meeting even the most minimal conditions and certainly exposing themselves to the risk of greenwashing.
What several compani
