Size or sovereignty? Adaptive capacity and sargassum management in Caribbean small sub-national island jurisdictions (SNIJs)

Abstract

Small, sub-national island jurisdictions (SNIJs) tend to perform much better on most socio-economic indicators than small island developing states (SIDS). The most commonly cited reason is that SNIJs derive a range of economic benefits from their autonomy without full independence, including cash transfers, freedom of movement, and the ability to engage in forms of enclave capitalism (i.e. financial services) that are protected by the metropole. In this paper we explore whether these arguments about the advantages of remaining sub-national also apply to transnational environmental issues, using sargassum management in the Caribbean as a case study. Specifically, we employ a bespoke diagnostic self-assessment tool to compare perceived sargassum management capacity in Caribbean SIDS and SNIJs. Contra conventional wisdom, we find smallness is a much better predictor of sargassum management capacity than political status. We hypothesize that this is because, in SNIJs, with their typically low tax regimes, local government lacks discretionary funding. Yet, associated metropolitan powers are unwilling to underwrite the required level of government intervention at scale to address significant transnational environmental threats. The fact that the advantages of remaining sub-national do not compensate for the (dis)economies of scale in select environmental policy areas has significant implications for climate adaptation and disaster risk reduction.