Officials take stock of climate change
Global warming, more officially known as climate change: it’s one of those concepts that all of us have heard of, but few of us have any idea what to do about it. The issue, which for Belize could be critical, was today once again the subject of discussion by politicians and academics. News Five’s Jacqueline Woods has more.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
Severe weather conditions like hurricanes, floods and drought have greatly impacted Belize, but it could have been worse says Minister of Natural Resources Johnny Briceño, had we not been fortunate enough to protect our natural resources and the environment. To date, almost forty percent of the country is under some kind of protective status.
Johnny Briceño, Min. of Nat. Resources/Environment
“It is not something that you can build, it is not something that you can have in a city like Miami who may be quite developed, but it is the natural state, it is the environment. And we so far have been lucky and as a people we have learned to appreciate the importance of protecting our environment.”
Recent variations in climactic conditions, however, demonstrate the need for us to be better prepared.
Johnny Briceño
“The issue of the drought, especially in the northern districts. For the past three years when we expect rain there is no rain, when we expect that it’s going to be dry, there is rain. The Mennonites in particular, who are some of our most productive people, they have lost millions of dollars in their fields, in their crops. That is one issue. When you look at the reef, from time to time when we hear about coral bleaching, these things are issues that affect us directly, because whenever a tourist comes to Belize, they don’t come to shop, they come to visit our Mayan temples, our rainforest, or to go and scuba dive and look at the wonders under the reef.”
Today, Belize began the process of preparing its second national communication to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Earl Green, Consultant
“Each country is expected to produce what they call a national communication that is shared with all the other member countries who have signed the convention. At the last conference that the party held in Milan, I think that was late last year, the countries decided to do their second communication.”
“A part of the process involves getting input from the public, and what we call stakeholders, who are everybody. Everybody in the country is involved in development, whether they know it or not.”
The information compiled will be included in the draft second national communication that will then become available to the general public. The information will give the public an idea of what progress is being made and how the environment is being impacted by climate change. Jacqueline Woods for News Five.
