Will GREENWASHING drown us?

The Caribbean’s Extreme Vulnerability to Climate Change

INTRODUCTION

On August 9, 2021 IPCC released a Climate Change Report that shows that there is nowhere on Earth that isn’t affected by climate change and many of the changes we’re seeing are unprecedented.

Although the findings are dire (and confirm, yet again, that human activity is the cause of the climate crisis), the report noted that significantly limiting our carbon emissions over the long-term will help reduce some of the most cataclysmic effects from climate change.

Specific hazards resulting from warmer temperatures, such as rising sea levels and more frequent extreme weather events, make the Caribbean the most vulnerable sub-region, with many island nations, and other coastal communities, at risk of disappearing if the dangers of global warming are not addressed collectively and urgently today.

MAIN THREATS

Two of the main threats resulting from global warming—coral bleaching and erosion—place the Caribbean’s biodiversity at risk of disappearing.  The Caribbean reefs of today pale in comparison to those that existed even just a generation ago. Since researchers began intensively studying these reefs in the 1970s, about one half of Caribbean corals have died. The iconic elkhorn and staghorn corals that once dominated Caribbean reefs have been hardest hit, with only 20% of their populations remaining today.

These marine ecosystems—that attract thousands of tourists every year and help create jobs—also play a significant role in supplying sediment to island shores and in dissipating wave energy, which reduces potential shoreline erosion.

As a result of climate change and warmer temperatures, already in 2010, the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) forecast that a one-meter sea level rise by 2100 is inevitable.

For reflection, highest point 2021 on Klein Bonaire is one meter, so in 2100 Klein Bonaire is under sea level …….

This will affect all Caribbean nations, as major cities, ports and airports; and approximately 70 percent of the Caribbean population lives on the coast. As sea levels continue to rise, these major urban areas will flood, causing disastrous problems to infrastructure and to entire populations. 

Imagining a Caribbean without its beaches is a real possibility by 2050, and not to mention a significant relocation of people and the rebuilding of entire coastal infrastructures.

GLOBAL 30X30 PROTECTION TARGET

Global interest and ambition toward achieving protection and conservation of at least 30% of the planet by 2030 will require an unprecedented level of innovation, collaboration, and commitment.

A quote from a press release (August 27, 2021) from the government of Bonaire regarding the fact that Lieutenant Governor Edison Rijna has been invited to speak at the World Conservation Congress that IUCN is holding from September 3 to 11 in the French city of Marseille:

“To counter the threats, the so-called ’30×30 initiative’ has been launched with the aim of providing at least 30% of all terrestrial and underwater ecosystems with legal protection against further damage by 2030.
With the Washington-Slagbaai National Park and the Marine Park, Bonaire already largely meets that 30%,…..” GREENWASHING?

FACTS:Washington-Slagbaai National Park together with Klein Bonaire make up for 22,5%of the terrestrial ecosystems, when the government protects and preserves Plantation Bolivia (10% of the island) they will meet the 2030 goal (30%) on land.

The press release is an example of the day-to-day approach from the government of Bonaire to Nature, blah blah blah, NO facts and NO commitment to protect and preserve Nature!

Will they get their wake-up call in Marseille? Again I guess not!

CONCLUSION

It is a fact that we can’t prevent natural disasters from happening, but we can avoid the rippling effects of global warming and extreme weather events if we address climate change today.

Preserving Caribbean biodiversity is essential to the survival of the region’s marine ecosystem and of the islands themselves

That’s why the wild is our best solution for bringing balance to the planet. Healthy and intact ecosystems, bursting with life, can help address climate change, the extinction crisis, and pandemics, which are all connected.

It’s more important than ever to rewild the world. Protect what is still wild and restore the rest

Wake Up! It is up to us, you and me, that’s why we do what we do:

HELP US TO SAVE PLANTATION BOLIVIA FROM DESTRUCTION!