WILLEMSTAD / PHILIPSBURG – As climate change risks become increasingly evident, the Centrale Bank van Curaçao en Sint Maarten (CBCS) highlights the importance of translating awareness into concrete and coordinated action in Curaçao and Sint Maarten. In a newly published policy note, the CBCS outlines how both countries can strengthen their climate adaptation efforts through National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), highlighting best practices for their design and implementation. The development of a National Adaptation Plan will help both countries better prepare for the impacts of climate change.
The policy note discusses four key pillars of effective adaptation planning: framing, evaluation, governance and implementation, and broader development considerations. The findings highlight several practical priorities for Curaçao and Sint Maarten, including the need to establish clear roles and responsibilities, strengthen cross-sectoral coordination, and create effective communication channels between government agencies, stakeholders, and the public. The note also highlights the importance of developing sectoral plans, integrating adaptation into planning and budget frameworks, and investing in capacity building and knowledge management to support implementation over time.
The policy note further recognizes that both Curaçao and Sint Maarten have already initiated important elements of the adaptation planning process. Curaçao is advancing its National Adaptation Strategy through climate risk assessments, stakeholder engagement, public consultation, and the identification of adaptation priorities and actions. Sint Maarten is strengthening its adaptation framework through initiatives aimed at assessing climate risks and vulnerabilities, and at developing a national strategy through broad stakeholder engagement.
In addition, the note highlights the value of regional cooperation and knowledge sharing, while emphasizing that both countries can also benefit from technical expertise available within the Kingdom of the Netherlands and lessons from the BES islands to support stronger and more context-appropriate adaptation strategies.
About National Adaptation Plans
The development of a National Adaptation Plan is an important step in establishing a long-term strategy to prepare for the impacts of climate change. It outlines how a country intends to adapt to climate change over the medium and long term and aims to provide an evidence-based, coordinated, and systematic approach to adaptation. Adaptation planning is particularly important in the Caribbean because of the region’s high vulnerability to climate change. High average
temperatures, climate-sensitive ecosystems, and the small geographic size of island economies mean that climate-related events can affect a significant share of land area and economic activity. Tourism-dependent economies are especially exposed to the effects of climate change through potential losses in tourism-related revenues and damage to critical infrastructure. Many countries worldwide are developing or implementing NAPs, including several Caribbean countries, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten are currently advancing their own adaptation strategies.
Why this is important for the CBCS
For the CBCS, climate change adaptation and the existence of a NAP are relevant because climate related shocks can affect people, businesses and infrastructure and may have broader macroeconomic implications. Economic activity, employment patterns, labor supply, and electricity supply can all be affected by extreme weather events and other climate-related disruptions. Such impacts may lead to economic losses, higher inflation, and greater price volatility, which in turn affect financial stability and reduce the effectiveness of monetary policy. Strengthening climate resilience is therefore also relevant from a macroeconomic and financial stability perspective.
The policy note is available on the CBCS website at https://centralbank.cw/publications/notes analyses/analyses.
