Climate change likely to derail SDGs, warns UWI professor

A LEADING local climate scientist is warning that the impact of climate change, especially on small island developing states (SIDS) such as Jamaica, is likely to derail efforts to achieve the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDS) by 2030.

Professor Michael Taylor, head of the Climate Studies Group and dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, says achieving the SDGs is under threat from climate change, and this should be of urgent concern to all of us who want a liveable future.

Citing scientific research, which estimates that by 2023 Kingston could be among cities experiencing climate departure, the climate scientist said this would have implications for people’s quality of life. As such, he said we must all be concerned and seek to tackle climate change as an imperative.

Climate departure refers to a point in time when the average temperature of the coolest year after 2005 will be warmer than the historic average temperature of the hottest year, for a specific location.

Taylor said the point of climate departure would mark “the entrenchment of a multi-hazard era that has already begun”.

More heat waves, increased frequency of droughts, heavier rainfall, more intense hurricanes, higher sea levels and storm surges will characterise this period.

These changes in climate put valuable resources like agricultural lands, forests and protected areas at grave risk while increasing the vulnerability of some groups like farmers and creating new vulnerable groups.

“ In any era of unprecedented heat, anybody who works outdoors is the new climate vulnerable; that’s your security guard, tourism worker, construction workers, tarmac workers, farmers … athletes and sports officials,” the UWI professor said.

Children, the elderly, and the health-challenged are also among the new vulnerable group. Others include inner-city dwellers who live in overcrowded and dense housing under zinc roofs and children who attend schools that are ill-designed to cope with the new heat levels.

Taylor, who was speaking at a climate summit under the theme ‘Climate Departure and Resilience – Is Jamaica Ready for the Journey’ at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston on October 24, said the aforementioned potential impacts of climate change will make attaining the SDGs by 2030 improbable.

“If I were to try to circle which sustainable goal will be affected by climate, I would do 16 of the 17. Maybe only [goal] 13 wouldn’t be affected – climate action, and so you can see that we are in danger of not achieving the Sustainable Development Goals,” he stressed.

With 2023 fast approaching, Taylor said taking action becomes immediate.

“We are heading for the inescapable, and we are going to have to adapt,” warned the climate specialist.

This is why he said previously untouched areas like the interior, forests, and the potentially new vulnerable groups that must join the discussion to device measures to combat climate change.

“Does every business, every sector, every entity here have their adaptation plan ready for departure next year?” he asked.

For Taylor, this plan must entail measures to reduce use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gases, developing renewable energy sources, putting in place an efficient transport system, proper waste management, placing value on the ocean, blue economy and land preservation. Dealing with the education and research agendas, with emphasis on research that is contextual to our environment and collaboration across sectors are also critical, he said.

“There is no one sector that can manage climate change, and not only is it talking across sectors, but it is also dealing with the cohesion of policies so that one policy does not offset another. That’s the way to resilience. We know what to do, but now under climate departure, we have no choice but to do it now,” Taylor stressed.

In her remarks at the summit, Marianne Van Steen, European Union (EU) ambassador to Jamaica, said the EU is a leader in fighting climate change.

“The EU is, and has always been, at the forefront of fighting climate change and will continue to lead by example,” she said.

Van Steen said the EU has increased its aim to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 per cent by 2030. This, along with its commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050 are enshrined in law. In addition, she noted that the EU has since introduced a new strategy to guide the 27-nation bloc’s adaptation to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. On the important issue of climate finance, she said the EU is the most significant international donor, contributing over €20 billion to international public climate finance.

She said that in recognising climate change as a global challenge, the only way forward is through partnership. In that regard, the EU and Jamaica are partnering for improved forest management and resilience building, especially among vulnerable communities. She noted that for future cooperation for 2021-2027, the EU is looking to partner in sustainable urban development, enhancing sustainable management of natural resources, safer and more suitable infrastructure, solid waste management, the improvement of water quality and nature-based solutions.

editorial@gleanerjm.com