Remittance reversed as Climate change steps up

Feb 13, 2010 News

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– Geo-physical and socio-economic must be addressed

The University of Guyana in collaboration with the British High Commission held the third climate change lecture under the theme “Challenges and opportunities for human and social development” last Tuesday at the Regency Suite Hotel Georgetown.
According to chairperson and Dean of the Faculty of Social Science at the University of Guyana, Dr Michael Scott, the UK and Guyana are roughly the same geographic area and both have serious environmental issues as low lying states and mutual interest rest in the area of climate change.
He said that climate change has created a global phenomenon that requires societies to respond with global initiatives and as a community.
“Sustainable human and social development will only be a pipe dream unless climate change is addressed.”
According to Environmental/Resource Economist and Economic Advisor CARICOM Climate Change Centre, Dr. Mark Bynoe, man-induced climate change is a reality that Guyana and the Caribbean can ill afford to ignore.
He said that the observational data for the Caribbean have already indicated a level above the temperature increase of approximately decimal six degrees Celsius during the twentieth century while main sea level rose by two milliliters per year. Rainfall variability that seems to be closely related to the El Nino Southern oscillation has increased.
From 1998 to1999 Guyana was affected by a severe El Nino event that the Government was forced to declare a state of emergency for Region Nine.”
This is affecting the geo-physical and socio-economic, through effecting economic activities in the tourism, agricultural, mining, agro-processing, health and environmental activities and productive capacities.
He noted that this along with the global financial crisis helped to reversed the remittance, where persons from developed countries are seeking assistance from those on the other side because of how difficult things have been.
The Caribbean states are generally classified as small developing and low lying coastal areas, which share numerous similarities, and cannot wait to address climate change. It “must be addressed now!” since small physical size is not an impediment if the resilience is there. However, in the context, if recognised that a category three hurricane hit Grenada caused the Prime Minister to seek refuge in another country, while a category five hurricane hit Mississippi and New Orleans and life went on as if nothing went on in the US, physical size does matter.
“Once again because of the region we are in we have to grow and adapt and live.” Dr. Mark Bynoe said.
The LCDS should focus on the development of the Guyana populace aimed at building resilience, inclusively and public education needs to be ongoing activities.
He further noted though that the Caribbean countries contribute less than point one per cent of green gas house emissions, past emissions of carbon dioxide and other green house gases globally have placed the world on a course for further climatic changes, which is according to the IPCCE 2007.
The discussion is shifting from the quantum of emissions to emissions per capita, since the environment does not discriminate per capita and should look like the total factor and is imperative to bring down the totality.
The United Nations human developmental report 2008 and the state of the world report 2009 have identified two degrees Celsius as the threshold above which irreversible and dangerous climate change will become unavoidable.
The climate change centre has been pushing for 1.5, and even the Copenhagen accord recognised the importance of a 1.5 degree Celsius rise.
He explained the world has less than a decade to change course and start living within a sustainable global carbon budget identified as 14.5 gig tons of carbon dioxide per annum for the remainder of the 21st century.
Currently, emission is running at twice this level and if these trends continue the carbon budget would be set for expiry during 2030, setting in motion processes that can lead to temperature increases to five degrees Celsius or above by the end of the century, which would be similar to temperature since the last ice age 10,000 year ago.
The disadvantaged would be the poor, single parents, women, the elderly and children are often the most vulnerable to climate change as demonstrated in the heat wave in Europe in 2003 that claimed over 35,000 lives, most of those were the elderly and the young.
It was said that poor people will suffer the most since they lack the resilience, they tend to occupy the marginal and flood plane which many other would not occupy, while many have little alternative.
According to Dr. Mark Bynoe, Environmental refugees are another concern for the Caribbean regions, and social implications.
Desperate people would turn to desperate measures in order to survive since adaptation to climate change, and the region can contribute to the mitigation green house gases by preserving its natural systems such as forest particularly in Guyana, Suriname, Belize and Dominica for the benefit of its peoples while not compromising their economical development.
It was noted that the three focuses in the region should be to mitigate disasters, adapt to climate change and enhance economic and human development.
(Rabindra Rooplall)

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