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SUSTAINABLE ISSUE 04.21 06/19
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
FLOW BARBADOS KINGSTON PROPERTIES
HENDERSON (2004) LTD
FLOW SAINT LUCIA
PLAN A FLOW ST KITTS & NEVIS
VIKING ENGINEERING ALSO FEATURED THIS ISSUE CZITT • ASOBO PLUS MUCH MORE
S U S TA I N I N G T O M O R R O W. T O D AY
SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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SUSTAINABLE
B U S I N E S S
M A G A Z I N E
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Welcome to the latest edition of Sustainable Business Magazine. Another month goes by, and the fight against COVID-19 continues. Despite previous gains, as we move into June, one aspect of the crisis is increasingly impossible to ignore. In India, the arrival of yet another new variant has seen cases skyrocket, bringing the country’s total numbers in excess of 20 million. Many will have heard the reports of hospitals starved of oxygen and patients fighting for their lives. Thoughts must go out to all those affected, both both in India and beyond. As it hopes for India’s recovery, the world must take strength from the positive signs on display from the UK to the USA, Canada, and beyond, as the so-called ‘vaccine effect’ initiatives a wave of falling casualty rates, fresh bouts of lockdown-easing, and the growing promise of a return to some form of normality. Similarly, the latest economic forecasts, though they remain speculative, offer the first glimpses of a post-pandemic boom, and the prospect of a more stable long-term future. Nevertheless, the costs of the last year and a half cannot be forgotten. The challenge ahead is to ensure that we are better prepared should such a situation present itself once again. Much of our work at Sustainable Business Magazine, with our focus on long-term socio-economic growth, and the perennial need to preserve our natural environments, carries within it the recognition that today’s inaction is tomorrow’s problem. With a positive outlook, we continue to shine a light on the excellent work being undertaken across the world in order to make our planet a cleaner, greener, and better place to live. For all its tragedy, the pandemic has a part to play in this, too; in the response to COVID-19, above all in the remarkable achievements of modern medicine, there is yet another example of the extraordinary power of human beings to find solutions and forge brighter futures for themselves and others. To all this, our May edition pays tribute.
CONTENTS ISSUE 04/21 04
Foreword - CANTO
06
Interview - Flow Barbados
10 Interview - Flow St. Kitts
and Nevis
16 Interview - Flow Saint Lucia 22 Interview - BICO 28 Interview - Kingston Properties 32 Interview - Henderson (2004) Ltd 36
Interview - Plan A
40
Interview - ASOBO
44 Interview - Viking Engineering
In these pages, we’re proud to present three interviews with managers of FLOW’s regional branches: Jenson Sylvester of FLOW Barbados, David Lake of Saint Kitts and Nevis, and Chris Williams of Saint Lucia, discussing the company’s commitment to community work, electric vehicles, and so-called ‘zero-touch’ virtual service-delivery. Likewise, interviews with BICO, the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE), and the Carbon Zero Institute Trinidad & Tobago (CZITT) continue our Caribbean focus, and underlining the variety of work being done to achieve longevity and create opportunities across the region. These are accompanied by two interviews, with ASOBO and Plan A – two companies at the forefront of technological development in their respective fields, each working to bring about meaningful reductions in carbon emissions worldwide. We hope you find this issue interesting and inspiring.
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The Sustainable Business Magazine Team
sustainablebusinessmagazine.net
52
Interview - Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange Interview - Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad and Tobago (CZITT)
56 Advertisers Index
© SBM Media Ltd 2021. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form for any purpose, other than short sections for the purpose of review, without prior consent of the publisher.
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FOREWORD: CANTO
DIGITAL IS THE NEW
NORMAL A foreword by Teresa Wankin, Secretary General of the Caribbean Association of National Telecommunications Organizations (CANTO). CANTO is a non-profit association made up of operators, regulators, government bodies, service providers, and vendors. Our mission is to influence the innovation and development of ICT solutions and services for the benefit of our members. We advocate for stronger competition, which results in a better region for all stakeholders. We also advocate for policies and legislation that create an environment to facilitate development in technology. Our conferences and trade exhibitions engage with issues in the region, showcase cutting-edge technology, and facilitate discussions on what’s available and how the region can benefit. We host at least one large-scale trade conference every year, and in addition to that we run smaller, knowledge-based events on relevant topics such as cyber security. We also provide training on regulations and technology. One crucial feature of our organization is our committees, which is how our membership input their information to us and let us know what their needs are at any point in time. Today, with COVID-19, our conversations focus very heavily on the ‘new normal’ and what that means for telecommunications companies, particularly with regards to working from home and the demand that puts on 4 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
data requirements. COVID-19 has highlighted the resilience and capacity of CANTO’s members. Caribbean telecommunications providers have maintained their core functions and full objective of keeping stakeholders connected in this region throughout the pandemic, offering relief packages to make sure the networks were able to keep up with surging demand. Since April, CANTO has run a series of over 25 webinars, with CEOs of member companies talking about how the pandemic has affected them. This has been a good
channel to disseminate information on what members are doing and how the damage is affecting them. The objective of that exercise is to ensure that our members, governments, and regulators know what technology is out there and how to make the best use of it. We’re currently involved in a major push to empower young women in the tech industry. The objective of this project is to help girls and women acquire skills that will help them become both ICT users and shape the workplace of tomorrow. We are doing this in partnership with GSMA who is receiving grant funding from Verizon for this. The first training sessions will be held in Jamaica and in Trinidad and Tobago, introducing the
young women to STEM as a career choice while showcasing ICT projects and companies they could work for. Another partnership is the mobile recycling project that comprises a series of recycle bins that our members are putting in key locations, so that people can collect and bring their old cell phones, chargers, and the like, and dispose of them in these bins. Once we get these phones, we will have them disposed of in a safe, secure, and environmentally-friendly manner. We are fostering leaders in the Caribbean, training a new generation so that we have a continuous influx of brave and innovative leaders. We continue promoting
information and a culture of innovation, not only in our membership but throughout the region. CANTO hopes that our work and our platform will provide the tools and the connections that will enable stakeholders to strengthen and improve the Caribbean as a whole as we move towards this new normal. c
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INTERVIEW: FLOW BARBADOS
SERVING THE BARBADIAN COMMUNITY
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Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Mr. Jenson Sylvester, Country Manager at FLOW Barbados, about their LTE mobile network, community work, and the electrification of the company’s vehicle fleet. By Daniel Baksi Since first providing telegraph services in 1880, Cable & Wireless Communications has been connecting the people of Barbados and the wider Caribbean for well over a century. Through its consumer brands FLOW, FLOW Business, and C&W Business, Cable & Wireless Communications touches hundreds of thousands of Barbadian lives every day with reliable connections, spread across mobile, broadband, landline, and television services. FLOW was the first provider in Barbados to introduce fiber, positioning Barbados as the first country in the world to have a 100% fiber network, and FLOW remains the only telecoms provider to offer reliable, island-wide 4G LTE coverage. Through its business division, C&W provides data center hosting, domestic and international managed network services, and customized IT service solutions, utilizing cloud technology to serve business and government customers. C&W also operates a state-of-the-art submarine fiber network spanning 36,000km – the most extensive in the region. RELIABLE COVERAGE In 2017, FLOW Barbados launched its 4G LTE mobile network, delivering the fastest, strongest, and most reliable mobile network in Barbados. “Our LTE network is a major triumph, and demonstrates our ability to place Barbados ahead of the pack,” says Mr. Sylvester, Country Manager at FLOW Barbados. “We currently have 35 LTE sites online, which is unprecedented in the Caribbean, SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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with more sites due to come on stream as we continue to build out the infrastructure. We’re pleased to be the first to deliver this reliable island-wide service, which will directly help shape the future of Barbados.” As having reliable network coverage becomes ever-more important, FLOW recognizes the transformational potential that its LTE network can bring. “Mobile devices and related connectivity continue to be more and more embedded in the fabric of our society,” explains Mr. Sylvester. “Barbados currently has more than 100% mobile penetration, with several people owning more than one mobile device. This is a clear indication of people wanting to stay connected, and our LTE network will facilitate that connectivity at superfast speeds. We plan to
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continue investing in our networks, because we see that investment as an investment in our people, and the country itself. A further connected environment will certainly allow for the expansion of the business sector, greater opportunities for individuals, and tangible returns for all Barbadians.” BENEFITING COMMUNITIES As part of celebrations for its annual Mission Week, FLOW employees took part in a tree-planting initiative with the Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research, Education and Design (WIRRED), contributing to the continued restoration of the Walkers Quarry in Saint Andrew. “A core element of our annual Mission Week is to give back to those very same communities we serve,
and the environment and sustainability is crucial to that,” explains Mr. Sylvester. “Our employees took part in a clean-up at Pebbles Beach, and assisted St. Giles Primary School with restoring their outdoor recreational space. Other employees also donated tablets to deserving primary school children, and the team at FLOW Business presented ten hand sanitizer dispensers to Welches Primary School.” FLOW has continued its work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, donating $7,500 worth of supermarket vouchers to the Barbados Cancer Society and the HIV Food Bank, as part of its annual support for the two agencies, an increase of $5,000 on 2019. “We’re committed to empowering and improving our community,” explains Mr. Sylvester. “That not only involves making prudent donations to deserving individuals and organizations, but also working to place purchasing power in the hands of the people who are most in need. While this may be a small gesture when looking at the big picture, it is our ultimate hope to make an immediate and positive impact in the lives of at least some Barbadians affected by cancer or HIV. 2020 was difficult for everyone, and we know the need will be even greater in 2021”
INTERVIEW: FLOW BARBADOS
“WE’RE PLEASED TO BE THE FIRST TO DELIVER THIS RELIABLE ISLAND-WIDE SERVICE, WHICH WILL DIRECTLY HELP SHAPE THE FUTURE OF BARBADOS.”
