The Caribbean's quest for sustainability and environmental stewardship is entering a pivotal phase, underscored by the urgent need to transition from traditional economic indicators like gross domestic product (GDP) to more encompassing frameworks.
This transition is not merely a shift in metrics but a comprehensive realignment of policy, governance and corporate strategy towards sustainability, biodiversity conservation and equitable societal progress. The integration of IUCN’s nature positive for business framework, SDG impact standards and the ISO 37000 governance standard offers a holistic blueprint for this transformative journey.
Environmental imperatives in the Caribbean
The environmental challenges facing the Caribbean are profound. The region's exquisite natural ecosystems, including coral reefs, mangroves and seagrass beds, are not just biodiversity hotspots but vital for the economy, culture and resilience of Caribbean societies.
Yet these assets are under threat from climate change, pollution and overexploitation. A nature-positive approach, advocating actions that contribute to the planet's recovery, is crucial. It demands a shift from minimising harm to actively enhancing biodiversity and ecosystem services.
Beyond GDP: Embracing a fuller measure of progress
The Caribbean's move towards comprehensive measures of progress acknowledges the limitations of GDP.
Comprehensive wealth, including natural, produced, human, financial and social capital, offers a nuanced understanding of national health and sustainability.
This approach, as proposed in a recent article by IISD on Moving Beyond GDP in the Caribbean, foregrounds the value of the Caribbean's biodiversity, urging a balance between economic development and environmental stewardship.
Operationalising the nature-positive framework with SDG impact standards
The nature-positive framework requires operationalising through strategic and governance frameworks that embed sustainability at their core. This approach, particularly resonant in the Caribbean context, champions a clear framework – assess, commit and transform – to guide regional efforts towards biodiversity conservation.
Central to this approach, and underscored at COP15, is the ambitious target of protecting at least 30 per cent of the planet's lands and oceans by 2030 – a goal that is crucial for the Caribbean, given its rich but vulnerable biodiversity. The nature-positive goals are to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030 and achieve full recovery by 2050.
This approach encourages Caribbean nations to assess their ecological footprint and biodiversity dependencies, commit to concrete, actionable targets for conservation and restoration, and transform their policies and practices to achieve a net positive impact on nature at the same time.
This strategic pathway is designed to ensure that the Caribbean can meet the 2030 target, contributing significantly to global biodiversity while fostering sustainable development within the region.
The SDG impact standards
