C/bean coastal mitigation efforts could exceed 5% of its GDP

C/bean coastal mitigation efforts could exceed 5% of its GDP – World Bank Official

Nov 23, 2021 News

Kaieteur News – It could cost some Caribbean countries more than 5 percent of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP), each year for coastal mitigation efforts against the rising sea levels, stemming from climate change.

Vice President of Latin America and Caribbean, World Bank, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo.

This is according to World Bank, Vice President of Latin America and the Caribbean, Carlos Felipe Jaramillo.
The World Bank Official gave the disclosure in his address at the flagship report launch of the entity’s recent report “360° Resilience: A Guide to Prepare the Caribbean for a New Generation of Shocks.”
According to Jaramillo, Governments are increasingly becoming better at preparing for natural hazards and have made investments in disaster preparedness, in disaster risk financing and in regional collaboration mechanisms to detect and respond to incoming threats.
He did note that despite recurrent losses from disasters, the Caribbean has achieved development progress in higher income levels.
Jaramillo noted however that economic growth over the past 10 years has slowed and climate change is compounding the intensity and frequency of threats and also the sea level rise.
To this end, he disclosed that between the years 2000 and 2020, the number of people exposed to floods in the Region increased by 70 percent, and as a result of climate change, the number will keep increasing.
He also explained that in the Caribbean, 72 percent of infrastructure assets are exposed to at least two different types of natural hazards and that 13 percent of hotels along the Caribbean beaches could experience beach loss by 2050 due to sea level rise and erosion.
To prevent this from happening and to protect the coastland, it comes with a hefty cost.

The purple shade represents Guyana’s low coastal plain.

In fact, he said, “…in some countries, the cost is huge and annual coastal protection cost could exceed 5 percent of GDP every year.”
Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and the devastating floods experienced in May/June, it was stated in the Ministry of Finance’s Mid-Year Report for 2021 that Guyana recorded real GDP growth of 14.5 percent while non-oil GDP grew by 4.8 percent.
While the Finance Ministry has reported that Guyana’s real GDP grow by 14.5 percent; Guyana has been identified as one of three Caribbean countries that needs to urgently, in the absence of appropriate funding and asset management systems for adequately maintaining coastal protection infrastructure—consider alternative strategies, including natural barriers and managed relocation.
The World Bank recommended that Guyana invest in sea defence or relocate coastal residents as is listed Georgetown among nine cities to be under water by 2030.
Minister of Finance, Dr. Ashni Singh, responded to the recommendation saying that the wholesale relocating of coastal residents will be complicated and costly.

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