Tourism represents a major challenge to Caribbean policymakers in the face of a deepening environmental crisis. The sector is central to the economies of most island states, but it is also a source of environmental problems. To both keep tourism alive and successfully manage climate change, changes are necessary.
Against the backdrop of the Maui wildfires, U.S. President Joe Biden is facing renewed calls to declare a climate emergency but has been hedging on whether to do so for political reasons. But Biden is overlooking an untapped source of political capital that would ease the declaration of a climate emergency: the U.S. military.
Reducing deforestation in the Amazon is good policy, but as last week’s summit bringing together leaders of the Amazonian countries demonstrated, it can make for difficult politics. Instead of arriving at regional solutions, the summit exposed divisions in South America on a topic that is high on the global environmental agenda.