Nothing New Under the Sun

Nothing New Under the Sun

29 November 2025

It’s a cloudy, rainy morning, so the title has nothing to do with the weather. The reason is something else: this week I attended the climate conference organized by the CCCP of the Meteorological Service, and this morning I read that at another event the investment agency stated that attracting investors “is all about contacts.”

Looking back, I stumbled upon a blog I wrote almost exactly a year ago: Too many conferences, too little action. The conclusion then — too much talk, too little action — still holds.

The Climate Conference

The first keynote was a literature review on how climate impacts our health. The second keynote, by an architect, argued that on Curaçao we build without considering sun, wind, and other natural elements. We use too much glass, create too little shade, and plant too few trees.

Meanwhile, the newspaper reports — again — that researchers warn: “Climate scenarios show risks.”

And yet, in 2023 I was a keynote speaker at this very conference. I presented three practical proposals:

1. Launch a national campaign: every household plants a tree.

2. Promote household rainwater harvesting.

3. Put a solar panel on every house, starting with social housing.

Nothing has happened. No one remembers what was said last year, let alone the years before. It is the perfect example of our institutional memory loss. That is why we keep going in circles.

The Investors’ Conference

I missed that conference as well. I only vaguely recall an invitation to sponsor. The claim that investor attraction is all about “contacts” reminded me of an analysis I did in 2019 on major investors in Curaçao. I identified Sandals, Renaissance, Kura Hulanda, Jandino, and others as key investors.

What do they have in common? They almost all have an irrational, emotional bond with the island. Back then, I called them misfits — in the positive sense.

This brought to mind another figure: Toine Knipping, the Curaçao-born founder of a multinational. Years ago, he gave a lecture — at the invitation of the Chamber of Commerce — on what Curaçao could do to strengthen its position. I doubt many remember that lecture. People in their forties often don’t even know who he is, let alone that they ever met him.

At the time, I suggested that the Chamber undertake a fact-finding mission to Singapore, where Knipping lives. The response was: “We know what needs to be done; we just need to execute.” Exactly. And that is where it goes wrong: we do not execute.

Old Thinking in a New World

The story of investor attraction has been the same for decades. We pretend we are trying something new, but it’s the same old mindset. I have been writing about this for a while: FDI is old thinking in a new world. And yet we cling to it.

Meanwhile, the Pope launched a genuinely new idea yesterday: a human-centered economy built around meaning and purpose. Yet most people seem entirely unaware of it.

We lack connection to our past stories as well as to emerging ideas worldwide. As a result, we keep reinventing the wheel. We repeat. We go in circles.

Conclusion

As an island, we do not lack insights, recommendations, or conferences. We lack memory, continuity, and execution. Only when we decide to act on what we have been saying for years will we break the cycle. Until then, it remains: nothing new under the sun.

Miguel Goede

References

Goede, M. (2024, November 28). Too many conferences, too little time: Keeping up with Curaçao. University of Governance.Goede,

M. (2019). The crazy ones. University of Governance.Curaçao

Business Magazine. (2019). Curaçao’s potential for trade facilitation: The island’s best-kept secret.

Goede, M. (2024). FDI: Old thinking in a new world. LinkedIn.

Vatican News. (2025, November 27). Pope Leo: Economy of Francesco gathering — The production machine.