Chat with Dr Rolph Payet, executive secretary of the Basel Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions (BRS) ‘I brought the islander in me in my job’ |04 August 2021

Dr Payet with his family

Dr Rolph Antoine Payetis an international policy expert, researcher and speaker on environment, climate and island issues.

Born on August 4, 1968, meaning today he is celebrating his 53rd birthday, Dr Payet was the first vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles and later on became the Minister for Environment and Energy,a post he occupied from 2012 to 2014.

He is currently the executive secretary for the Basel Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions.

Seychelles NATION had the opportunity to have a chat with Dr Payet whilst he was on a working visit to Seychelles recently.

Seychelles NATION: Dr Payet, since you left Seychelles what have you been doing?

Dr Payet: I have been doing a lot! In fact this post is my first international job. I went into that job with the Seychelles and regional experience accumulated over the years. It was a challenge to organise and manage an international organisation, but I am thankful to the people who had faith in me and saw the vision and knowledge that I had. The first two years were tough as I had to build the trust while at the same time reorganise the organisation amidst existing financial difficulties. After three, four years, the countries developed trust in the organisation. I brought the islander in me into my job. I had no political agenda and stayed neutral. When I joined the organisation, I had more Twitter followers than the organisation did, and one of my tasks was to get more followers for the organisation, as well as work with the different countries to create an understanding of the purpose of our mission, and gaining their involvementwiththe plastics issue. Climate change negotiations have been ongoing, and to have reached a landmark today in many of the countries around the world banning the importation of plastics is,indeed a dream come true. Now we are busy implementing it.

Seychelles NATION:As the executive secretary of the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions, how do you see Seychelles doing in environment conservation?

Dr Payet: What I am seeing right now and which makes me very happy, is that there is a lot of young people in the field of environment. Some years back we were doing lots of activities in schools,educating the children in the protection of the environment, and now the kids are adults themselves and I am so happy to see that we have a new generation who cares about environment – waste, beach, forest etc. The worst that can happen is to find thatsomething you have worked hard to implement, goes backwards after you’ve left the country. But this did not happen in Seychelles in that respect;in fact we have moved forward. I have a continued collaboration with the youth here, and help them in their studies.

We also put in place, through the University of Seychelles, a university degree in environmental science and to date, 15 students have graduated. For me this is significant as we are laying down the foundation for long term environmental management. Everything in Seychelles revolves around the environment, which should not be ignored. Our thinking should always start with the environment. Whilst there has been progress, I still remain concernedwith the pressure that development can place on our environment. There are huge developments taking place, but we need to be more sensitive. We cannot just cut the hillside and replant trees. The trees were there at the beginning and since we have the knowledge and technology, Ibelieve we can do things in a more disciplined way, and in sync with the environment. We have learnt a lot and it’s time now to put the knowledge into practice.

When I was the Minister for Environment, I also pushed for the hotels to engage in conservation programmes as well as educate their guests. Living in Europe, I have witnessed the amount of wastagetaking place. We need to seize the opportunity to educate the tourists so that they too can participate in the conservation of our environment and not destroy it.

Seychelles NATION:There are many organisations worldwide working for environment protection. Is there some kind of synergy?

Dr Payet: I would like to say yes. We try very hard. Many years ago the Secretary General and the General Assembly of the United Nations approved the setting up of the Environment Management Group. Our organisation as well as many international organisations are part of that Group. It is supposed to help us coordinate our activities. It is happening to a certain extent, but I believe we need to do more. There is a link between biodiversity and chemicals and we need to work together in order to address these issuestotally.

Seychelles NATION: There has been a lot of talk about environment protection and the need for industrialised countries to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Have any actions been taken against any country which has not followed the advice?

Dr Payet: The way international laws work, you cannot take a country to court. I can encourage them, but then the decision of the party is binding. A country is a sovereign state and can do whatever it wants. But when it infringes on somebody else’s rights, this is where the challenge comes in.

For example, we have a case where there is illegal shipment of waste from one country to another, this is where we come in and provide advice because of the disputes between the two countries. One country can decide to bring the case before the criminal court if they cannot resolve it. What we have often seen is that the containers are sent back to the original country. The public also can take legal actions against these countries.

Seychelles NATION:What do you see as the biggest problems that we will be facing in the coming future, if there is no action on the part of all concerned parties?

Dr Payet: Nationally in Seychelles, it is how we are using our resources – land, sea and forest. We need to manage them in a sustainable way. I think we have enough knowledge to manage them so that they can last us. Through monitoring we have learnt that some of our fish are under pressure and we should allow their quantity to bounce back. Protection is the ultimate solution, but in-between, we still have many opportunities to address such issues. Population will keep growing, but we need to think more long term on how to address these issues. Tourism also has a major role to play, and we need to be prudent on the quality of our tourists coming in. We should specialise our tourism. Mass tourism is not good for Seychelles. We should add value to our products such as culture, food, music etc.

