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# The relationship between science and policy in the fight against climate change in Haiti

Raymonde Raymond

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Raymonde Raymond. The relationship between science and policy in the fight against climate change in Haiti. 2025. hal-05041029

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# The relationship between science and policy in the fight against climate change in Haiti

*Managing Haiti's adaptation to climate change requires a scientific approach*

Raymonde RAYMOND

Climate Change Research Team (ERC2), Quisqueya University, Port-au-Prince, Haiti

## 1- Haiti's increased vulnerability to climate change and common measures to be considered

Without overlooking the major responsibility of the political dimension in Haiti's problems, the country is facing immense challenges, including those imposed by climatic events, which are not the easiest issues to tackle and manage, either by the public authorities or by the population itself. The country has fallen prey to numerous natural disasters, and is suffering the horrors of the authorities' inability to put it on the road to development. With each disaster and political event, the country's vulnerability increases.

According to World Bank figures, Haiti, with a population of around 12 million, is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Its geographical situation does not favour it either, as its position in the path of climatic events and its heightened vulnerability mean that 93% of its surface area and 96% of its population are affected by the effects of at least two natural disasters (GDFRR, 2017). It is particularly prone to hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, landslides and floods. Deforestation for the construction of housing and other goods, and the production of charcoal to help alleviate the poverty that particularly threatens Haitian rural families, are human activities that also greatly degrade its environment and provide a breeding ground for the impacts of climatic hazards. According to German Watch's Global Climate Risk Index (GCRI), Haiti is the second SIDS to be severely affected by climate change, and the first of the 20 countries most affected by meteorological disasters over the last twenty years (2018).<fnref n="1" />

For several decades now, we have been witnessing the repetition and intensification of these extreme events due to global warming, which is causing significant changes in the Haitian environment and in the living conditions of the population. It should also be pointed out that every time a natural disaster strikes, enormous human and economic losses are recorded, as well as significant material damage. The toll is always very heavy. According to data recorded in a joint study by ECLAC, UNDP and the Ministry of the Environment (UNDP, 2009), between 2004 and 2008 Haiti suffered successive natural disasters, with losses equivalent to almost 10% of its GDP. The damage caused by the earthquake in 2010 has been estimated at nearly 14 billion dollars, with

<footnote n="1">¹ https://www.germanwatch.org/sites/default/files/publication/20397.pdf</footnote>
just under 1.5 million people left homeless (Jabouin, 2010). In 2016, following the passage of Hurricane Matthew, the departments of Sud and Grand' Anse were the hardest hit, particularly the housing sector, where losses were estimated at US$490.1 million. These two departments were affected by 18% and 52% respectively, and the towns in the latter were completely devastated.

The magnitude 7.2 earthquake on 14 August 2021, followed by tropical depression Grace during the night of 16 to 17 August, 2 days later, left more than 2,000 people dead, more than 12,000 injured and 340 missing. Towns, farms, entire fields and buildings were destroyed, leaving communities in disarray.

Climate change has never had so much significance as it does today, when it has become a subject that occupies our daily lives and requires global understanding and management. The issue of climate change represents a real challenge for all societies, as it has an inextricable impact on human life in all regions of the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has clearly drawn our attention to the fact that no society or geographical area will be immune to the impacts of climate change (IPCC 2021). And Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations, had this to say: "The alarm bells are ringing and the evidence is irrefutable, ... if we join forces now, we can avert a global climate catastrophe and there is no time to lose and no excuses to be made" (UN 2021).

Working Group I on the scientific basis of climate change has shown that climate change has become more widespread and intense. In the face of these statements, the world is worried, state authorities and scientists are sceptical about the future of planet earth if we do not strive to provide a response commensurate with the intensity of its impacts. We must stand united against this global scourge by taking measures that will influence the way humanity and nature react in the future.

The implementation of the recommendations made by the UN Secretary General can only be achieved through global, national and local awareness and synergistic collaboration between nations, using science as the driving force behind this great ship of shared responsibility. All the reports and predictions on the future of the planet are chilling, and the deadline for the 2030 Agenda, including MDG 13, is very close, while the challenges are growing and the urgent need for action is irrefutable. The answers we need to provide can only come from our empirical knowledge of our respective and shared challenges. The Director of TWAS, Quarraisha Abdool Karim, reinforces this evidence by stressing that the geographical diversity of these challenges requires a detailed understanding of the key factors, with specialist skills and local, regional and international think tanks of the present and the future (TWAS 2023). These speeches highlight the fundamental role that science, researchers and academics must play in the search for sustainable solutions.