GOING ELECTRIC In a move squarely aimed at improving operational efficiencies while reducing its carbon footprint, FLOW recently picked up the keys to eight brand-new, 100% electric Nissan e-NV200 vans from local company Megapower. “The benefits of going green as a business are manifold, and we are very happy to be once again leading the charge from a local telecommunications perspec-
tive”, says Mr. Sylvester. “Currently, there are about 300 electric vehicles on the road in Barbados, with several charging ports spread across the length and breadth of the island. Of those, the Nissan e-ENV200 is currently the leading pure electric van on the market, with a range of up to 250km from a single charge, thanks to a far greater battery capacity than that of previous models. Of course, our thanks go out to the folks at Megapower for their guidance and support in making this initiative a reality”. Behind the company’s investment is the expectation of a bright future for vehicles in Barbados. “Although we’re only adding eight vehicles to our fleet at present, we’re confident that more will be added in the future,” says Mr. Sylvester.
“We’ve already installed charging ports at our locations at Windsor Lodge, Speightstown, and Pegwell, and in time we also have plans to convert these to solar-powered ports, enabling us to leverage the maximum benefits of this new technology. We also conducted a driver awareness course with the engineers who will be driving the vehicles, so they are now fully equipped to get the most from them.” A BROAD HORIZON Moving towards the future, FLOW is committed to maintaining both its high standards, and transformation vision. “We are in the business of connecting people, and we see it as a privilege to be Barbados’s leading full-service telecommunications provider,” says Mr. Sylvester. “At the same time, we feel compelled to share our knowledge and experience, in order to shed some light on the best ways to align our activities with the broader socio-economic goals for Barbados and the Caribbean. In the meantime, we remain driven to deliver the very best communication services to local government, businesses, and families with one unifying promise — to build, connect, and, above all else, improve the communities in which we serve.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
CONNECTING ACROSS ISLANDS
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Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to David Lake, General Manager at Flow St. Kitts and Nevis, about fiber-to-the-home, community initiatives, and the company’s transition into a digital future. By Daniel Baksi Part of the Liberty Latin America group of companies, C&W Communications has over 150 years of experience operating throughout the Caribbean and trades in several Caribbean markets under the iconic blue Flow brand. The company has stood consistently at the forefront of innovative technology, and from offering the first telegraphs and payphones has now progressed to modern-day superfast broadband, mobile, fixed-line, and video services. Today, Flow is one of the region’s leading communications and entertainment providers and launched St. Kitts and Nevis’s first LTE network on September 29, 2017. Flow now has 100%
LTE network coverage across the two islands. Flow is also a key partner for the island’s business community, with a range of corporate solutions to support its large enterprise and small to medium businesses on island as well. The company has hosted successful business forums where it showcased the latest technology solutions for its corporate customers. A WORLD CLASS NETWORK Flow’s services are underpinned by over 50,000km of modern sub-sea and terrestrial fiber networks, offering unparalleled connectivity with a blend of iconic consumer, business and network brands. “Flow’s sub-sea network connects the Americas from North to South, and though it currently carries 75% of all traffic in the region, only 10% of its capacity is being used,” says David Lake, General Manager at Flow St. Kitts and Nevis. “This 90% network headroom is great for the Caribbean, especially now as one of the by-products of the COVID-19 pandemic has been an increase in demand for connectivity as more of our customers work from home SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
and their children are learning online. Subsequently, we’ve seen a significant increase in network traffic, which fortunately our network was equipped to handle. We monitor traffic on this network across seven regional worldclass data centers, two regional customer service centers, and an international service center in Miami. It’s a very robust network with tons of spare capacity to handle the additional traffic we’re seeing at this time.” Recently, Flow began rolling out its fiberto-the-home (FTTH) network in St. Kitts and Nevis. “We want to upgrade the delivery of our service from a legacy copper-network to a modern fiber network,” explains Mr. Lake. “This will give us the ability to deliver truly high-speed internet to customers across St. Kitts and Nevis, moving from 10Mbps entry level to 100Mbps. Fiber will also improve our quality of service: it is not susceptible to corrosion, which is a huge benefit when you are operating close to the ocean like we do in the Caribbean. Over time, we will rollout this new fiber network across the entire Federation, providing fiber-to-the-home for all customers in both islands. Having access to these higher speeds opens a whole new world of possibilities for our customers. It would give them the capability of truly highspeed data transmission and the ability to operate at a global level, with advanced features and benefits. It will be a massive step-change.” COMMUNITY SUPPORT For Flow, supporting the communities which we serve is a brand promise that the company is committed to, a fact that is ex-
“WE’VE FOCUSED VERY HEAVILY OVER THE YEARS ON EDUCATION – SOMETHING WE VIEW AS AN ESSENTIAL PILLAR FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF OUR SOCIETY.”
emplified through their comprehensive CSR programs. “Our ongoing support for youth in education and sports, coupled with our continued contribution to national cultural events and worthwhile charities, underpins our commitment to connecting communities and transforming lives,” says Mr. Lake. “We’ve focused very heavily over the years on education – something we view as an essential pillar for the advancement of our society. We have put our money where our mouth is, with several education programs that we have run over the years. Our high school sponsorship scholarship program gives 8-10 scholarships per year to students going from primary to secondary school,
lasting for the five years of high school and two further years of college. During this time, we cover everything: all expenses for the student, including fees, books, uniforms – it’s a very comprehensive scholarship and a significant investment for our business. We have been operating this program for the last 33 years, starting in 1988, providing over 250 scholarships to date which represents an investment of over EC$1.2 million over that period. That is a significant contribution. We are extremely proud to follow the progress of our scholarship students, even after they have completed their programs. Many have gone on to be very successful alumni of the program and currently include doctors,
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS
“WE’RE COMMITTED TO INNOVATING SO THAT WE EMPOWER OUR CUSTOMERS AND STAKEHOLDERS TO SUCCEED IN THIS CONNECTED WORLD.”
