ICS Lecture: “Climate Change and the Caribbean: Costly Inaction or New Opportunity / Vision”

As part of its Conferencias Caribeñas 15, the Institute of Caribbean Studies of the University of Puerto Rico-Río Piedras (UPR-RP), invites the academic community and the general public to the lecture “Cambio climático y el Caribe: ¿costosa inacción o nueva oportunidad/visión” [Climate Change and the Caribbean: Costly Inaction or New Opportunity / Vision] by Ramón Bueno (climate change and development specialist, Boston, Massachusetts). Dr. Rafael Méndez Tejeda (Natural Sciences Department, UPR-Carolina) will present the lecturer.

The activity will be held on Tuesday, November 4, from 1:00 to 3:30pm at the Manuel Maldonado Denis Amphitheatre (CRA 108) of the Carmen Rivera de Alvarado Building, School of Social Sciences, UPR-RP.

Description: The true costs of inaction on climate change are not easy to assess, but key areas for the Caribbean are worrisome because of their vulnerabilities. This presentation is a review/reconsideration of previous studies, conducted with caution, given the limitations of economic modeling. The adaptation of the islands, which faces, at some level, already unavoidable climate impacts, will be resource intensive and should be central to any development strategy. In turn, the high energy cost in the region has great potential in resources if we shift from expensive imported fossil fuels to local renewable energy in a new energy-savvy “ecosystem.” With vision and ambition, the largest Caribbean islands can make the move to reduce emissions aggravating greenhouse gases within a new, viable, healthy and sustainable economy with opportunities for a broad, shared prosperity.

Ramón Bueno was born in Cuba and raised in Puerto Rico. He is a scientist at the Stockholm Energy Institute (SEI-US). He was a computer modeler and data analyst at SEI-US until March 2013, working primarily on energy and climate change mitigation modeling. Prior to joining SEI, Bueno worked as a business analyst and software developer/architect in Cambridge, Massachusetts, for 22 years. Bueno earned a B.S. in aeronautics and astronautics in 1974 and an M.S. in systems modeling and optimization in 1977, both at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In 2007, he completed a one-year mid-career program at MIT focusing on socioeconomic development and policy impact analysis.