Internationally, seriously, with climate change, we are out of time. Already the earth is showing signs of this. We have passed the point of no return, but there will be a new normal where people and the planet will adjust itself. However, if we continue along the same lines, we will experience the extremes, such as more hurricanes, more cyclones, increased flooding, etc. We did a modeling for Seychelles and it transpired that with climate change we will experience more rainfall; thus we should plan for that.

Biodiversity is the second concern, and which will require us to preserve what we have on our mountains and encourage people to adopt and grow local plants,which will help in preserving our biodiversity. Some countries have really beautiful biodiversity, but you do not see any living creatures such as birds, insects, etc.

Another challenge is global trade, which puts pressure on the resources of a country. One example is Brazil – the manner in which trees are being cut for further development andat the same time destroying nature.

We need to bring about the ‘Zero waste’ mentality and people will stop the laissez-faire attitude of throwing away everything. The more we consume, the more we put pressure on the environment. Another example is the buildings we construct. Do we really need air conditioning or do we rather need to construct appropriate buildings which will allow for air circulation? Our ancestors did not die from heat! Air conditioning is burning away money as we have to buy oil to produce the electricity that we consume.

Seychelles NATION:When you left the country, many Seychellois were disappointed as they said you were doing a good job as the Minister forEnvironment. Are you planning to come back to Seychelles?

Dr Payet: My leaving Seychelles was important both for the family and for myself, but also, it was important for Seychelles. I wanted to move Seychelles to the next level! Whenever I participate in a forum, participants think of the Seychelles as soon as I start talking. Automatically I promote Seychelles wherever I go. The first thing I tell people when I meet them is that I am from Seychelles,because I am often mistaken to be from the Philippines. For the last seven years, I have been meeting thousands of people and they know about Seychelles. As an ambassador for Seychelles, I do it for the country. On the other hand, I have been able to go and remind the world of the existence of small countries, and the need for them to think bigger. On the global level, they appreciate that I bring people together.

My return to Seychelles may be in five years’ time. I have some interesting projects in mind and I will not stop working. I will bring with me the experience I have acquired from abroad. I learned a lot also of what we can do, like how to value our local food, herbs etc. I have at least 13 recipes with breadfruit, for example, and we also have many leaves that we are not eating. We need to appreciate more our basic food and live healthy. In Seychelles we should be living a long life as the quality of our environment is good here. In my sunset days, I want to show by example – recycling, water conservation and organic food. Wherever I go, I take the island with me.

Seychelles NATION: What do you miss more about Seychelles?

Dr Payet: I miss the people, friends and colleagues. You know in Europe, people do not talk to you. During Covid-19, it was the first time that my neighbors created a WhatsApp group as they suddenly realised they have a neighbour and if they fall sick, they need somebody to help them. We should not lose this here. We should strengthen the community thinking / the community life. Secondly, I miss the food and the smell of the ocean; but we are coping. We try to come once a year. Being away from the country made me realise how much we are losing in our culture. Because we are isolated, the food in Seychelles is very tasty and not complex. But we are slowly losing that now as we copy a lot from other cultures with the use of television and internet.

Seychelles NATION: Any advice to the younger generation about our responsibility in making Seychelles environmentally friendly?

Dr Payet: My message to the young generation would be to work hard. Life is not a handout, and it will never be a handout. Do not think that because here we have free health and free education, that everywhere it is the same. Many people struggle to go to work and do not have time to spend with the family. We have an easy life here, but do not take it for granted and as a fait-accompli. Instead use that opportunity to go forward, I am passionate about education and please do not throw away this chance. Your education is something you will own until the rest of your life and no one can take that away from you. A joint, you puff it, it is gone! A beer, it’s gone within minutes! Education stays forever. It saddens me to see how opportunities are wasted. It’s good to have friends but you should have your priority right!

Vidya Gappy

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Know more about Dr Rolph Payet

Dr Rolph Payet was born in Rochon and as a young boy he always dreamt of becoming a scientist. He did his secondary studies at Seychelles College and attended two years of National Youth Service. He completed his A Level studies, where he was awarded the most outstanding science student, before taking up a career in environment.

He was educated at the University of East Anglia (BSc Biochemistry, 1992), University of Surrey (MBA), University of Ulster (MSc), the University of London, and the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He received his PhD from Linnaeus University in Environmental Science, where he undertook multidisciplinary research in sustainable tourism.