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lawyers, senators and even a Speaker of our National Assembly.” Flow also runs an Academic Excellence Awards program, which recognizes top-performing students in high school for their performance in overseas exams. “We’ve run this program for the past 34 years, and every year we award and celebrate our outstanding students,” says Mr. Lake. “It’s one that we’re extremely proud of – the only one of its kind in the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis. Every year, the students really look forward, and likewise the parents, who get the opportunity to see their children shine on stage. Our support for education is a stellar one – we’re very proud of it.” The company also supports senior citizens through its annual donations of food hampers which the staff have in pre-COVID times personally delivered to the homes for the elderly on the island to celebrate major holidays. GOING VIRTUAL With the arrival of COVID-19, Flow has had to think creatively about how its community work can continue in a way that prioritizes safety but continues to be effective. “Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve seen our students move from in-class, in-person
tutorials to virtual learning from-home,” says Mr. Lake. “We’ve had to adapt. Upon the initial lockdowns last March and April, we partnered with the Ministry for Education and other service providers to procure 1,800 tablets with keyboards for students who did not have access to a device. By doing so, it enabled us to assist those who had to transition very quickly to learning from home. In addition to that, we also provided internet at a significantly reduced rate for those students who were unable to afford it, again contributing to the development of our youth and our society.” As it looks to the future, Flow hopes to continue its focus on digital, deploying the latest technology to deliver a seamless, world-class experience for its customers. “We’re moving towards what we call a ‘zero-touch’ environment, both inside and outside the organization,” explains Mr. Lake. “To do so, we’ll be leveraging our partnership with Big Tech to use AI to create a frictionless customer experience that is consistent and integrated across all of our touchpoints. This will reduce service delivery and repair times, improve efficiency, and, most important, eliminate customer friction. We will use technology to move away from traditional forms and expectations – whether it is the use of paper, or queuing-in-store. We will put that all online in a digital, virtual environment. We believe that will be a key differentiator going forward, and so it represents the most important pillar for us from a sustainability perspective. Especially in this COVID-19 environment, people no longer necessarily want to interact in a face-to-face, physical space. The sooner we can move online, the better. That is what we are investing in. We’re committed to innovating so that we empower our customers and stakeholders to succeed in this connected world.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT LUCIA
LEADING
THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Chris Williams, General Manager at Flow Saint Lucia, about their investments in new technology, the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on customers behavior, and the company’s commitment to supporting Saint Lucians throughout challenging times. By Daniel Baksi More than fifty years have passed since Flow, then operating under the name Cable and Wireless, replaced Saint Lucia Telephone as the provider of ordinary fixed-line, telex, and telegraph services to the Caribbean island of Saint Lucia. From these humble beginnings, via an interim rebrand as LIME and an acquisition by Liberty Global, the company has blossomed into Saint Lucia’s first and only quad-play provider. High-speed internet, LTE mobile technology, hybrid quadcell fiber TV, and voice services complete Flow’s offering to the island’s 180,000-strong population, coupled with high-speed direct internet access and high-speed data service provision for Saint Lucia’s commercial sector. INVESTING IN QUALITY Flow Saint Lucia has recently embarked on a process of bundling its services, offering its customers the opportunity to combine products in return for better all-round value. “We first began the process of packaging our products together about two years ago,” says Chris Williams, General Manager at Flow Saint Lucia. “It’s something we’ve very heavily invested in, to give customers 16 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
more consolidated services. We have double, triple, and quad-play offerings, meaning that the more products and services you have with us, the more benefits you receive. For that, our penetration rate is pretty close to 20%, and we’re looking to increase it to about 25% by the end of the quarter. Additionally, we’ve also incorporated Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC) into that, delivering seamless connectivity to our customers across fixed and mobile systems.”
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT LUCIA
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All of this has been underpinned by Flow’s investment in the transition from a largely copper infrastructure to hybrid fiber-coaxial. “That’s been our major project for the last two years, allowing us to move from an average speed of 2Mbps to a minimum of 25Mbps per second – almost twelve times faster for our entry level offering,” explains Mr. Williams. “Included in that project was the expansion of our Nokia Distributed Access Architecture (DAA) footprint with the latest technology on fiber-coaxial cable. This allows us to reach speeds as high as 1Gbps. We will roll that out across the entire island by the beginning of next year, allowing our customers to benefit from the reliability benefits it brings.” ACCELERATING DEMAND With the imposition of government-mandated lockdowns due to COVID-19 on the island, Flow Saint Lucia have seen significant shifts in customer behaviour. “The pandemic has accelerated the investment in remote payments and remote services,” explains Mr. Williams. “We’ve launched our Fastpay service, giving our customers a quick, secure, and easy-to-use bill payment option. On top of that, one of the main ways in which we believe we’ve changed for good is with the launch of our virtual store. During the initial lockdown, customers still needed services, including topping-up, or issues with their billing, or others needed to upgrade their speeds or add broadband services they didn’t have before. For us to deliver those services, we felt that the virtual store was a real necessity. Customers would send in their request or complaint using WhatsApp, and we would route that to our dispatch, and co-ordinate with them depending on whether they needed service installation, remote upgrades, or bill payments. The virtual store has been a big benefit: it allows our staff to work remotely and our customers like it. It’s a fundamental change in the way we do business, and not one we think is going to change.”
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INTERVIEW: FLOW SAINT LUCIA
“WE’LL BE LOOKING TO IMPLEMENT EVEN MORE ATTRACTIVE PROPOSITIONS, WITH EVEN BETTER PRICING AND EVEN BIGGER BENEFITS.”
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SUPPORTING SAINT LUCIANS During the pandemic, Flow has also continued supporting our communities. “We don’t see ourselves as just another communications company,” explains Mr. Williams. “We see ourselves as an essential service, because we support a number of mission-critical applications, whether it’s banking, finance, real-time transfers, or life-saving medical equipment. During the pandemic, we considered how as a company we could facilitate our government in keeping our customers connected. With our students forced to start online learning, one of things we did was enable free access to our Flow Study platform for all our customers, a policy that we continued for about a period of about four to five months. At the same time, the government had a series of quarantine facilities throughout the island, where we enabled connectivity at no at no cost. We also provided a series of tollfree numbers, so customers could call those facilities free of charge.” In facilitating the Saint Lucian government’s COVID-19 response, Flow has built upon a strong track-record of community support. “We’re a perennial charitable contributor in so many different ways,” says Mr. Williams. “For our annual mission week, held late last year, we gave free home internet for the duration of the school year to almost 50 students island-wide. That program began in November and will continue until the end of the school year, in July 2021. Of those students, some had absolutely no previous connectivity, and we had to do the whole installation. For others who already had con-
nectivity, we did not charge for the services. We also supported homeless charities, meals programs, as well as any additional support as required by the government to assist with education and youth. We recognize that we play an important role and we’re committed to our country and our people.” As attention turns to a post-pandemic future, Flow is lining up further investments in infrastructure. “The next move will be: launch fiber to the home,” says Mr. Williams. “That will bring many benefits to our customers, including faster broadband speeds, enabling shorter download times, enhanced streaming, and the use of several devices simultaneously. It’ll also result in improvements to our cable TV and fixed-line services. As we’ve seen during the pandemic, access to fast broadband is a necessity, and once you have access to reliable broadband, it pretty-much takes care of the entertainment factor. We’ll also be improving our mobile coverage and data services with the addition of cell sites that will soon come on stream. Then on the bundling side, we’ll be looking to implement even more attractive propositions, with even better pricing and even bigger benefits.” c
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INTERVIEW: BICO
A TREAT IN TRYING TIMES Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Edwin Thirlwell, Executive Chairman of BICO Ltd, about overcoming challenges, environmental impacts, and finding new ways to flourish during the COVID-19 pandemic. By Poppy Johnson Established in 1901, BICO was originally known as the Barbados Ice Company, importing ice to Barbados from Canada as well as providing cold storage facilities to the public from 1910. The Barbados Ice Company started making ice cream in 1949, and became BICO Ltd in 1976. Today, in addition to being one of the best-known and most popular ice cream producers in the Caribbean, BICO is the oldest public company in Barbados, with over 350 shareholders and a listing on the Barbados Stock Exchange. Harbour Cold Store is a subdivision of BICO, and offers
dry, chilled, and frozen storage for food products, with a million cubic feet of cold storage space. “We are a heritage brand,” says Edwin Thirlwell. “There’s not many brands in Barbados older than us.” After a tragic fire in 2009 that burned down BICO’s ice cream factory, along with the difficult economy, BICO’s future looked uncertain. “We didn’t have the confidence to rebuild the factory at that time,” says Mr. Thirlwell. “We started to manufacture around the region in other factories. We initially began in Cuba, as it is part of CARICOM and offers duty-free trading. We also manufactured in factories in Trinidad and Tobago and Suriname. It became obvious, however, that transport around the region, even within CARICOM, was a sizeable cost, so we made the decision in 2018 to rebuild the ice cream factory. The new factory started producing in September 2020, using state of the art equipment that we purchased from a UK supplier. We expect to be back at full capacity and production soon.” COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENTS “We are synonymous with ice cream,” says Mr. Thirlwell. “We are also famous for our quality – we never compromise on quality to
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INTERVIEW: BICO
“WE DON’T HAVE AN OFF SEASON HERE, SO WE CAN SELL ICE CREAM RIGHT THROUGH THE YEAR, WITH OUR PEAK SEASON IN THE WINTER WHEN THE TOURISTS COME.”
get the price right. We sell at two different price ranges, like most supermarkets. We have the everyday product, which is for customers buying based on price, and then our premium product, such as our main brand, BICO Double Delight. We have something available for everyone. With that, we can easily claim that we are the ice cream of the Caribbean. Everyone in the Caribbean knows BICO, and we get enquiries from wherever the diaspora is, for example in Brooklyn and London. They are desperate that we start exporting, which will be once we work through the tough phytosanitary restrictions and restore the export markets. In the meantime, we will sell north as far Belize, right down to Guyana in the south, and all the islands in between. This means that we 24 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
will have a strong presence throughout the region. We have a lot of work to do to re-establish ourselves around the region and get the factory fully working.” Imported products are the main competitors for BICO’s premium bracket. “Barbados has taken the stance that we have to encourage manufacturing in the Caribbean, as we cannot cope with the massive economies of scale that manufacturers have in American or Europe,” says Mr. Thirlwell. “Usually they have subsidies in place on dairy products, but we don’t have any of that. The decision was made many years ago to put a tariff on ice creams outside CARICOM to level the playing field. If we get Häagen Dazs or Ben & Jerry’s, for example, we have a 75% tariff on this imported ice
we face unfair competition from people outside the Caribbean who managed to get their products through without paying the 75%. This goes on worldwide – if you put regulations in place, a big industry will try to evade them. This is an on-going issue we have asked government to rectify.”
