Barbados

Barbados

This page is part of the Small Island Developing States Project
Capital	Bridgetown
Population	281,000
Land Area	431 sq km
GDP (US$)	$5.47 B
GDP Per Capita	$19,300
CO2 Emissions	1.3 megatons
CO2 Per Capita	4.5 tons
NAPA†	none
Natl. Comm. to the UNFCCC	October 2001
† = National Adaptation Program of Action Megaton = 1 million tons (1 billion kg / 2.205 billion lb)

Barbados is a small island developing state (SIDS) located in the Caribbean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles island group, located near the southern end of the Caribbean island chain. The country has experienced strong economic growth, mostly through tourism and offshore banking, which has contributed to its citizens' relatively high quality of life. As a small, low-lying island, Barbados is highly susceptible to the risks of sea level rise brought about by climate change.

Background

Barbados is the most eastern of the Caribbean small island countries. The country is an island with a total area of 431 sq km (166 sq miles), half the area of New York City. The landmass is a coral-limestone formation, with 85% of its surface comprised of limestone. The country is relatively flat and gently slopes up to a central highland region, with the highest point at 340 m (1,115 ft) above sea level. It is 34 km (21 miles) long and 23 km (14 miles) wide at its maximum points, and has a coastline of 97 km (60 miles). The country has a tropical maritime climate. Average daily temperatures are around 24-28 °C (75-82 °F), moderated by cool northeasterly trade winds from the Atlantic. The rain season lasts from July through December. The coast averages 1.3 meters of annual rainfall, while the inland averages 1.9 meters.¹ Although Barbados lies just outside the normal path of Atlantic hurricanes, it has been hit by 58 severe rainfall (flood) and wind events have been documented from 1955-2000.² The last hurricane to cause major damage was Hurricane Allen in 1980.³ More recently, Hurricane Dean in 2007 caused storm surge and minor damage.⁴

Barbados became independent of British rule in 1966, though it continues to recognize the head of the British royal family as its Head of State. The government is a parliamentary democracy modeled after the British government. The two major parties are both moderate, and there have been no notable periods of political turmoil. The capital is located in Bridgetown.⁵

View Barbados in a larger map

Barbados' population and infrastructure are concentrated along the coasts.

The population of Barbados is approximately 281,000 (2009 est.). It has a relatively low population growth rate; for example, the 2007 population growth rate was 0.4%. Most people live along the western and southern coasts. Population density on the island is 652 people per sq km (0.39 sq. miles), making it one of the denser populated countries in the world. The great majority of the people in Barbados are descendants of African slaves brought to the island by British colonialists. Less than 10% are white or Asian. Over 60% of islanders identify themselves as Protestant, mostly Anglican or Pentecostal.⁶

Barbados's gross domestic product (GDP) is $5.47 billion or $19,300 per person (2008 est.), giving it one of the region's highest per capita incomes. The estimated GDP growthrate in 2008 was 1.5%. The country's debt level equals 20% of annual GDP. The economy formerly relied heavily on sugar production. After Barbados became independent the economy started to diversify, and currently sugar contributes only 2% to GDP.⁷ The economy now is driven predominantly by tourism, while offshore banking and financial services are important emerging sectors. Light manufacturing of goods also contributes to the economy.⁸ Apart from the sugar industry, agricultural production is relatively small in the country. Fisheries are estimated to contribute around 1% to the GDP.⁹

Barbados has around 5 sq km (1.9 sq miles) of bank reefs and 1.4 sq km (0.5 sq miles) of fringing reefs located on the west, south west, south east, east and the north of the island. The health of the coral reefs varies.¹⁰ Environmental issues in Barbados include pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal by ships, soil erosion, illegal solid waste disposal threatens contamination of aquifers.¹¹

Impacts and threats

Sea level rise as a result of climate change, and related coastal erosion and innundation are already occurring, and will accelerate in the future. The high population density in combination with the fact that a large part of the population lives in coastal areas and a lot of infrastructure has been built on the coast, makes Barbados very vulnerable to these impacts. Luckily, however, most coastal infrastructure has been built to withstand extreme weather conditions, including hurricanes. Under the Global Environment Faciltity and World Bank financed Caribbean Planning Adaptation to Climate Change project, which was implemented from 1997 to 2001, an initial coastal vulnerability assessment was conducted.¹² This assessment showed that mainly the northwest, west, and southwest coasts are vulnerable, as they are low lying, sandy and narrow. ¹³ The frequency of flooding will also increase, as rainfall increases during certain periods of the year. Barbados has a relatively good financial capacity to construct flood prevention infrastructure, but increased spending on flood prevention will mean that less budget is available for other important sectors.¹⁴

