By Kimani Wiseman
The effects of climate change is crystal clear in St. Vincent and the Grenadines hence the reason why climate finance and climate justice is urgently needed. Climate finance refers to monies given by the richest countries to help lower income countries both to reduce their emissions and to adapt to the effects of the climate crisis. Climate Justice refers to the idea that the rich countries of the world must take responsibility for climate change and the damage it causes and help poorer countries and people because they have not caused most of the problem and are the worst affected.
The most recent evidence that climate change is not a joke and we are in for big trouble in the future is hurricane Beryl. July 1st 2024, Hurricane Beryl ripped through St. Vincent and the Grenadines wreaking havoc on the nation. In the blink of an eye, Beryl intensified into a category four hurricane as it travelled over the warm ocean and persons in the Grenadines would have lost all their assets. The dream houses that the Grenadines people would have built were gone in a matter of minutes, everything inside of their house was destroyed. Hotels, businesses, and Government buildings were demolished from the strong winds. Fishermen boats and engines also suffered severe damages. On mainland St. Vincent, the aftermath of Beryl was also seen and felt. Can you envision if very soon another monster hurricane was to strike SVG, where would the money come from to rebuild? In previous years, we would have had the freak storm on December 24th 2013 which caused a lot of damage to houses and infrastructures and disrupted everybody’s Christmas. We would have also experience hurricane Lili (2002) hurricane Tomas (2010) hurricane Matthew (2016). The Grenadines would have to be extra careful because there can be an outbreak of mosquito borne diseases, Leptospirosis, Gastroenteritis, etc.
Droughts and heat waves are becoming really intense. During the dry season, we have been witnessing rivers and water catchments drying up which is causing water rationing in various communities. Farmers are losing crops and livestock from a lack of rainfall and heat stress. The day and night time temperature is increasing rapidly, these days you must have on a fan or air conditioner whole day to keep cool, which causes an increase in your electricity bill. Very soon, we might have to declare fans and air conditioners as part of climate change adaptation. Sea level is rising which is causing coastal erosion at various beaches. Climate change is causing an increase of rainfall and warmer temperatures which is a habitat for the aedes aegypti mosquito. This mosquito can cause an outbreak of Dengue fever, Zika, Chikungunya. In the past, we would have had an upsurge of Dengue fever and Chikungunya cases. This can result in employees taking sick leave which can cause low productivity at various work places and school children being absent from school which can affect their education.
The conference of the parties (COP) is an international climate meeting held each year by the United Nations. This meeting is turning into a meeting of “big talks” and no action from world leaders. According to a BBC news article, the article states that at COP 28 the EU, UK, US, and others immediately announced contributions totaling around $ 400m for poor countries reeling from the impacts of climate change. (https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-67581277). Would St. Vincent and the Grenadines and the rest of the Caribbean islands that suffered damages from hurricane Beryl receive any of this money? According to the United Nations, at COP 26, countries reaffirmed the Paris agreement goal of limiting the increase in the global average temperature to well below 2℃ above pre industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5℃. (https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/cop26). However, CNN news published an article on January 9th 2024, stating that Global Warming in 2023 hit 1.48 degree Celsius, the article further stated that the world is moving dangerously close to the 1.5 degree limit that nearly 200 countries sought to avoid in the Paris Agreement in 2015.( https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/09/climate/temperature-rise-2023-climate-copernicus-intl/index.html) . While these countries are failing to implement what they promise at the Conference of the Parties meetings (COP), small island developing states are suffering badly as a result of climate change.
I would strongly recommend in St. Vincent and the Grenadines we approach climate change with “all hands on deck” in the public service. The human resource is our national treasure and it is critical to getting work done for the people. We need to place people who has the qualifications and knowledge about climate change to “lobby” for climate justice and climate finance and to implement climate change projects for the betterment of the country.