LOADING AN EXPORT SHIPMENT OF ICE CREAM TO DOMINICA
cream, which doesn’t exist for products within the region. We’ve got products in the market from the Dominican Republic, Trinidad, and Guyana, along with all kinds of local brands, but it’s very difficult to compete with products from competing markets. Unfortunately, some importers have found a way to circumvent those tariffs, so
WELCOME RELIEF BICO have found ways to operate safely during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. “The second lockdown in Barbados was in February 2021 for the whole month so we had no sales but things were eased in March and we are now out selling again with our Mobiler fleet everyday again.” says Mr. Thirlwell. “We don’t have an off season here, so we can sell ice cream right through the year, with our peak season in the winter when the tourists come. Of course, lockdown and quarantine restrictions have limited the amount of tourists we’ve had. Using our mobile selling fleet as a delivery service was hugely popular in lockdown, especially for the vulnerable and people with children. It was a pressure release valve for a lot of people, and BICO ice cream vans coming into the district became a wel-
come sight. We have the largest mobile fleet in Barbados, which allowed us to do this. We were very successful, and working throughout lockdown more or less made up for the lost revenues from the complete collapse of the hospitality sector, with all the hotels and restaurants shut down. Due to the spike in the new year, we were not allowed to operate fully in the second lockdown, but Barbados has been acknowledged for handling everything very well from the beginning.” The pandemic has forced BICO to adapt. At the start of the first lockdown, we gave options to our staff, such as sharing jobs, taking holidays, or being laid off with money from the National Insurance. People chose what suited them, and, generally speaking, we organized that to make everyone happy. We had the complete co-operation of the workforce, and we’re now bringing people back. The Harbour Cold Store was very busy in the lockdown – there were all the chicken and pork producers and all the farmers that had produce ready before they knew about the lockdown, so we had all of that in cold storage before the market recovered and we could sell it. We have to take it as it comes.” SUSTAINABLE VENTURES In terms of environmental sustainability, BICO have been utilizing waste-reduction schemes for a long time. “We were the pioneers in compostable food containers,” says Mr. Thirlwell. “Before anyone else here knew what it was, we were marketing a brand called Vegware, which is a UK brand based in Edinburgh, that fully compostable SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: BICO CAPTION
“WE ARE PIONEERS AHEAD OF THE CHANGE WHERE NECESSARY, AND WE HAVE A FLEET OF ELECTRIC CARS, WITH THE MERCHANDISERS’ MOBILES BEING ELECTRIC VEHICLES, AS WELL AS SOME ELECTRIC VANS. IT’S VERY IMPORTANT FOR US TO BE AS GREEN AS WE CAN BE.”
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plant-based food containers. Vegware was the gold standard, and also top of the price range, so we sourced another one when we realized that people were coming into the market and selling things cheaper. We took on a second brand called ECOPAK, which is a BICO brand and produced in China. A small disadvantage with that is that it takes longer between the shipments being ordered and coming here. Again, we have two price points that people can make use of, the premium product and a cheaper version. There was an uplift when hotels started to quarantine people, as the people under quarantine had to have food delivered to their rooms, so the people in the kitchen would put it in a container that we sold to them. In the first wave of COVID-19 when we still had visitors coming, more people were choosing to have in-room dining rather than being exposed to other people in the dining hall, so again, their food was being put in one of our boxes to be delivered to their rooms. We like to think that we don’t miss anything, and if there’s an opportunity, we go straight in. In addition to that, we are gradually changing our packaging, which used to be all plastic. We’re now go-
ing into paper, and we’re trying to get compostable, eco-friendly packaging for all the products we do. Sometimes, unfortunately, that’s not possible because the packaging industry hasn’t yet got that far, and a lot of the time new packaging won’t work in an automatic machine. However, we’ve been able to use card packaging for many containers that were previously plastic.” BICO have also invested in a variety of clean energy technologies. “We realized that fossil fuels were a huge cost for us, so we’ve got two PV systems with 380kw of photovoltaic panels on our factory’s roof,” says Mr. Thirlwell. “We’ve gradually converted all our equipment to be eco-friendly. The air conditioning in the new factory works using natural gas, which is called an absorption system, and the gas boiler, which used to be oil fired, is now fired using natural gas. Wherever we can, our light bulbs have been changed to LED. We are pioneers ahead of the change where necessary, and we have a fleet of electric cars, with the merchandisers’ mobiles being electric vehicles, as well as some electric vans. It’s very important for us to be as green as we can be.” “In the future, we will be looking to restore our export markets in the Caribbean, as well as targeting Canada and the UK,” says Mr. Thirlwell. “Our aim is to diversify. At the moment, we sell frozen bread and pastries from France. There are two markets there, the local market and the hotels, and we can identify a growing sector in the local market. During lockdown, we realized that a lot of people started ordering frozen bread and pastries, so we will be ramping up our home delivery department. That’s where we’ll be looking, at the opportunities ahead and maximizing our reach locally and internationally.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: KINGSTON PROPERTIES LIMITED
FIGHTING FOR SUSTAINABILITY Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Kevin Richards, CEO of Kingston Properties Limited, about their global reach, opportunities for shareholders, and fighting for sustainability. By Poppy Johnson Kingston Properties Ltd, formerly Carlton Savannah (REIT) Jamaica Ltd, is a Jamaican real estate investment company. Listed on the Jamaican Stock Exchange under the symbol KPREIT, Kingston Properties Ltd invests in, leases, and manages real estate properties. Founded in 2008, Kingston Properties Ltd was created at a time of great financial stress and uncertainty. “We were founded in the May of the Great Re-
cession,” says Kevin Richards, CEO of Kingston Properties Limited. “We started with one investment in Trinidad and Tobago, the Carlton Savannah, which was a hotel condo project. We invested in that for a little over a year before exiting. The real estate market in the US was badly hit by the recession, and we had seen a significant reduction in prices in that market. So we shifted from Trinidad and Tobago into the US market, with the acquisition of 19 condos in Miami, South Florida. After that, we started to expand a little bit more, acquiring a property here in Jamaica, along with more properties in South Florida. In 2017, we entered the Cayman market, where we now own three properties.” BUY LOCAL, OWN GLOBAL Kingston Properties Ltd’s motto is ‘Buy Local, Own Global’. “Being listed on the Jamaica Stock Exchange allows people
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SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: KINGSTON PROPERTIES LIMITED
“IT’S AN OPPORTUNITY FOR SMALLER INVESTORS TO PARTICIPATE IN THE OWNERSHIP OF REAL ESTATE, AND BY ACQUIRING SHARES IN A COMPANY PROPERTY...”
who are interested in acquiring a stake in KPREIT to buy shares in our company,” says Mr. Richards. “They then get the benefit of owning real estate in different locations. It’s an opportunity for smaller investors to participate in the ownership of real estate; by acquiring shares in a property company, they don’t have to go through all the demanding processes required of owning real estate outright. With Kingston Properties Ltd, shareholders have the advantage of owning in different jurisdictions, and we’re even looking to expand our geographic reach in the near future. The ‘Buy Local, Own Global’ idea is the gateway to global real estate.” Kingston Properties Ltd focuses on industrial and office properties. “Currently, we have 50% office properties and 36%
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industrial, with a small percentage in residential properties in South Florida,” explains Mr. Richards. “We are still looking at multi-family properties in the US as an option, but our focus is still primarily going to be on industrial properties going forward. When we just started out, we looked at core investment properties, or properties that have stabilized cash flows. This is a low-risk model that we use, particularly when going into a new market. If there’s a property that has already been established with generating rental income, for example, then buying that means we get the benefit of the cash flow while trying to understand the market. We’ve now evolved to value-add properties. These are properties that have probably been undervalued and are in need of some improvement to attract a better tenant base, with great potential
for appreciation of value in the future. We specifically look at markets that have strong economies and strong job growth.” SUSTAINABLE IMPACTS “We are particularly interested in impact investing,” says Mr. Richards. “This means analyzing how our investments impact the environment along with what we can do to encourage sustainability. We can evaluate how our existing office buildings operate, for instance, and assess the efficiency of their air-conditioning systems, considering if we can move to something more energy-efficient with better circulation of fresh air. This is particularly important now with the pandemic, where confined office spaces need improved air quality. We spent a
significant amount to remove the dated air conditioning system of our four-story office building in New Kingston, Jamaica, replacing it with a new, more efficient system.” The next step is to receive accreditation. “Our main focus of 2021 is the move towards green certification for our properties,” says Mr. Richards. “We’re looking at our projects to ensure that there are significant green areas around our properties. While a lot of businesses are very quick to mow down trees and concrete off areas, we’re doing the opposite, and making sure we can maintain more vegetation on the properties. It’s important for us not to be contributing towards the worsening of climate change.” “Next, we’re looking towards diversifying our geographic reach in an efficient way,” says Mr. Richards. “We will be doing this with joint ventures in new markets as a way to break into those markets. We’ll stay fairly consistent with English-speaking markets and with economies that we believe will have strong growth for the future. The other critical thing for us is looking more at the sustainability aspect of our investing, and being more conscientious in terms of some of the investments that we look at.
