Navigating the Triple D’s: Implications of De-Globalisation, Decarbonisation and Digitalisation for the Caribbean Region
The Seminar is being held against the backdrop of an increasingly multi-polar world marked by an intensification of geo-economic fragmentation both in the physical and digital space. At the same time, a number of potentially transformational transitions are occurring on several fronts. In the Caribbean, while transition risk has slowed somewhat, the vulnerability to climate change is becoming much more acute. As a result, climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies are continuing and need to step-up notwithstanding the withdrawal of key players from major global climate initiatives. Regional digitalisation efforts have also accelerated across the private and public sectors, with artificial intelligence adoption gaining a foothold, aiding structural transformation. However, region’s technological and technical deficit needs to be adequately address for rapid economic transformation. Finally, legacy issues related to high public debt and demographic trends (population ageing coupled with the outward migration of skilled labour) will no doubt stoke fiscal unsustainability if left unduly unattended.
The confluence of these transitional factors calls for an amplification of research efforts since the nature and outcomes of their interactions with conventional economic and financial constructs are somewhat ambiguous. In this regard, the Seminar seeks to inspire discourse among regional academics and policymakers to confront these challenges head-on. More importantly, the Seminar strives to couple the development of Caribbean-specific approaches with actionable initiatives that can be adopted to catapult the region towards transformative economic and financial sustainability.