Island systems have limited geographical, ecological, and social capacity to metabolize waste materials produced by the economic activities of their growing populations. Conceptualized as a ‘wicked problem’, the faults and weaknesses in waste management systems on islands continue to cause acute and cumulative ecological and human health impacts. Trinidad and Tobago is one such island jurisdiction grappling with this situation, particularly being a petroleum-dependent economy. Through the lens of neo-institutional theory, this case study of waste management in Trinidad and Tobago unpacks the efforts, reactions, drivers and circumstances that have led to various successes and failures but no definitive solutions over time, especially regarding plastics and packaging materials. We identify three temporal phases of policy evolution that have altered the waste metabolism trajectory to date: (1) government led patriarchal approach of traditional landfilling combined with behavioral change campaigns to reduce, reuse, and recycle, (2) to a more democratic, shared burden, public-private partnership approach combined with attempts at incentive-based regulations, (3) to the present, more private sector-led voluntary bans on production and use of plastics. This study contributes to our understanding of the institutional factors that shape the search for solutions to the wicked problem of island waste metabolism.

The integrated regional energy policy and planning (IREPP) framework was devised to evaluate the feasibility of energy policies in meeting declared national targets. While the framework advances the comprehensiveness of the feasibility assessment by bringing in concepts like environment economic equity, the muted way in which institutional factors and capacity are addressed remains weak and ineffective. Here, we corrected this weakness by presenting an IREPP framework that is enhanced by integrating principles of the institutional assessment and design (IAD) framework. The IAD framework emphasizes the careful consideration of contextual factors, it draws attention to the full range of transaction costs, and does not presume a priori that one type of institutional arrangement. This IREPP-IAD framework was used to evaluate the feasibility of energy policies in three different island jurisdictions—Taiwan, Mauritius, and Trinidad and Tobago. With ambitious national targets, these islands are good testing grounds for this updated approach. Through qualitative comparative case study analysis, several institutional factors were found to play an influence if national energy policies are likely to meet set targets. These factors included: government/policy decision makers and the decision/policymaking environment; governance structure and commitment for energy policy; existing policy instruments and tools that are in play and those planned; polycentricity; stakeholder participation and community building; market dynamics; information transparency; pilot programs and technology innovations/research; compliance or responsibilities under the Paris Accord; grid connectivity and monitoring of the policy implementation progress. This study contributes in two ways. First, by providing a more robust framework for assessing institutional arrangements that moderate how energy policies are implemented and second, providing insightful assessments of the energy policies in three island jurisdictions, thereby increasing our understanding of island energy policymaking and implementation in these understudied geographies.

Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) are often used to provide long term macro-economic stability and to accrue and safeguard financial assets for future generations. These state-owned investment funds are usually created using balance of payment surpluses – often from resource exports or the sale of public assets. Given that SWFs are among a few widely-used financial mechanisms created for the benefit of future generations, they can play an important role in helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This paper will argue that a re-direction of economic rents earned from natural resources, along with rigorous and careful ecosystem services accounting can serve to broaden the scope and holistically enhance the value of SWFs. The paper concludes that accounting for environmental assets and the economic benefits derived from such resources can serve as the basis for the establishment of SWFs, promote inter-generational wealth transfer and help stabilise economies impacted by climate change.

The article examines the causes and effects of climate change and juxtaposes these with the transatlantic slave trade to glean what lessons, if any, can be learnt. It further explores any systemic linkages between transatlantic slavery and climate change, and proffers sustainable recommendations for mitigating the current dilemmas associated with slavery and climate change. To this end, this study finds that the effects of transatlantic slavery and climate change reveal multi-generational impacts related to a lack of representation, the disproportionate distribution of benefits and costs, cultural losses, and a lack of frameworks to facilitate compensation to those adversely affected. The article concludes by underscoring useful measures that can be adopted to combat the proliferation of similar problems in the future.