Additionally, our corporate social responsibility projects have a fair amount of focus on environmental impact and we work with communities to ensure they understand the daily impact of their actions on achieving environmental sustainability. We all have to play our part in fighting climate change and fighting towards greater sustainability.” c KEVIN RICHARDS CEO
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INTERVIEW: HENDERSON (2004) LTD.
ROOFING SOLUTIONS FOR
EVERYONE Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Sushil Satpute, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Henderson (2004) Ltd, about the unique demands of the Caribbean environment, eco-friendly roofing solutions, and expansion in the time of COVID-19. By Elizabeth Cope Henderson 2004 Limited is a metal roofing manufacturer company based in the Eastern Caribbean. Operating for over 35 years, the company has earned the status of a trusted brand in the Antigua and Barbuda region and beyond, exporting its products to St. Kitts and Nevis, Dominica, Saint Maarten, the US and British Virgin Islands, and more. Through its use of ASTM-certified standard zinc and prepainted steel, the company has developed brand equity under the name of `Henderson’s Heavy Gauge Metal roofings’ and offers a range of smart roofing solutions in an otherwise conventional industry. LOCAL SOLUTIONS Years of experience have enabled Henderson to tailor its roofing solutions to the Caribbean’s unique environment. “There have been over 2000 hurricanes and tropi32 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
cal storms throughout the islands in the last 100 years, and we have 15 to 20 hurricanes or tropical storms in the region every year,” says Sushil Satpute, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director at Henderson 2004 Limited. “Most recently, the deadly hurricanes Irma and Maria hit Antigua and Barbuda and the Eastern Caribbean region in 2017, destroying approximately 80% of the islands. Likewise, when the Gonzalo tropical storm hit Antigua in 2015, it left almost 20 to 30% of roofs damaged. Around this time, we began researching how and why this was happening, collecting data, and investigating what went wrong. As a result, we changed our system. Today, we always try to use light gauge, strong and hyper-porous built-in steel for the roofing, which gives greater resilience in the event of hurricanes and earthquakes, and that
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INTERVIEW: HENDERSON (2004) LTD.
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creates happier, safer contractors, builders, and customers. Across the region, traditional construction methods have lacked roof design specification. “The roof would typically consist of wooden rafters, covered with galvanized or corrugated steel, and nailed down to unspecified wooden purlins,” explains Mr. Satpute. “The spacing wouldn’t be perfect between the purlins and the rafters, the nails would typically be sourced from whatever was available at the local market, and the capping would be poorly anchored.” SHAPING AN INDUSTRY By developing smarter roofing solutions, Henderson has changed the roofing system itself. “Our smart roofs are designed and engineered using professional software,” says Mr. Satpute. “We don’t sell any material below 24- or 25-gauge galvanized steel, compared to the 28- or 29-gauge that is still commonly found in countries like Haiti, or the Dominican Republic. But even so, if the rafters beneath have not been properly secured then the protection from a hurricane event will be limited. We help with that, providing pre-engineered roof 34 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
designs, a selection of materials, connecting clips, apex connectors, anchoring methods, and more. We offer advice on which purlins should be used, and on the spacing that’s required to enhance resilience.” Henderson’s emphasis on quality has proved an effective marketing strategy. “It’s attracted a lot of customers, who have then remained with us for the long-term,” says Mr. Satpute. “We might not employ modern marketing techniques like Google, and we might not boast a very advanced website, but people know our systems, and they trust our work. Henderson has earned a good name in the market.” ROOFING REHABILITATION Following the destruction caused by Hurricane Irma, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) initiated a rehabilitation project in Barbuda. “The project involved building 256 houses, for which we acted as one of the major roof suppliers,” says Mr. Satpute. “White reflects, whereas dark absorbs, so with heat radiation in mind, we supplied most of those houses with white roofs. Added to that, we included a product known a ‘radiant heat barrier’, which we’ve offered
since 2009 under the name of a ‘Sun Shield’. It’s like a cloth, consisting of aluminum and high-performance thermoplastic film, and it comes in a roll that you can spread across the roof. It reflects 97% of radiant heat and helps to keep houses cooler by approximately 3-4 degrees, thus reducing air conditioning costs to the owner. Commencing in March, we’ll also be working on another project for a secondary school in Dominica, again using white roofs and the Sun Shield. These are just some of the many big projects that we’re doing with these products.” GOING GREEN Henderson is now working to deliver the latest innovations in solar roofing solutions. “We’re looking at a new type of solar panel, in which the panel itself embedded into a
“WE’LL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE UNIQUE PRODUCTS THAT DELIVER HIGH CUSTOMER SATISFACTION.”
galvanized sheet,” says Mr. Satpute. “As yet, there aren’t many models available on the market, but we’ll aim to implement that across the islands as soon as we can. Antigua and Barbuda in particular is dependent on its larger neighbors for fuel, and energy costs are very high as a result, so we hope that these panels will have a dual benefit - for us, and for our customers. In line with that, we’re looking into a series of smaller projects. In the field of clean water, we’re trying to secure a rainwater harvesting system. We would supply that
system to our customers, and we’d install the relevant gutter lining. The system would collect water from the roof for storage, and our customers would be able to filter it, and then use it whenever they need. We hope it will reduce our customers’ water usage by roughly 30%. That’s our plan: we want every house to become completely eco-friendly, with a reliable, clean water supply.” Despite the recent challenge of COVID-19, Henderson is maintaining a positive outlook. “Our economy is completely dependent on tourism, and it’s unlikely to
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return to a state of normality until 2022 at the earliest,” says Mr. Satpute. “Prior to COVID-19, we did have plans for expansion. Those have had to be put on hold, but once things get back to normal that’s an investment we’ll be looking to make. There are many businesses in the Caribbean that have been unable to achieve the sort of longevity we’ve enjoyed at Henderson. In such a small island, we’re used to taking a slow and steady approach. We’ll continue to produce unique products that deliver high customer satisfaction.” c
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SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: PLAN A
CARBON TRANSPARENCY 36 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
NATHAN BONNISSEAU, CO-FOUNDER OF PLAN A
Berlin-based start-up Plan A is a green tech company, providing a science-based, end-toend software platform that enables businesses to measure, monitor, reduce and report their carbon footprint while improving their ESG performance. Founded in April 2017, Plan A’s flagship product is their ‘carbon manager’ software, accessible to customers via a subscription plan. “The carbon manager is a software solution and online app,” explains Nathan Bonnisseau, Co-Founder of Plan A. “It allows companies to input and monitor their sustainability-related data over time, and from that to gain a sense of their progress in the relevant emission categories. Equipped with that information, the software provides customized action plans that help companies take effective steps to reduce carbon emissions and engage employees. For instance, let’s say you’re a company that’s really heavy on business travel, because you’re flying all the time. The tool will automatically recommend some actions according to flying
LUBOMILA JORDANOVA , CO-FOUNDER OF PLAN A
and business travel. The same thing goes for commutes, electricity, and all the other categories.” EMISSIONS EXPOSED For users of the carbon manager, the results can be surprising. “Carbon accounting is a complex task,” says Mr. Bonnisseau. “More often than not, it’s ‘hidden’ or ‘indirect’ emissions that account for the majority of a company’s emissions. These are emissions that aren’t actually produced by the company, but which are a product of their activities. These might be operational – relating to electricity use, your computer, or your phone calls – or product emissions, for which we conduct a lifecycle analysis, breaking down a product into its constituent parts to see what each component entails in terms of carbon emissions and accounting. One notable partner we’ve worked with is Werder Bremen, a football club based in Germany, looking
SBM speaks to Nathan Bonnisseau, Co-Founder of Plan A, about their revolutionary carbon management software, the launch of their Make 2021 Count campaign, and their Plan A Academy platform. By Daniel Baksi
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INTERVIEW: PLAN A
at the emissions involved with fan travel. That’s a good example of emissions that were unexpected: fan emissions are part of the club’s emissions, because the club is the cause of the emissions.” The field of carbon accounting isn’t entirely new, but it’s Plan A’s data-focus that sets the company apart. “By plugging into the relevant systems, including electricity, heating, and so on, our tool is able to capture the most precise data,” says Mr. Bonnisseau. “There are less precise ways to go about it, using national proxies and regional averages, but it doesn’t provide accurate visibility on any company’s actual emissions. Rather, it gives you an extrapolation: what any company, within this industry, of this size, in this country, will emit on average. That’s mostly what’s on the market today, but it’s not the answer that businesses need.” MAKE 2021 COUNT As their fourth anniversary dawns, Plan A is launching a new campaign to help bring an end to greenwashing, under the name ‘Make 2021 Count’. “Part of the reason we’re focusing on greenwashing is because it’s never been clearly defined,” explains Mr. Bonnisseau. “Without a clear idea of what greenwashing means, it then hinders the definition of sustainability itself. We work with so many companies that want to get started with sustainability. From our research, we’ve found that 89% of professionals are asking for regulations on greenwashing. In parallel to that, there’s growing concern that greenwashing undermines 38 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
the credibility of those companies that are driving actual change. It means that some companies aren’t necessarily taking action – or as much action as they could be taking – because they’re afraid of the backlash. If their actions aren’t legitimately sustainable action, then that’s fair. But it becomes a hindrance to genuine sustainable action if those who are trying to take steps towards sustainability are prevented or dissuaded from doing so. That’s the starting point, and we’re bringing a lot of education, and a lot of different stakeholders to the table to talk about this in an open way.” The thrust of ‘Make 2021 Count’ takes the shape of a petition, designed to more closely link ‘net-zero’ claims to transparent carbon disclosure. “The question is: how can we ensure that companies that actually claim results make these results public? And
how can we help companies create more transparency around these results?” says Mr. Bonnisseau. “We believe that companies that claim to be ‘carbon neutral’ should be legally required to disclose their carbon footprint to the public. With Make 2021 Count, we’re calling on the EU to introduce uniform and binding transparency standards for the corporate carbon emissions accounting in European companies. The petition has launched on change.org, and it’s our goal is to collect as many signatures as possible in order to carry the subject of transparency and greenwashing to lawmakers in the European Commission.” LARGE-SCALE CHANGE Advocacy is only one way that Plan A is working to re-shape the conversation around our climate. “As a company, Plan A has been through a few changes, but we’ve retained our commitment to providing education to the individuals and companies we work with,” says Mr. Bonnisseau. “We’re evangelizing and working to spread the information necessary to push the conversation around sustainability, and achieve true results. All this comes together in our online news outlet, which we’ve titled the Plan A Academy.”
