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A Real and immediate threat to sustainable development
Washington -- 21 Jan., 2007 -- The Caribbean region is already suffering some of the negative impacts
of climate change, and urgent action must be taken to mitigate the
effects of such human activities as over-fishing and pollution, a group
of regional climate-change experts argued at the Organization of
American States (OAS).
Launching the first in the Caribbean
Seminar Series “Bringing the Caribbean’s Sustainable Development Agenda
to Washington,” OAS Assistant Secretary General Albert R. Ramdin told
participants that despite varying views on the causes of climate
change, “there is clear evidence from NASA satellites that the polar
ice cap as a whole is shrinking at a rate of about 9 percent each
decade. A vicious cycle is in progress: As more of the polar ice cap
disappears, the warmer the earth will become.”
The seminar
series is a joint effort of the OAS Department of Sustainable
Development, the Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Center
(CCCCC) and the World Bank.
In stressing the need for a
holistic approach, Ramdin said the OAS agenda “cannot and should not be
divorced from the reality of the political, social, economic and
environmental changes ongoing in the Americas.” He noted the particular
development challenges faced by the smaller member countries,
especially those in the Caribbean and Central America, noting Grenada’s
experience during and after Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
“Prior
to the arrival of Hurricane Ivan, Grenada’s economy was projected to
grow by 4.7% in 2004 and at an average rate of 5% between 2005 and
2007. After Hurricane Ivan, economic activity declined to negative 1.4%
in 2004. There was an inevitable contraction in tourism, a halt in
production of traditional crops,” he said.
Antigua and Barbuda’s
Ambassador Deborah-Mae Lovell argued that “the possibility that our
climate may change is enough for us to take notice and to be
pro-active. We stand to lose nearly everything, if the predictions of
the scientists come true.” She described this first seminar as an
excellent opportunity to think about the policies, programs and
strategies that might be employed to overcome the challenges to the
sustainable development of the Caribbean countries—which, she added,
can take no solace in the fact that they are not the major emitters of
greenhouses gases that are at the heart of the problem.
According
to CCCCC Deputy Director Dr. Carlos Fuller, the average temperature in
the Caribbean region increased by 1 degree Celsius in the 20th century,
with sea levels rising by 2 millimeters per year, and scientific
projections are for much steeper change in the next four decades. He
said adaptation strategies must be put in place to meet the urgent
needs of mitigation, and called for more scientific studies to inform
the policy options. “Our political directorate needs hard evidence”
articulated in economic terms, he stressed. “The onus is on the
scientific community to provide that evidence to them.”
Dr.
Neville Trotz, CCCCC science advisor, outlined the rationale for the
Climate Change Center’s work, emphasizing that adaptation is necessary
to strengthen the resilience of human, social and natural systems to
the likely impact of climate change. “To adapt, we have to identify
more accurately what the risk is, what climate we’ll be exposed to in
the future,” he said, adding that the Center has been doing some
monitoring in the region and using models to come up with
region-specific climate-change projections. These will be used to
revisit the agriculture, water and tourism sectors, for instance, to
see what the potential impacts of climate change might be. He also
spoke about interest in the feasibility of a carbon levy proposal –
similar to a system adopted by the European Union for air travel in
Europe – as a means of raising the resources with which to address
adaptation.
The World Bank’s Walter Vergara gave an overview
of an initiative his institution has been implementing in conjunction
with the CCCCC to address the challenges of climate change in the
Caribbean. His presentation highlighted activities, lessons learned and
recommendations for further work in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Meanwhile,
in his presentation entitled “Linking Renewable Energy and Energy
Efficiency to Security and Climate Change in the Caribbean,” Mark
Lambrides of the OAS Department of Sustainable Development noted the
negative impact of diesel generators on the environment and tourism
economy. He highlighted such energy alternatives as diversification
based on domestic renewable resources (wind, geothermal, biomass and
solar, among others), as well as the potential for energy conservation
in commercial sectors such as tourism. He also recommended residential
conservation measures.
In closing remarks, Cletus Springer of
the Department of Sustainable Development noted that the seminar series
is intended to bring such issues to the attention of Caribbean
representatives in Washington, as well as international development
agencies, because they are the ones who must build partnerships and
take the baton forward. “The message,” Springer said, “is that we have
a very real threat confronting our sustainable development. It is real,
it is immediate.”
Source: oas.org
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