December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
December 2022 - You are accessing an archived version of our website. This website is no longer maintained or updated. The Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform has been migrated here: https://sdgs.un.org/
In 2018, the Government of Barbados announced and began implementation of the Barbados Economic Recovery and Transformation (BERT) Plan to restore macroeconomic stability and place the economy on a path of strong, sustainable and inclusive growth, while safeguarding the financial and social sectors. The BERT Plan outlines the policies that reflect the Government’s alignment of its anti-poverty and sectoral strategies with the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in the areas of fiscal policy to achieve greater equality; increased social protection access and social spending floors; improved financial innovation, regulation and inclusion and; climate-resilient, carbon neutral and marineconscious public and private investment for growth.
On the basis of the BERT plan, Barbados signed an Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October, 2018. The BERT Plan and EFF are perhaps unprecedented as a series of fiscal adjustment and structural reform measures that managed to shift the burden of the adjustment away from labour and the most vulnerable towards capital and the visitor economy. A successfully completed domestic and external debt restructuring, changes to the revenue and expenditure models and ring-fencing and even increases in health, education and social protection investments have led to significant improvements in key social and economic indicators included in the SDG Framework.
This was the environment in the first quarter of 2020 in which the Government of Barbados was preparing to deliver its VNR. It was also the moment in which the global community was called upon to completely reprioritize and reorganize expenditure, global supply chains and economic structures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Overnight, we have seen the sharpest, deepest and most farreaching economic recession since the Great Depression, presenting, beyond the disease itself, a further threat to lives and livelihoods. Entire industries have halted activity, millions find themselves unemployed, and decades of global, human development progress are at immediate risk of being reversed. Small, vulnerable, highly-indebted, tourism-dependent states like Barbados are among the hardest hit. The tourism-dependent islands of the Caribbean see on average an over 45% contribution of their GDP from this sector, with comparable levels of employment. As of May 8, 2020. The National Insurance Scheme, the Government’s national social security programme, had received over 35,000 unemployment claims, representing a quarter of the workforce.
For this reason, and as this event has served to reset every development baseline, we propose to present the Barbados VNR 2020 in the context of the country’s broad-based, COVID-19 response, which has not only seen a sharp scaling up of social protection investment and fiscal/financial inclusion policies, but also has implications for the achievement of other targets on which we will report. This VNR will discuss the ways in which the BERT Plan and the COVID-19 response are likely to impact SDG achievement, as well as the opportunities they create to fast-track progress in the goals and targets outlined below. Finally, the Barbados VNR will discuss the perennial challenge of country capacity to monitor achievement, as well as address Goal 17 on the global partnership for development, which has perhaps never been more relevant than it is today, as the world battles a global pandemic, with countries’ having varying levels of access to the key resources needed in this fight.
| Report | Topics covered | Process |
 2009 Indicators Profile
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1. Renewable Energy Generation to increase the share of economically viable renewable energy in Barbados's energy mix, with an indicative target of about 29 percent of all electricity consumption to be generated from renewable sources by 2029. 2. Electric Energy Efficiency to achieve savings in the country's consumption of electricity, with an indicative overall target of 22 percent savings by 2029 compared to a business as usual scenario.
Sustainable finance has been identified by Acting Minister of the Environment, Senator Haynesley Benn, as a key opportunity for growth for Barbados and the wider Caribbean, in light of the economic slowdown being faced by some of the region's major trading partners. Source: Government of Barbados The government of Barbados has forged a partnership with the local banking community via the establishment of the Barbados Sustainable Finance Group in 2008, in collaboration with The Barbados Bankers' Association (TBBA) and the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative. The partnership seeks to rai...[more]
The partnership aims at the establishment of the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) under the umbrella of the CARICOM Energy Policy. The regional centre of excellence will support the Caribbean Island Countries and Territories (CICTs) in the creation of an enabling environment for sustainable energy investments and markets by mitigating existing barriers. The centre will coordinate and implement programs, projects and activities in the areas of capacity and policy development, information and data sharing, as well as investment and business promotion. It will...[more]
The Caribbean Energy Efficiency Lighting Project (CEELP) sought to catalyze the transition to low carbon economies and sustainable energy sectors through the provision of energy efficient lighting to communities in the Eastern Caribbean. The project assisted countries in removing the policy, capacity and investment barriers to energy efficient lighting. The project goals were aligned with the SIDS DOCK objective to increase energy efficiency by at least 25%, and the Sustainable Energy for All (SE4All) objective of doubling the rate of improvement in energy efficiency. The private sector was en...[more]
The general objective of the Commission is to promote the effective conservation, management and development of the living marine resources of the area of competence of the Commission, in accordance with the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, and address common problems of fisheries management and development faced by members of the Commission. 16 of WECAFC's 35 members are considered small island developing States.
