BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – The Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) is calling for the stronger integration of natural capital accounting into development planning and policy to advance sustainable growth and resilience in the region.
CDB’s Acting Vice President for Finance and Corporate Services, Ian Durant, told a workshop on Ecosystem Accounting being hosted by the bank that the loss of natural assets, including among others forests, coral reefs and wetlands, is a slow-onset but existential threat to the Caribbean’s people, economies, and cultural heritage.
“More than 70 percent of our population lives on the coast, and the ocean accounts for nearly 20 percent of our GDP (gross domestic product),” he told participants attending the workshop, which ends later on Tuesday.
“Yet, in the past four decades, we have lost up to 80 percent of our coral reefs. This is not just an environmental issue, it’s a matter of food security, economic opportunity, and national resilience,” Durant added.
The workshop, held in partnership with the Barbados government, the Blue Marine Foundation, and Economics for the Environment Consultancy, focuses on building national capacity in natural capital accounting to support marine spatial planning and sustainable resource management, particularly in Barbados.
Durant said that while the impacts of climate change often dominate global discussions, the loss of natural capital, including vital ecosystems such as mangroves, reefs, and beaches, is a silent yet severe threat, particularly for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).
He called for systemic approaches to quantify, monitor, and incorporate environmental data into policy planning through globally recognized frameworks, such as the UN System of Environmental-Economic Accounting (SEEA).
“It is not a matter of whether we should safeguard our natural capital, but how we will do so. That’s how it starts with building national statistical systems that can accurately measure and reflect the true value of our natural resources,” Durant said.
He acknowledged the ongoing challenges faced by Caribbean countries, including under-resourced statistical agencies, insufficient financing for data systems, and fragmented data governance.
In response, the CDB said it is working with its member countries to address structural gaps, enhance administrative data, and strengthen regional partnerships.
However, Durant said governments, development partners, and civil society must collaborate to invest in natural capital accounting.
He said now is the time to modernise national statistics systems, finance data-driven environmental governance, and mainstream ecosystem valuation into planning frameworks.
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