Port-of-Spain, September 5, 2024 – Executive Director of the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), Nicole Leotaud, has been awarded an HRH The Prince of Wales Scholarship for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), which will support her research on intersectional climate justice in Caribbean rural communities while on sabbatical at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom. 

The Chair of CANARI’s Board of Directors/Partnership, Cletus Springer, confirmed the Board’s endorsement of the Executive Director’s sabbatical and research, noting that, “This reflects the Institute’s commitment to supporting our staff’s professional development to ensure that the Institute’s work remains at the cutting edge of addressing the complex sustainable development challenges faced in Caribbean SIDS, including the climate change crisis.”

The Caribbean and other SIDS are among the most vulnerable countries to climate change, which poses an existential threat to communities, economic sectors and natural ecosystems. Impacts already being felt include more intense hurricanes and storms, periods of drought, coastal erosion due to sea level rise, coral bleaching due to higher sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification. If greenhouse gas emissions continue and global temperature exceeds 1.5˚C, these impacts will threaten the very existence of our way of life in the Caribbean and other SIDSthat have contributed the least to global emissions. The impacts of climate change are often hardest on the most vulnerable and marginalised groups, including small-scale farmers and fisherfolk, rural women producers, elderly and disabled persons, the income poor, migrants, Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities and LGBTQIA+ persons. 

Ms Leotaud’s research will explore how climate injustice is experienced in rural Caribbean villages, and how it intersects with other forms of injustice being experienced. She will assess to what extent climate adaptation responses are using a climate justice approach to address intersectional vulnerabilities and discrimination, and how affected groups are expressing political voice and agency in seeking climate justice. 

The research will draw on CANARI’s work supporting Caribbean communities to build resilience to climate change and amplifying voices of those most vulnerable. It will inform development of multi-dimensional approaches to ensure that work by CANARI and others in the Caribbean purposely addresses intersectional injustices and is grounded in a human rights approach to support those who are most vulnerable and marginalised.

Ms Leotaud will be conducting this research on climate justice under a Master of Philosophy in Development Studies at Cambridge University. This will also give her the opportunity to critically reflect on her nearly 20 years of experience at CANARI in the context of key theories, concepts and methodologies underlying interdisciplinary approaches to development. 

Her sabbatical will extend from September 2024 to June 2025, during which time Anna Cadiz-Hadeed, CANARI’s Programmes Director, will serve as CANARI’s Acting Executive Director, ensuring continuity in the Institute’s leadership and ongoing initiatives. With almost 15 years of experience at CANARI, Ms Cadiz-Hadeed has worked closely with the Executive Director for the past five years to co-lead CANARI and will facilitate a seamless transition.

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About CANARI: The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is a regional technical non-profit institute which has been working across the Caribbean islands for more than 30 years. Our mission is to promote and facilitate stakeholder participation in the stewardship of natural resources in the Caribbean. Our work focuses on Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Equity and Justice, Participatory Governance and Resilience, with Innovation as a cross-cutting theme. For more information, see https://canari.org/. 

About HRH The Prince of Wales Scholarship for Small Island Developing States: This scholarship is part of a new programme of climate action scholarships for University of Cambridge postgraduate students from small island nations. For more information, see: https://www.cambridgetrust.org/our-scholarships/highlighted-scholarships/hrh-the-prince-of-wales-scholarships-for-small-island-developing-states