The Integrating Water, Land and Ecosystems Management in Caribbean Small Island Developing States (GEF-IWEco Project) is a five-year multi-focal area regional project that will be financed from (i) country GEF STAR allocations under Land Degradation and Biodiversity portfolios for national interventions and supported by (ii) funding from the GEF International Waters and Sustainable Forest Management portfolios for regional-level actions. A total of ten Caribbean countries will be participating in the project.
IRENA has developed the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative to support the strategic deployment of renewable energy in SIDS, to bring clarity to policy makers regarding the required steps, and to enable targeted action. As a joint effort of SIDS and development partners, this framework for action will assist in transforming SIDS energy systems through the establishment of the enabling conditions for a renewable energy-based future, by moving away from developing projects in isolation to a holistic approach that considers all relevant elements spanning from policy and market frameworks, through technol...[more]
The National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP) is intended to define the current status of biodiversity, the threats leading to its degradation and the strategies and priority actions to ensure its conservation and sustainable use within the framework of the socio-economic development of the country. Source: Government of Barbados The overall goal, specific objectives and strategies which form the foundation of the Strategy and Action Plan attempt to address the range of issues relevant to the management of biodiversity, from the development and implementation of a national biodive...[more]
The National Strategic Plan (NSP) of Barbados 2005-2025 sets out Government's main development agenda for the 20 year period 2005-2025. Goal four of the NSP is aimed at specifically of "Building a Green Economy: Strengthening the physical infrastructure and preserving the environment." Source: Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Barbados Goal Four of the National Strategic Plan of Barbados 2005-2025 requires the protection, preservation and enhancement of physical infrastructure, environment and scarce resources as Barbados seek to advance its social and economic development. Barbados pu...[more]
In 2011 the Prime Minister of Barbados launched a Government of Barbados and United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) Partnership for a Resource-Efficient Green Economy in Barbados, with a key plank being the undertaking of a Green Economy Scoping Study (GESS). Source: The green economy calls for an integrated approach that provides new opportunities for economic growth by directing greater investments into sectors that enhance natural capital and generate new sources of employment, while reducing environmental risks. Government's recognition of the need for promoting a green economic t...[more]
i. Facilitate the preparation and implementation of national SCP Plans and sub-regional coordination planning frameworks for SIDS, including the promotion of lifecycle based and integrated planning methods (e.g. Coastal Tourism Development on the basis of ICZM and Carrying Capacity) into national and sectoral development planning.ii. Seek international financial assistance to promote sustainable consumption and production patterns in SIDS, including, inter alia, in the development of sustainable products and services, sustainable food systems, waste management, marine litter, sustainable publi...[more]
The Barbados Sustainable Development Policy was finalized in 2002 by the National Commission on Sustainable Development (NCSD) and the Environment Division. It was approved by Cabinet in 2003 and was laid in Parliament in January 2004. Source: Ministry of Housing, Lands and the Environment, Government of Barbados This policy examines the core concepts of Sustainable Development upon which the national definition was built and in light of which specific policy statements are made. The main objectives of this policy are: to formulate (or provide) a national definition of Sustainable Development...[more]
The Government of Barbados wishes to develop and implement a national energy policy to mitigate the negative impacts of the oil prices and take advantage of national renewable and non-renewable resources. Source: Country experiences presented at the ECOSOC Annual Ministerial Review Currently, the Government is looking to expand the number of sources of renewable energy, which will include wind energy and fuel cane. According to the Draft Barbados National Energy Policy, Government is looking to introduce gasohol based on a 10 percent ethanol to gasoline mix. Under the reform of the sugar indu...[more]
