A Framework for Integrating Resilience Principles in Caribbean Small Island Developing States

It is broadly accepted that climate change is associated with infrastructure, economic and societal risk, and vulnerabilities across the globe. Developing island nations are more susceptible to climate change impacts due to the unique location and logistical challenges already faced by these countries, where their geographical isolation drives the need for closed systemic functions. Actions to mitigate climate change require practical, holistic, strategic solutions to enhance the resilience of island nations. Decision-analysis tools are also available for decision-makers to better understand trade-offs within their nation’s economic, social, and environmental sectors that will assist with the effective utilization of available economic opportunities and impacts due to climate change. This Thesis describes a framework of resilience principles for Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) that enhances infrastructure and societal resilience to climate shifts. It presents the application of comprehensive analysis techniques to demonstrate how decision-makers can identify areas of conflict, compare approach options, review stakeholder perspectives, and understand decision impacts and systemic trade-offs, including a detailed discussion of a multi-domain, climate-related issue of Illegal, Unreported, and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The results of the in-depth analysis confirm the need for policies, project prioritization, and asset management within complex, interconnected systems. Subsequently, the holistic framework and decision-making tools can be adapted for other climate-affected regions with characteristics similar to those of Caribbean SIDS.