“FROM OUR RESEARCH, WE’VE FOUND THAT 89% OF PROFESSIONALS ARE ASKING FOR REGULATIONS ON GREENWASHING.”
Available through the company’s website, the Plan A Academy offers articles and information centered around the topics of sustainability and business. “Everything in the Academy relates to best-practices, and objective information that we can provide,” says Mr. Bonnisseau. Another line is more operational: for example, how do you start conversations with your CEO? How do you implement sustainability as a CEO, and convey your point to investors? In general, it’s about how to spark up and get started. Finally, many of our articles are more high-level, exploring concepts in climate change at large. For example: what is offsetting? What is decarbonization? The academy is a public resource, but even more resources are available to our clients, including more developed, longer-form content.” When it comes to sustainability, there are no quick-fixes. Plan A has its sights set on long-term, large-scale change. “Early this year, we received some funding that will allow us to develop our operations beyond Germany, developing in the UK and in France,” says Mr. Bonnisseau. “Thanks to that, we’re now looking to enter a new
phase, refining and expanding our tools and use cases to deliver an ever-greater level of industry-specific support. The field of carbon accounting isn’t new but it’s fresh. Different businesses have a lot of different needs: that’s why we started out. We want to go further, deeper, and longer to provide any and all businesses with the tooling they need to be really thorough about their carbon transparency. Because there is no plan B for the planet.” c SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: ASOBO
ELECTRIFYING WATER TRANSPORT
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Laurens Friso, CEO of ASOBO, about electric water propulsion, reducing pollutants, and a business model which prioritizes customer needs. ASOBO is a cleantech start-up based in Kenya which provides electric outboard engines for small-scale fishing boats. ASOBO’s flagship product – the ‘e-Boarder’ electric outboard system – is provided to customers on Lake Victoria on a rental basis, with charged batteries, and maintenance, repairs, and a 24/7 helpline and rescue service. “Most of the means of propulsion on the water across the world are very dirty, inefficient, and expensive,” says Laurens Friso, CEO of ASOBO. “The problem of dirty and 40 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
expensive propulsion is outsized in emerging markets, like Kenya, the Philippines, and Indonesia, where cleaner and more efficient propulsion aren’t in reach of the users due to their upfront cost. What we do as a company is provide electric propulsion as a service to people in emerging markets, who use the water as their main source of income.” RELIABLE SERVICE There are many benefits to be found in electric propulsion. “It’s clean, it’s cheaper in the long run, it’s more comfortable and
“IT’S CLEAN, IT’S CHEAPER IN THE LONG RUN, IT’S MORE COMFORTABLE AND EASIER TO MANEUVER, AND IT HAS LESS MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR ISSUES,”
By Poppy Johnson
easier to maneuver, and it has less maintenance and repair issues,” says Mr. Friso. “The upfront cost of a full electric propulsion system, however, is much higher than a petrol outboard engine. This is why we finance the e-Boarder, and then deliver the propulsion as a service, including the engine itself and two big batteries on board. Our service also includes the daily transport of the batteries from the beach to our hub, daily recharging, training for the crew and boat owners, as well as a 24/7 helpline with rescue backup. All
that is included in one predictable fee that the customer pays on a daily basis, a monthly basis, or per use. That makes our value proposition to the customer reliable, clean, and affordable propulsion that always works. This takes away the whole hassle of owning and managing an engine.” The daily transportation to and from the beaches gives ASOBO a very close relationship with their customers. “We see our customers twice a day, which creates a lot of value,” says Mr. Friso. “We are there on the beach in the morning when our customers come back, and we are there in the evening when they go out fishing, so there’s a very direct relationship that teaches us a lot about what our customers want and need. Besides, it allows us to be sure that they don’t walk away with our valuable assets. We’re also tracking critical data points on every trip our customers make. This quantitative information really helps us to improve our services to the customer.” PROTECTING LAKE VICTORIA ASOBO has been working with customers on Lake Victoria since 2018. “In terms of market potential, Lake Victoria is huge,” says Mr. Friso. “There are around 50-60,000 fishers with boats on the lake, and we SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: ASOBO
“I STRONGLY BELIEVE THAT WE NEED TO TAKE ACTION NOW, COLLECTIVELY AROUND THE WORLD.”
estimate that around 40-50,000 of them have petrol outboard engines. On top of that, Kenya and the whole region is blessed with an abundance of renewable energy – solar, geothermal, hydro, wind. The Kenyan grid, for example, is over 85% renewable. The renewable energy is here, the whole
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eco-system to back us up is here, and also the market potential, so all together Kenya is a really good place to start, and Lake Victoria in particular.” Lake Victoria is the second-largest freshwater body in the world. “Literally millions of people depend on it for food, drinking water, washing themselves and clothes, and it is a very precious eco-system,” says Mr. Friso. “As we see human activity increasing around the world, and more intensive agriculture around the lake, pollution levels increase. One factor in this pollution of the eco-system is the air and water pollution created by petrol outboard engines. Most of these engines are two-stroke, which are very inefficient and create a lot of greenhouse gas emissions. With these two-stroke engines, oil has to be added to the petrol itself to get a better mixture, and that is often just mixed on the beach or whilst loading the fuel onto the boat, which causes small quantities of oil to spill into the lake. One drop of oil can spoil a massive amount of water though. What
we do is completely replace the mixture of fuel and oil to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions and oil spillages, which we hope will contribute to the health of the lake’s eco-system.” ELECTRIC MOBILITY REVOLUTION “In the short-term, we are aiming to build a commercially viable business model that is very attractive to our customers, and creates a significant positive impact in terms of the environment and the livelihoods of our customer’s families,” says Mr. Friso.” That is something we’re focusing on this year, so we’re working on proof points for this business model in order to scale up later this year. In the longer term, in 2025, we want to have electrified 5,000 boats on Lake Victoria, including the other countries bordering the lake, Uganda and Tanzania. Also, we hope to have started operations on other major lakes around the region, such as Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika. We hope to make the jump to Asia shortly as well.”
