Climate-Resilient Infrastructure Officer (CRIO)

Can you tell us about your background and your current role?

Lieutenant Delroy Dennis was seconded to the Ministry of National Security from Royal Bahamas Defence Force and is responsible for Procurement and Project Management. He has completed his postgraduate and undergraduate degrees (off campus) in Business and Finance and is currently completing his PhD at Edinburgh Napier University, Scotland. As an independent researcher, he launched a study: Exploring the strategic responses of institutional leaders in the public sector to a financial shock: evidence from The Bahamas.

What motivated you to take this training and certification?

This effort was motivated by the observation that over the years in The Bahamas, economic competence has been challenged by several empirical anomalies – one being a prolonged exogenous traumatic shock or classes of catastrophic occurrences such as wars, famines, disease, and natural disasters, which can trigger an economic contraction to stabilize the country's financial position during a protractive period. Additionally, In the Bahamas, the provision of quality infrastructure is challenged by the geographic dispersion of the islands, coupled with the low population densities of the Family Islands. These factors result in higher-than-average infrastructure costs and create policy, management, and maintenance challenges.

Hence, to improve the quality of economic and social infrastructure across the country, the Government recognized that the public and private sectors have roles to play in delivering the high-quality, responsive, resilient, and sustainable infrastructure services that the Bahamas needs. To that end, the Government engaged in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), which are relationships with private sector entities designed to introduce private sector resources and expertise into public infrastructure projects.

Critical infrastructure gaps urgently need to be addressed to support medium and long-term growth and social development in the Bahamas.

PPPs are used to support the Government's key policy objectives in providing much-needed resources for improving infrastructure in the Bahamas. PPPs will be designed to improve the Value for Money (VfM) achieved from Government resources committed to infrastructure sectors.

In light of the aforementioned, Mr Dennis underwent a public-private partnership certification (CP3P) program at APMG to gain a deeper understanding of partnerships for Small Island Developing States and explore the investment planning process that suits the development objectives of the Bahamas. The program and guiding material helped to clarify the concepts of the PPP lifecycle and identified the Government's role and responsibilities within the PPP process. Additionally, the thought-provoking journey provided a new spare of knowledge relating to optimal procurement routes for PPP project structure, and how to manage PPP contracts to achieve maximum value for money (VFM) through effective financial structuring, which is required in my role as a public officer, responsible for procurement and PPPs at the Ministry of National Security.

The Prime Minister of the Bahamas and the current Chair of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) is an international climate action champion; he continuously highlights the dangers we face and the urgent need for collective action to address climate change. Noting that the majority of greenhouse gas emissions today are associated with carbon-intense infrastructure construction and operation, particularly in the energy, public transport, water supply and sanitation sectors. It is a priority of the Government to develop and finance smart-infrastructure solutions to address the many risks and concerns associated with climate change. 

Climate-related shocks and stresses are increasing in frequency and magnitude, causing damage to infrastructure systems and distributions in service provision. Against this backdrop, Lieutenant Dennis pursued the Climate Resilience Investment Officer (CRIO) certification program to advocate and proactively mainstream climate resilience into infrastructure planning by identifying and prioritizing projects within the Ministry related to the Government's climate commitments. As a PPP practitioner, he realized that public-private partnerships are a key entry to mobilize private sector finance to bridge the investment gap in developing resilient communities due to climate change.

Did you follow the course and certification process as part of your formal career development or out of personal interest and, if so, why?

Yes, the professional development and new skills and knowledge gained through continuous education and career training expanded my knowledge, particularly in the areas of procurement and PPP, and improved confidence in my ability, which inevitably enhances the potential for advancement in my career, but most importantly achieving my personal goals.

Is there a particular piece of information or learning outcome that has really resonated with you?

Yes. Integrating climate resilience into the PPP project cycle to improve 'best practices' resonated with me. In particular, how to design and incorporate resilient infrastructure and infrastructure for resilience to limit climate risk was beneficial. It increased my understanding of how to withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions caused by climate conditions and how to improve the resilience of a targeted community or asset by reducing exposure and vulnerability to a climate hazard, or increasing the adaptive capacity of the community or asset.

How do you feel your newly acquired skills and knowledge will impact future climate and PPP initiatives?

As a public officer and PPP practitioner, the newly acquired skills and knowledge will assist in identifying current and future climate risks through data collection and monitoring, modelling climate impacts to determine cost and benefits, and integrating climate risk into design and residence options to achieve sustainable growth and development of the country. 

Additionally, I will continue to recommend and advise on the importance of integrating nature-based solutions – which are cost-effective solutions that work with nature – into infrastructural projects to provide better long-term benefits to the environment, economy and communities of the Bahamas.

Would you recommend the CRIO certification to peers involved in climate/PPP initiatives. Would you offer any specific advice?

Yes, The climate-resilience toolkit and learning material provided by the Global Centre for Adaption and APMG can assist PPP practitioners in designing and implementing public-private partnership models to deliver climate-smart infrastructure. Further, it is critical for individuals involved in climate/PPP initiatives to understand the importance of resilient infrastructure and infrastructure for resilience because, with every passing year, infrastructure systems are increasingly stressed as a result of the growing population and increasing impacts of climate change, which is compounding an already existing infrastructure deficit. Floods, storms, coastal erosion, etc., continuously impact the performance of infrastructure networks and assets in the region, particularly the Bahamas. From my perspective, the learning material and CRIO certification are a "win-win" for PPP practitioners because they will provide opportunities for career growth and, most importantly, improve your understanding of opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the resilience to climate stresses through climate-smart infrastructure.