Sir Hilary: We need a new development paradigm for the 21st century…
as The UWI, SUNY meet with international development partners in New York to advance #ClimateAction
Regional Headquarters, Jamaica. Monday, 23 September 2019. “The world economy needs a new development paradigm for the 21st century,” says Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles. He made the statement on Friday, 20 September 2019, speaking at Global Partnerships for Climate Action—a Symposium arranged by The SUNY-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development (CLSD).
Addressing the gathering, Vice-Chancellor Beckles explained, “We are at the tail end of the 19th century development paradigm that was based on economic growth by all means necessary, including colonial exploitation, white supremacy, destruction of rainforests, financial institutions catering for elites, and disrespect for the environment and the poor. We all want inclusive development that is sustainable. But human and civil rights cannot be again ignored and set aside. Universities should never again support ‘development by any means necessary.”
The Symposium brought academics from The UWI, the State University of New York (SUNY), the joint SUNY-UWI Center, the Global University Consortium on SDG-13, a wide cross section of development partners—including the World Bank, the IDB, UNDP, UNECLAC, Association of Caribbean States (ACS) and many others—to the SUNY Global Center in New York on the eve of the UN Global Climate Summit. All speakers reiterated the need for collaboration in advancing climate action.
Speaking on behalf of SUNY, Provost, Dr. Tod Laursen said, “We really view substantive engagement with the sustainability agenda as a core mission for us. It’s also very clear that issues like climate change interventions require not only reacting effectively…but also coming before and thinking together proactively about interventions that we can design and mechanisms that we can try to have in place that can anticipate what seems to be this sort of endlessly increasing frequency and severity of events such as we’ve just seen [in The Bahamas]. It’s going to require international collaboration.”
Describing one of the UNDP’s major initiatives to support the region, in his remarks, Dr. López-Calva Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean underscored, “it is very important that we partner with academia.” He noted that earlier that morning the UNDP signed a Memorandum of Understanding with The UWI, for a blue economy initiative, which is “an opportunity to bring productivity, inclusion and resilience to the countries which will be manifested in better lives for everyone in the Caribbean.”
During the four-hour high level consultation, development partners and academia discussed mechanisms to strengthen the interface between knowledge, policy and practice; the practical application of research into climate innovations; research communication and advocacy in generating much-needed development impact at the grassroots level, and how to tackle climate change challenges.
In her wrap-up at the end of the Symposium, Dr. Stacy Richards-Kennedy, Director, Office of Development at The UWI pointed out, “To address climate change, it will, no doubt, require multilateral approaches…It will require multi-stakeholder approaches. It will entail multiplying and cascading the knowledge and skills that will enable the efficient channelling of those resources and the effective execution of targeted inter-sectoral projects…It is our combined knowledge powerhouses and our joint action that will guide us to the development solutions our world so desperately needs. We must be very deliberate about this…we cannot expect this to happen organically or accept that mere lip service paid to education, research and innovation; our present day expenses are in fact, critical investments in a more sustainable future.” She concluded, “Today’s Symposium has sought to go a step further, for it is not what we know that is important or that will make a difference in the world; it is what we do, given what we know!”
Moving forward, in its capacity as global leader in the mobilisation of research and advocacy for the achievement of a climate-smart world, appointed by the International Association of Universities (IAU), The UWI will continue to harness its global partnerships to strengthen the transfer of knowledge and have a greater influence on policy, industry practice and advocacy.
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Notes to the Editor:
Photo Captions (high resolution images available for download here)
- Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles, speaking at Global Partnerships for Climate Action on Friday, 20 September 2019 in New York.
- L-R: Vice-Chancellor of The University of the West Indies (UWI), Professor Sir Hilary Beckles; Permanent Observer of CARICOM to the United Nations, Ambassador Angela Missouri Sherman-Peter; Dr. Luis Felipe López-Calva, Assistant Secretary General and Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean and SUNY, Provost, Dr. Tod Laursen who all delivered remarks during the opening of Global Partnerships for Climate Action in New York on Friday, 20 September 2019.
- L-R: Moderator and speakers from the first panel, Partnerships for Development Impact: The Climate Imperative at Global Partnerships for Climate Action in New York on Friday, 20 September 2019.
- L-R: Moderator and speakers from the second panel, From Evidence to Action: Moving Knowledge to Policy & Practice at Global Partnerships for Climate Action in New York on Friday, 20 September 2019.
- Dr. Stacy Richards-Kennedy, Director, Office of Development at The UWI speaking at Global Partnerships for Climate Action in New York on Friday, 20 September 2019.
More About the Symposium
The Symposium included two panels. The first, Partnerships for Development Impact: The Climate Imperative, moderated by Ms. Golda Lee Bruce, Development Storyteller & Communications Coordinator at IDB, included Dr. Stephen Hammer, Adviser, Global Partnerships and Strategy, Climate Change Group from the World Bank; Prof. John Agard, Professor of Tropical Island Ecology from The UWI St. Augustine Campus; Ambassador Dr. June Soomer, Secretary General, Association of Caribbean States; Mr. Ryan McPherson, Chief Sustainability Officer, University at Buffalo, SUNY and Ms. Joanna Eagan, Director of North America Business Development and Sales at Zero Mass Water.
The second panel entitled, From Evidence to Action: Moving Knowledge to Policy & Practice, was Moderated by Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal, Pro Vice-Chancellor Global Affairs, The UWI. It included Prof. Kerim Nisancioglu, Professor of Climate Dynamics, University of Bergen; Ms. Diane Quarless, Chief, ECLAC Sub-regional Headquarters for the Caribbean; Prof. Minghua Zhang, Interim Provost & SUNY Distinguished Professor in Atmospheric Science, Stony Brook University; Prof. Michael Taylor, Professor of Climate Science, The UWI Mona Campus and Ms. Racquel Moses, CEO, Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator.
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About The UWI
For over 70 years The University of the West Indies (The UWI) has provided service and leadership to the Caribbean region and wider world. The UWI has evolved from a university college of London in Jamaica with 33 medical students in 1948 to an internationally respected, regional university with near 50,000 students and five campuses: Mona in Jamaica, St. Augustine in Trinidad and Tobago, Cave Hill in Barbados, Five Islands in Antigua and Barbuda and an Open Campus. As part of its robust globalization agenda, The UWI has established partnering centres with universities in North America, Latin America, Asia, and Africa including the State University of New York (SUNY)-UWI Center for Leadership and Sustainable Development; the Canada-Caribbean Studies Institute with Brock University; the Strategic Alliance for Hemispheric Development with Universidad de los Andes (UNIANDES); the UWI-China Institute of Information Technology, the University of Lagos (UNILAG)-UWI Institute of African and Diaspora Studies and the Institute for Global African Affairs with the University of Johannesburg (UJ). The UWI offers over 800 certificate, diploma, undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Food & Agriculture, Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Science & Technology, Social Sciences and Sport.
As the region’s premier research academy, The UWI’s foremost objective is driving the growth and development of the regional economy. The world’s most reputable ranking agency, Times Higher Education, has ranked The UWI among the top 600 universities in the world for 2019, and the 40 best universities in Latin America and the Caribbean for 2018 and 2019.The UWI has been the only Caribbean-based university to make the prestigious lists. For more, visit www.uwi.edu.
(Please note that the proper name of the university is The University of the West Indies, inclusive of the “The”, hence The UWI.)