“Globally, humanity is in a climate crisis,” says Mr. Friso. “I strongly believe that we need to take action now, collectively around the world. We cannot just focus on one place; we need to take action wherever we can to turn the tide. What we are doing at ASOBO is a rela-
tively small initiative, but I feel very empowered by the general movement in the world that we are part of - the electric mobility revolution. I really encourage everyone who wants to be a part of the revolution to go ahead, as now is the time to take action.” c
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INTERVIEW: VIKING ENGINEERING
DEALING IN INNOVATION 44 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Marah St. John, Mechanical Engineer at Viking Engineering about the company’s technological advancements, focus on sustainability, and innovative approach to manufacturing. By Poppy Johnson
Viking
Engineering Co. HVAC-R Mechanical Engineers, Contractors & Technicians Since 1985
Based in Grenada, Viking Engineering is a mechanical engineering and contracting company, specializing in heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration (HVAC-R) services. In operation since 1985, the company has worked throughout the Caribbean in Antigua, Carriacou, Grenada, Saint Kitts, Saint Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago, offering solutions across design and consultation, fabrication, installation, repair and maintenance, and rental. The company prides itself on a high standard of service, and works with a range of clients on a variety of sustainable projects. “Viking is a family-owned company, founded by US army veteran Paul St. John,” says Marah St. John, Mechanical Engineer at Viking Engineering. “Since we started, the technology in air conditioning has improved rapidly. We began as carrier dealers, and we’re now an authorized dealer for Toshiba Carrier Corporation. That’s our main brand, thanks to which we’re able to provide our customers with highly energy-efficient machines. We’re also becoming far more advanced in our maintenance, and we’re implementing a growing number of modern technologies, such as servicing equipment that gets the job done quickly, and new products that are environmentally-friendly and non-toxic.
There’s been significant growth for Viking Engineering as technology has developed over time.” SUSTAINABLE PROJECTS A primary objective for Viking Engineering is to contribute to Grenada’s sustainable development using Toshiba’s energy-efficient and environmentally friendly equipment. “We are currently installing a number of Toshiba variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems at the Grenada General Hospital,” says Ms. St. John. “These VRFs are one of the main
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INTERVIEW: VIKING ENGINEERING
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technologies used in air conditioning today. They are very highly sustainable machines, and very energy efficient, bringing savings of up to 50 percent on electrical consumption. Thanks to their multi-system technology, they reduce the amount of refrigerant required, which in turn reduces their carbon footprint. They also have the additional benefit of being very flexible in their design options.” Viking’s work on the Grenada General Hospital started in 2018, and has been completed in stages. “The building we’re working on is a new wing for administration, and includes a few operating theatres, along with a lot of X-Ray machines, and other machines for examination,” says Ms. St. John. “As it stands, we have completed three out of four floors of the building, and our work has now moved onto the final floor. We’ve also completed many other projects in the past, including a number at St. George’s University. For that project, the technology differed slightly to VRFs, and instead used a combination of water and refrigerant. We also worked on the Houses of Parliament between 2018-2019, which involved a system similar to that of the hospital. As this history indicates, we do a lot of work with government, including the Ministry of Finance, but we also supply units to local businesses. Our work spans both the public and private sectors, with the majority falling in the latter category.”
“WE’RE ALWAYS LOOKING TO USE ENERGY EFFICIENT EQUIPMENT, AND TO REDUCE OUR USE OF MATERIALS WHEREVER POSSIBLE.”
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INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGY Throughout Viking’s projects, the use of innovative materials and methods is particularly important. “Most of our innovative approaches are introduced in our more commercial projects,” says Ms. St. John. “We are very selective in our choice of equipment, ensuring that it is all highly energy efficient. We also consider how efficiently the technology has been
designed, in order to reduce the volume of materials used in our projects, and to maximize airflow. Additionally, we make sure to incorporate technologies with a health-perspective in mind. For example, we purposefully use fabric instead of fiberglass to ensure better air quality, provided that the equipment is properly maintained. Likewise, we use non-toxic cleaning agents in the maintenance of our air conditioning systems, allowing us to eliminate severe health consequences while also keeping up our high standards.” Being mindful of the environment is also highly important to Viking Engineering. “Small shifts in our behavior, or slight changes in how we operate, have the potential to create big differences in the end,” says Ms. St. John. “It is essential for us to recycle parts, to become mindful of cleaning products, and to become sustainable in design. We’re always looking to use energy efficient equipment, and to reduce our use of materials wherever possible.”
NEW HORIZONS “At Viking, we always aim to improve,” says Ms. St. John. “In the future, we expect to improve upon the quality of our current services by incorporating a lot of new, emerging technologies. In doing so, we’ll be better-equipped to satisfy our customers’ needs. We’re also looking to venture further into manufacturing, which is very much needed here in Grenada. We already manufacture sheet metal for ducts, but we are looking to broaden our repertoire – for
instance, manufacturing metal products to benefit the country’s agricultural sector. As a company, we believe that’s a sector in which we have a lot of potential, and we expect it to play a greater role within our engineering services in the years to come. We’re mechanical engineers, not just HVAC-R technicians. Our engineers have a wide range of experience in manufacturing and have been exposed to a lot of different equipment. We can definitely handle it” c
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INTERVIEW: EASTERN CARIBBEAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE
SECURING
STRONGER ECONOMIES Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Trevor Blake, Managing Director at the Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange, about the exchange’s support for local economies, blockchain technology, and ambitions for involving the Caribbean diaspora in the regional market.
The Eastern Caribbean Securities Exchange (ECSE) is a regional exchange serving Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. The Exchange was founded in 2001, after an assessment by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) revealed a fractured financial system with deep inefficiencies. In an extremely bank-centric environment, a number of relatively small indigenous banks operated throughout the member countries with limited cross-border activity, restricting the range of financing options available to local businesses. Today, the ECSE offers an alternative mechanism for the raising of capital, providing fully electronic infrastructure for the trading, clearing and settlement, and registration and transfer of financial products, including 48 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
corporate stocks and bonds and government securities. “The Exchange was set up to serve the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) region, intentionally amalgamating eight individual markets into one seamless capital market in the Eastern Caribbean Currency Union (ECCU),” says Trevor Blake, Managing Director at the ECSE. “At the time, we were just over a month away from 9/11, which put the global economy into a tailspin and really affected our early growth. Fast forward to the present, and we’ve grown to just under 158 listings, and over 30,000 investors. In 2002, we expanded our services and launched the Regional Government Securities Market (RGSM) for the governments of the countries within the currency union to raise debt. The RGSM is now the primary market for government securities, enabling
By Daniel Baksi
governments to raise 13 billion dollars to date. The market continues to create significant savings across the currency union.” MARKET SUPPORT The COVID-19 pandemic presents unprecedented economic challenges to markets around the world. “The countries within our currency union are going through some very serious pains right now,” says Mr. Blake. “Tourism is a major part of economic activity here, and the sector has largely shut down. That has wide implications for government resources, tax revenues, and unemployment levels. Nonetheless, the RGSM continues to operate, allowing governments to meet their immediate needs using short-term borrowing in the form of treasury bills and bonds. In this regard, the ECSE continues to provide an important service.”
The ECSE is also working to make inroads in the corporate sector. “To date we have 13 listed companies from across the currency union,” says Mr. Blake. “It’s an area that we’re definitely seeking to grow. We are currently working with several prospects for listings in the near to medium term, and we are also seeking to expand the corporate debt market. At the moment, many private companies
don’t recognize the benefits of going directly to the market; the major players rely more heavily on debt financing through the banking sector. The banks in the currency union are extremely liquid, and they’re offering attractive borrowing terms to their large, well-established customers. For various reasons therefore, the traditional corporate sector’s needs are already being met. That said, we do have
one regional entity that is quite active in issuing corporate debt, but we need to expand the issuer base to increase the number of securities available and provide more diverse products to the market.” TECH-FIRST APPROACH “Blockchain is the big buzzword right now,” says Mr. Blake. “We’re starting to dip our toes into the water, partnering with a company called Blockstation in the launch of a pilot for the trading of tokenized securities. More people across the region are getting involved in Bitcoin – but they, and we, are conscious of its volatility. We want to provide an opportunity for investors to participate in some of these new instruments in a controlled and regulated manner within an organized market environment, as opposed to other means that offer less protection.” SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: EASTERN CARIBBEAN SECURITIES EXCHANGE
“IF WE SUCCESSFULLY TAP INTO THOSE MARKETS, WE’LL BE ABLE TO GENERATE EVEN GREATER MARKET ACTIVITY WITHIN OUR AREA.”