The greater area of Bridgetown, capital city of Barbados

Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Acp. Permission: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Fresh water and agricultural water resources are likely to be threatened by the impacts of climate change, as Barbados is almost entirely dependent on groundwater. Sea level rise can easily result in saltwater intrusion in the freshwater aquifers, and changed patterns of rainfall can lead to periods of drought.¹⁵ As Barbados already has difficulty in providing sufficient water for it's population and for the tourism industry, it has invested in a highly expensive desalinisation plant. If less groundwater becomes available in the future, the costs of water provision will increase significantly.¹⁶

Economic impacts of climate change are expected to become visible mainly in the tourism and sugar sectors. In it's 2001 First National Communication to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the government described that changes in the frequency of rainfall cause dry spells to become increasingly common to impact the penetration of rainfall into the limestones aquifer. As sugar plants are dependent on the limestone aquifers, this would have a negative impact on the already suffering sugar industry. The tourism industry is mainly threatened by the risk of damage of coastal infrastructure as a result of increases in sea level and increased occurences of hurricanes. In addition, as most tourists come to Barbados to enjoy the beaches, coastal erosion can have negative impacts. As Uyarra et al. conclude in 2005, more than 80% of tourists in Barbados would be unwilling to return for the same holiday price in the event of reduced beach area as a result of sea level rise.¹⁷ As tourism contributes significantly to the economy, a decline in this sector would seriously impact the lifelihood of the country. Coral bleaching, as a result of rising sea water temperatures, is likely to impact fisheries, although more research needs to be done to specify expected impacts. ¹⁸

Adaptation and mitigation strategies

Mitigation

Barbados' main source of greenhouse gas emissions is the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation and transportation. To reduce these emissions and lower reliance on fuel imports, the government has conducted studies to assess the feasibility of wind farming and sugarcane fuel production. Based on 2007 fuel prices, these studies found that the proposed facilities together could save over US$30 million in fuel import costs annually, while reducing the country's contribution to climate change. These findings helped approve these projects, but their status at this time in unknown. The government is also taking steps to increase energy efficiency and promote use of solar energy through tax incentives and other policies.¹⁹

A sugarcane field in Saint Lucy, Barbados.

Source: Wikimedia Commons. Author: Postdlf. Permission: Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Adaptation

In a 2007 presentation to the UNFCCC, the director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit explained that the government of Barbados focuses most of its adaption work on land preservation and protection. The Coastal Zone Management Unit uses three methodologies for doing so.

It applies the methodology of 'do nothing' in underdeveloped locatons on the east coast of the country. According to the presentation the approach "allows for the natural buffer action of the backshore areas to absorb much energy waves experienced on open coastal sections."
It uses 'maintain' or 'hard options', including building of revetments and sea walls, in highly developed coastal areas. The success of the various hard options in Barbados have varied.
It also utilizes 'control ' or 'soft options'. These options include: "vegetation or revegetation of areas; vegetative matting on bluff faces to aid in bluff face stabilization; and enforcement of coastal related legislation specifically for the protection of some vegetation species and building setbacks, and the prevention beach sand mining."²⁰

In Barbados, the Coastal Zone Management Unit of the Ministry of Environment Energy and Natural Resources is responsible for reviewing planning applications for developments in the coastal zone, conducting monitoring and research, enforcing the Coastal Zone Management Act and any subsidiary regulations, and acting as the advisor and lead focal point for coastal zone management for the Government of Barbados. Coastal adaptations options mainly include the implementation of set backs and zones for coastal buildings, a building code for coastal buildings, beach nourishment in order to enhance resilience of a particular beach, or the construction of groynes, revetments and breakwaters.²¹

There are many categories of water resource adaptation options that might be considered, namely: (i) reworking of distribution and management policy; (ii) improved water resources assessments; (iii) demand management; (iv) improved public education; (v) revision of metering and pricing policy; (vi) employment of water conservation practices and devices; (vii) leakage detection and control; (viii) use of physical options to combat changes in the level of the salt water interface; and the (ix) use of technological options to augment water supply. The majority of adaptation options with regards to agriculture will focus on doing the suitable research on climatic conditions in the future and the selection of appropriate varieties of crops for cultivation in the changing climatic conditions. There is also a need for capacity building in the area agricultural research as it pertains to climate change, as well as a source of funding for such activity.²²

To help manage stresses placed on the island's ecosystem from climate change and other factors, Barbados created a National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), in partnership with the United Nations Environmental Programme and the Global Environment Facility. The NBSAP included projects to, among others, increase knowledge of the island's biodiversity and how it is being affected by various stressors, update and improve national wildlife protection policies and strategies, protect vulnerable areas of the island, improve pollution regulation, and strengthen institutional capacities.²³

Climate change can have a great impact on countries that mainly live off tourism. According to a study from 2002, more than 80% of tourists that visited Barbados in the past would not return to the island for the same price in case of further coral bleaching and reduced beach area. Therefor, environmental management strategies are needed to prevent severe economic repercussions.²⁴ Further investment in eco-tourism could be one solution.

