The Green Economy in Trinidad

Dramatically shifting weather patterns and the increased frequency of powerful storms continue to whip up debate about climate change.

For the Caribbean, the symptoms of climate change are particularly menacing. Islands in the region face the threat of sea level rise. In Trinidad and Tobago, there are few places of human habitation that aren’t flood prone. We often find ourselves at the mercy of flash floods after only 30 minutes of rain.

Even as the conversation on climate change rages on, several countries are aggressively trying to develop a ‘green economy’. In China, where there is ever-growing demand for energy to prop up a mushrooming economy and expanding consumer appetites, this emerging superpower is investing in renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power. On the African continent, Uganda is spreading the gospel of organic farming, dramatically reducing harmful inputs like pesticides.

CEPEP takes on ‘greening’

Here in T&T, we are adopting our own brand of ‘greening’.

The CEPEP Company Limited has long been linked to environmental protection. It’s right there in the name - The Community-Based Environmental Protection and Enhancement Programme. This, however, goes far beyond a name or prevailing perceptions of what CEPEP is or does.

The concept of the green economy, as expressed through CEPEP, can be found in countless communities across Trinidad. A visit to the village of Lopinot in the northern part of the island provides a good example.

The Lopinot Valley is a good example of the green economy at work

This verdant valley is beautified further by the consistent input of CEPEP gangs trimming road verges, pushing back rebellious growth and reducing the hazards of blind corners along a very narrow road.

A battalion of green overall-ed residents descends on the river traversing this scenic community, clearing up the detritus of raucous weekend limes and riverside ‘cook ups’. On sandy river banks, countless bags of garbage are lined up, all collected by CEPEP workers for disposal.

Healthy environment, healthy revenue

Not seeing the green economy in this scenario yet? Well, Lopinot is an important tourist destination, revered not just for its riveting historical sites but the latent eco-tourism potential resident in its forests.

The sweat equity of the CEPEP worker helps to maintain the Lopinot tourism product, and, in so doing, supports the local business community.

CEPEP workers help keep the Lopinot tourism product in tip top shape

Visitors from at home and abroad, eager to sample what Lopinot has to offer, funnel critical support to small businesses in the community. They come, they frolic, buy food and drink. They may even collapse into a bed for a night or two at a guest house. It is this tourism revenue that allows residents to benefit directly from using their most precious resource, the environment, in a sustainable manner.

It is highly unlikely that visitors would find Lopinot a desirable location if they were confronted by hillocks of rubbish and rivers and streams smothered with gleefully discarded bottles.

Lopinot illustrates how CEPEP functions as an investment in development which has at its core environmental conservation. Outsiders may leave the place in a mess but CEPEP is always there to ensure that Lopinot, as an economic commodity inextricably tied to environmental preservation, will always attract fair market value.

As a small island acutely subject to increasingly capricious weather patterns attributed to global warming, we must wean ourselves off petrochemical dependency and diversify our economy. The work of The CEPEP Company Limited is an immensely important component in T&T’s march towards a green economy.