This represents a natural evolution for an exchange that has always stood at the forefront of technological development. “Our market was the first in the Western Hemisphere to be established as fully electronic,” says Mr. Blake. “The securities are all dematerialized; there are no physical certificates. Because of the geographical challenge of operating in eight countries, we had to make those sort of design choices. In the pandemic, that lends itself to remote working more readily than if we were paper-based. We invested in technology to facilitate telecommuting, and generally rethought how we do business. We are trying to move all of our securities holders to electronic forms of payment rather than cheque, which remains popular in the region. In the Eastern Caribbean, it’s not easy to get individuals to make that transition to
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direct deposits, but we are working assiduously to do so.” The ECCB’s introduction of its digital fiat currency, DCash, will no doubt assist in this regard. OVERSEAS AMBITIONS “We have a number of things on the drawing board, some exploratory, others more developed,” says Mr. Blake. “Crucially, we want to relaunch our lower-tier market, geared towards small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). SME financing in the region needs to be improved and enhanced, moving businesses away from methods of bank financing that aren’t always appropriate for their circumstances. To do so, we’re looking to borrow from the example of the Jamaica Stock Exchange, where their junior exchange has actually led market growth. The question of the extent to which there is scope to
provide something along those lines across the currency union, remains. But we must find some sort of incentive if SMEs are to gravitate towards a market listing.” The ECSE also plans to capitalize on the Caribbean diaspora. “There are citizens of our countries living in the major metropolitan cities around the world, in the US, UK, Canada, and beyond,” says Mr. Blake. “Relatively speaking, those citizens have significant economic power, and are, at least anecdotally, always looking for opportunities for investment ‘back home’. We’re looking at ways to target that diaspora, to see how we can structure products to suit that segment of the market, and reach those potential investors overseas. If we successfully tap into those markets, we’ll be able to generate even greater trading activity in our market.” c
Wealth Management & Financial Services
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INTERVIEW: CARBON ZERO INSTITUTE OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (CZITT)
ACHIEVING CARBON ZERO Sustainable Business Magazine speaks to Donald Baldeosingh, President of ENMAN Group and Founder of the Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad and Tobago, about the legacy of fossil fuels, the Institute’s new E-learning platform, and how they’re promoting sustainability throughout the country. By Daniel Baksi Founded in 1993, ENMAN Group is fast-approaching its twentieth year of operation. Initially focused within the fields of engineering and energy, the Group has since gradually expanded, and in 2017, launched its own non-profit organization: 52 | SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
the Carbon Zero Initiative of Trinidad, later rebranded as the Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad and Tobago (CZITT). “CZITT was established with the intention to aid the twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago in its move towards carbon neutrality,”
explains Donald Baldeosingh, President of ENMAN Group and Founder of the Carbon Zero Institute of Trinidad and Tobago. “We wanted to advocate, raise awareness, and provide an example of how an energy transition could be effectively managed.”
OLD HABITS Trinidad and Tobago has a rich history in terms of oil and gas, with close to one-hundred percent of the country’s energy supply sourced through the burning of fossil fuels. “The very first commercial oil well on land was drilled in Trinidad,” explains Mr. Baldeosingh. “The country is a prolific producer of natural gas, and the second highest producer of carbon emissions per capita worldwide. This puts the country in a unique position: compared to the rest of the Caribbean, we’ve historically had a greater amount of wealth thanks to oil, but at the same time, we’re a small island – meaning we’re at risk from the effects of climate change. We’re already feeling the impacts, with sea-level rises, coastal erosion, and extreme weather events.” This predominance of fossil fuels within the country has come at the expense of alternative, more renewable sources of energy. “The Paris Accords call for a significant drop in Trinidad’s carbon emissions, but we’re not meeting our targets,” explains Mr. Baldeosingh. “Trinidad has almost no renewable energy on the grid, and while successive governments have given a lot of lip-service to the idea of sustainability, they haven’t put effort into achieving it. At CZITT, we recognize the need for action. We put all of our work through the filter of sustainability, looking to create projects achieve social good, while being sustainable and viable.” VIRTUAL LEARNING For CZITT, the key to achieving an energy transition lies in the enthusiasm for change among Trinidad’s younger population. “Young people will be the change-leaders,” says Mr. Baldeosingh. “They’re already pushing an older generation to respond, and soon they’ll occupy deci-
sion-making positions from which they can direct the country as a whole. To reach out them, we’ve conducted more than 500 activities at secondary schools across the country. We’re into the second season of our National Secondary Schools Climate Quiz, which aired on national television, as well as in 24 other Caribbean countries, and cities across the United States.” With the onset of COVID-19, CZITT has sought new ways to reach out to its audience, with the launch of a specialized virtual learning platform. “We’d just finished taping of the second season of the Quiz at the end of February 2020 when the world went into lockdown,” explains Mr. Baldeosingh. “Secondary school students were suddenly locked up at home, and were getting frustrated very quickly,” explains Mr. Baldeosingh. “We could see they were disadvantaged by the situation. Schools weren’t ready to teach online, and students weren’t ready to learn online. We immediately went to work creating an online platform targeted
towards the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE), because we felt that even after things started to re-open, students preparing for university wouldn’t have the opportunity to catch up. In terms of content, we started nearest and dearest to our heart: with environmental science, followed by biology. As lockdown continued, we produced more and more content, taking the syllabus for each subject and breaking it down into topics. We had a team of 60 people creating new content, including short videos, and a panel of experts reviewing the content before online publication.” BREAKING DOWN BARRIERS Despite the challenge that virtual learning presents, the shift online has served to expand access to education across the country. “The platform is breaking down a lot of barriers,” says Mr. Baldeosingh. “Schools in Trinidad and Tobago are classed either as ‘prestige’ or ‘non-prestige’. At the former, students with wealthier parents receives all the resources they need to achieve better results. By contrast, schools in rural areas don’t receive the best teachers, resources, or so on. By taking our resources online, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in Port of Spain, or down in Cedros at Trinidad’s south-westerly tip – you have access to the same, high-quality content. Since July, the platform has received more than 16,000 views, by more than 5,000 unique users, and those numbers continue to grow.” The content on CZITT’s learning platform is targeted towards areas that address Trinidad and Tobago’s shifting needs and demands. “Post COVID-19, we now need SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS MAGAZINE
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INTERVIEW: CARBON ZERO INSTITUTE OF TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (CZITT)
“YOUNG PEOPLE WILL BE THE CHANGE-LEADERS, THEY’RE ALREADY PUSHING AN OLDER GENERATION TO RESPOND, AND SOON THEY’LL OCCUPY DECISION-MAKING POSITIONS FROM WHICH THEY CAN DIRECT THE COUNTRY AS A WHOLE.” to place a lot more emphasis on food security,” says Mr. Baldeosingh. “To help in that regard, CZITT is building a whole course on beekeeping, due to be uploaded onto our platform. To feed ourselves, we need pollinators; of course, bees are the best example, plus they offer the benefit of being able to produce honey as another product for export.” STRENGTH IN NUMBERS As the company ventures more heavily into virtual learning, CZITT nevertheless remains committed to real, on-the-ground projects, with the aim of transforming Trinidad’s relationship with sustainability. “Whenever we encounter a problem, we look across a number of areas to create combined, practical
solutions,” says Mr. Baldeosingh. “To give an example, Trinidad’s sugar industry was essentially shut down about 20 years ago. At the time, many farmers were given plots of land on which to continue their operations, but of the 70,000 acres assigned, the majority now lies abandoned. To address the issue, CZITT is working with COSTAATT, one of Trinidad’s leading industry colleges. We’re devising a plan to develop a small acreage of land with moringa and breadfruit, as a form of carbon storage. It’s our aim to demonstrate the potential for a sustainable, agricultural carbon sink, achieved by combining carbon sequestration with agricultural output. If the model works, we’ll then be able to encourage farmers with their own land to develop in a similar manner.” For both ENMAN and CZITT, there’s hope that such projects might kickstart a broader shift towards renewable energy. “We recognize that 100 years ago, Trinidad and Tobago had a lot to offer in terms of the emergent oil and natural gas industries,” says Mr. Baldeosingh. “But after 100 years, we can now turn our attention, and our economy, to reducing the impact of hydrocarbons on climate change. We’re
seeing a whole new market that’s emerging in carbon reduction and removal – and if you take a ton of carbon dioxide out of the air, it doesn’t matter if you’re in Trinidad, Australia, or Canada, it’s still a ton. Over the next 20 to 30 years, that trend is going to grow, and we plan to be a part of leading developments in Trinidad and Tobago and beyond.” c
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ADVERTISERS INDEX A Admiral’s (2008) Limited 13 Anjo Insurances 34 B Bico 8 D Dews Pro Builders Limited
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35
E ECSE EGS Freight Services
12 18
G Golfview Apartments Grenada Co-op Bank
12 51
H HEG Engineering Services Inc.
27
R Republic Banks
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S Southern electrical St. Clair & Associates (STACS) Sterling Asset Management
46 19 30
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Wealth Management & Financial Services
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