## 2- Scientific diplomacy, a new normal for Haiti

This global synergy, in which science is central, can only be achieved through the pivotal role of science diplomacy, and Haiti can only play its part by incorporating this dimension into its public policies. A definition of science diplomacy? This concept, which originated two decades ago in a report by the Royal Society of London and the American Association for Advancement of Science (AAAS) entitled New Frontiers in Science Diplomacy, has three dimensions: science for diplomacy (using scientific cooperation to improve relations between countries), science in
diplomacy (using scientific expertise to shed light on foreign policy issues) and diplomacy for science (promoting scientific cooperation between countries). More recently, Jean-Christophe Mauduit and Margua Gual Soler (2020) have defined it as a rapidly expanding field that seeks to understand and promote the relationship between science, technology and international affairs in order to respond to both national and international problems.

At a time of internal crisis and extreme vulnerability to climate hazards, Haiti has an opportunity to engage in scientific diplomacy. Its scientists need to be a compass for Haiti's leaders, and they also need to work beyond the country's borders. Unfortunately, the decisions taken by the Haitian authorities have almost no scientific basis, because the State is not investing in supporting Haitian researchers with a view to giving them the means to promote and popularise their research. It does not create the link that should exist between us and the public, with a view to informing and training them to better understand their role and the behaviour they should adopt, nor does it encourage the networking of our universities to share knowledge and expertise.

Like Kiribati diplomat Christine Green, I would say that Haiti's future must be scientific. Politicians must make decisions based on the results of scientific research and ancestral knowledge to provide innovative solutions that will enable the population to adapt and develop sustainably as climate change evolves.

Climate change is paving the way for a new era in which scientific diplomacy will enable developed countries and their scientists to work with those in developing countries, including Haitian researchers, academics, scientists and teachers, so that they have access to all the knowledge and so that Haiti also has access to the funds and information available for better government management of climate change. As a very vulnerable SIDS, we lack the resources for our adaptation policies, and the climate issue is virtually unknown to the vast majority of Haitians, especially those living in remote areas.

For this new normality of science diplomacy to be the prerogative of our country, the Haitian state must make a new commitment to science. It must create the conditions for the creation and implementation of a Science Policy to respond to our country's environmental, societal and economic challenges. So what does science policy do? It is the set of coordinated measures taken by governments to promote the development of scientific and technological research and, in particular, to guide the exploitation of research results with the aim of advancing a country's economic growth and well-being. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia. It encourages freedom of research and open exchange with other institutions or states. But the Haitian government is still ten thousand miles away from this approach, and until it incorporates it into its public policies, it will be difficult, if not impossible, for the country to meet the challenges of the environment and climate change and achieve sustainable economic growth.

It must also bring to the attention of the private sector the need to invest in science and research because, according to Basil Burk of ELGAE Associates: "*The growth of science and research for economic development will be closely linked to private sector investment and the resulting growth in GDP*" (TWAS 2015).

On the basis of all these points, we can say that Haiti can only participate in this global fight against the effects of global warming and prepare its population to adapt to extreme events by advancing science. By giving us Haitian researchers, academics, scientists and teachers the means to play our part through a strong *Science Policy*.
## Conclusion

Despite its institutional and structural weaknesses, Haiti cannot miss the opportunity to enter the corridor of major decisions taken by the Parties to the UNFCCC and other multilateral bodies. It must draw up a development plan that includes not only policies to adapt to and mitigate climate change, but also to protect its population and reduce its vulnerability.

Because science framed in a science policy and promoted through science diplomacy will give scientists, researchers, academics, technicians, teachers, investors and national and international political decision-makers the opportunity to converse, share our experiences and ideas, our human and financial resources for joint action and effective management of global and local challenges.

Let's not forget that the deadline for the 2030 Agenda, i.e. the implementation of the 17 post-2015 SDGs, is 6 years away. So let's wake up and get involved for a developing Haiti that is resilient in the face of climate change.

## References

* GFDRR (2017). *Programme de Prévention des Risques liés aux Catastrophes Naturelles is an initiative of ACP, EU, World Bank, GFDRR.*

* GERMAN WATCH (2018). *Global Climate Risk Index CRI.*

* UNDP (2009). *Study of the Socioeconomic Impacts of Climate Change in Haiti and Adaptation Responses.*

* Jabouin (2010). *Post-earthquake Haiti: some effects of the 12 January 2010 disaster on the local population.*

* IPCC. (2021). *Sixth Assessment Report.*

* UN. (2021). *Climate: the IPCC's new report is a "red alert for humanity.*

* TWAS (2023). *Science is essential to sustainable development.*

* Mauduit, Gual Soler (2020). *The science of science diplomacy: mobilising science to meet today's major challenges.*

* AAAS (2010). *New Frontiers of Science Diplomacy.*

* Canadian Encyclopedia (2006). *Science policy*

* TWAS (2015). *Investing in the future of the Caribbean.*