I am a Master of Science in Planning candidate at the University of Toronto with an interest in entrepreneurial and business approaches to environmental stewardship.  My research interest in investigating the role of ecosystem service markets, such as carbon markets, in Caribbean tourism planning led to me to pursue a three month internship with the ministry of Energy & Mining and the Office of the Prime Minister – Environmental Management group in the Government of Jamaica. 

The Government of Jamaica sought to create and implement a National Carbon Emission Trading Policy to foster the country’s engagement in carbon trading.  I was assigned to revise the first draft of the policy document by incorporating a policy framework that would be inclusive of best practices in carbon trading and reflective of the major concerns of the Carbon Emission Trading Policy taskforce, which consisted of representatives from those ministries thought to have a significant stake in carbon trading.  My internship culminated in a stakeholder consultation presentation to garner feedback on the latest draft from the public sector and select environmental and NGO groups.

In so doing, I gained valuable insights for understanding the current state of environmental governance in Jamaica and how it can be strengthened through the policy making process.  My insights on the policy making process in Jamaica are shared below.

Policy making in practice: Setting the policy agenda right

Policy can be defined as the actions that the government will or will not do to solve a problem, to address an opportunity, or to change behavior.  However, I found that the motivation to create policy is often not driven by this definition, but rather by the need to respond to a peripheral matter.

Carbon emission trading has the potential to offer significant environmental, socio-economic and financial benefits to developing countries, such as Jamaica.  However, the intent to develop the carbon emission trading policy arose instead from the need for the government to process some pending carbon project development applications.   As the policy directive was based on this peripheral and narrow view, as the policy writer, I sought through the policy content to set the policy agenda right to fit the holistic issue of maximizing the benefits for Jamaica from carbon emission trading, such as enabling the country’s transition towards a green economy.  However, I felt that this objective essentially could only be achieved if the policy had effective support from the government officials and decision makers in the various ministries involved.  As the top-tiered officials in the process often lack the detailed knowledge about the subject matter, I would hope that the middle-tiered officials policy makers would inform and influence the final decision makers as what the true direction of the policy ought to be.

I believe that achieving this requirement, however, is difficult, as some government officials seemed too overcommitted to be adequately engaged in the process.  I also observed that their motivation to be active participants in the process was challenged by their perceived lack of effective power in decision making.  They cited numerous examples of cases where final decisions were made contrary to their recommendations of what would be in the best interest of the country.  They are also argued that political issues that were not appropriately communicated often took precedence in the decision making; regardless of how well the policy maker articulated his argument or crafted the policy document. 

I also observed a clear distinction between what is versus what ought to be in policy making.  As typical of developing countries, the government of Jamaica is constrained by limited resources and inadequate capacity building, leading to a tendency to prioritize short term results over long-term planning.  As carbon trading is an emerging development and evolving concept that is driven by the developed world and linked to futuristic consequences of the climate change, the perceived risk could explain what I had observed to be the government’s tentativeness or apparent inability in fully embrace the opportunity and commit its appropriate resources towards developing carbon trading.  As a result, I was faced with the tension of writing the policy document according to the limited scope of the present reality versus the holistic sense of what it ought to be. 

I also found the disparity in the level of awareness in the public sector about the potential implications of carbon trading as another factor influencing the ability to set the policy agenda right.  I thought that some ministries were more engaged than others in the policy making process and cultural differences amongst the various ministries were displayed.  As a result, I know that varying interpretations of the future role and prospects of carbon trading exist in the public sector.  For example, I was told by one policy maker that the political view that carbon trading is a hoax for developed countries to sell their pollution to poor countries and to excuse their emission emitting behavior was one interpretation held by the highest level of government. 

This interpretation serves also as another example of the disconnection between the subject area experts and the final decision makers.  I felt that this view could hamper the policy from being written and implemented as it ought to be, unless the policy maker could influence the final decision maker to think differently.  But, I believe that fatigue in struggling with legitimacy of power would affect the policy maker’s willingness and ability to do so.  I also think that the culture and leadership of the ministry would also play a strong role in this regard.  If the ministry has strong leadership looking to instill values of progression and change, champions and advocates will arise for the various policy issues from within the various ministries.  However, as in the case of the Ministry of Energy & Mining, the lead ministry on the taskforce, frequent leadership changes from political shuffling impeded the momentum in setting the policy agenda right that comes from strong and dedicated leadership.   

Once the policy agenda has been set, its translation into the policy framework will depend how the issues are interpreted and negotiated by the various parties.  To allow this negotiation to occur in the best interest of the country, I believe that a culture of empowerment ought to be instilled within the public sector, a seemingly difficult ideal to achieve.   There are a lot of dedicated people in the government with the intellectual rigor needed to champion and advocate appropriately for the issues, but who typically fall secondary to the political powers at will.   

Jamaica is not unique in this challenge, as it is the main tension found in any policy making process.  However, I believe that Jamaica’s entrepreneurial and risking taking culture may differentiate it from some developing countries in how the country “gets things done” in the absence of an empowered public sector.  For good or for bad, the government expects that the private sector will play a major role in achieving the policy goals and objectives, though the private sector had no role in setting the policy agenda and are to be consulted on the policy document in the latter stages of the policy making process.  Similarly, another important source of support for setting the policy agenda right, the NGO community also would be engaged later on in the process.  However, as innovative and creative approaches to private sector-NGO-government collaborations will be needed to fully engage the country in carbon trading, I would advise deviating from protocol by soliciting the general interests of the private sector and NGO community informally during the initial stages of drafting the policy document.

            Achieving sustainable development in the sense of pursuing economic development, while minimizing environmental degradation remains a great challenge for Jamaica.  I believe that the country has a good institutional framework to promote environmental protection.  However, the enforcement of environmental laws and the ability of policy makers to influence final decisions according to what ought to be remains problematic in achieving effective environmental governance. 

Categorie : Jamaïque (2009), Au retour // Faire un commentaire »