Barbados, as part of the Caribbean Planning for Adaptation to Climate Change project (CPACC), has been monitoring the sea level and is therewith preparing for future coastal development projects.²⁵ Collaboration of all the Caribbean countries that are facing likewise problems is essential to avert further harm. The Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit for example has been working with their St. Lucian counterparts to help them set up a similar force.²⁶

Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Wiki Project
Small Island Developing States
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Atlantic and Caribbean	Anguilla; Antigua and Barbuda; Aruba; the Bahamas; Barbados; Belize; British Virgin Islands; Cape Verde; Cuba; Dominica; the Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guinea-Bissau; Guyana; Haiti; Jamaica; Montserrat; Netherlands Antilles; Puerto Rico; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; São Tomé and Principe; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Pacific Ocean	American Somoa; Commonwealth of Northern Marianas; Cook Islands; Federated States of Micronesia; Fiji; French Polynesia; Guam; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Nauru; New Caledonia; Niue; Palau; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Timor-Lesté; Tonga; Tuvalu; and Vanuatu.
Indian Ocean	Bahrain; Comoros; the Maldives; Mauritius; the Seychelles; and Singapore.
Initiatives and Sponsors
Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS); Asian Development Bank (ADB); Barbados Programme of Action (BPoA); Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC); Global Environment Facility (GEF); Global Sustainable Energy Islands Initiative (GSEII); Inter-American Development Bank (IADB); Organization of American States (OAS); Pacific Islands Forum (PIF); Red Cross/Red Crescent Climate Centre (RC/RCCC); Small Island Developing States Network (SIDSNet); South Pacific Regional Environment Program (SPREP); United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC); United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); United States Agency for International Development (USAID); World Bank (WB)
Related Topics
Ocean Acidification

Footnotes

1. CIA. The World Factbook. Barbados. Retrieved on: 25 June 2009.

2. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p.34.

3. Caribbean Disaster Information Network. Barbados. Retrieved on: 25 June 2009.

4. National Hurricane Center. Tropical Hurricane Report Cyclone Dean. January 31 2008.

5. U.S. Department of State. Barbados Retrieved on: 25 June 2009.

6. CIA. The World Factbook. Barbados. Retreived on: 25 June 2009.

7. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communications to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 17.

8. CIA. The World Factbook. Barbados. Retrieved on: 29 June 2009.

9. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 41.

10. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 40.

11. Intute. Barbados. Retrieved on: 29 June 2009.

12. CARICOM. Caribbean Planning For Adaptation To Climate Change (CPACC) Project. Retrieved on: 29 June 2009.

13. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 26-30.

14. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 34, 38-39.

15. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 31.

16. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 31, 46

17. Uyarra et al. Island-specific preferences of tourists for environmental features: implications of climate change for tourism-dependent states. Environmental Conservation 32 (1): 11–19. 2005. p. 11.

18. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 22, 40-42.

19. T. Innis. UNDP. Barbados’ Progress Towards Achieving the MDGs. June 2007. p.65-6

20. Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit. Leo Brewster. Coastal Erosion Risk Mitigation Strategies applied in a Small Island Developing State: The Barbados Model. Presented at the UNFCCC Expert Meeting on SIDS Adaptation to Climate Change. Jamaica. February 2007.

21. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. 43.

22. Government of Barbados. Barbados' First National Communication to the UNFCCC. October 2001. p. xiii-xiv.

23. Government of Barbados. National Biodiversity Strategy & Action Plan for Barbados. To the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. June 2002. p. 19-20 (xvii-xviii).

24. Uyarra et al. Island-specific preferences of tourists for environmental features: implications of climate change for tourism-dependent states. Environmental Conservation 32 (1): 11–19. 2005.

25. United Nations. 2002 Johannesburg Summit. Barbados Country Profile. Retrieved on: 18 June 2009.

26. Caribbean Environment Programme. Barbados Provides Coastal Zone Technical Cooperation for St Lucia. UNEP. Retrieved on: 20 June 2009.

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