Dear Editor,
Building back better was and still is the buzz word 13 months after the devastation caused by Hurricane Irma to the country, classified as an extremely powerful and catastrophic Cape Verde hurricane, the strongest observed in the Atlantic in terms of maximum sustained winds, and the strongest storm on record to exist in the open Atlantic region, and the second-costliest Caribbean hurricane on record, after Maria.
The consequences of climate change are extreme weather events such as destructive hurricanes, fires, floods, debilitating heatwaves, droughts, melting ice, and changes to agriculture that threaten food security.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands comprises four countries: the Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten.
The Kingdom’s geographic borders are at stake due to global warming caused by climate change. Therefore, the matter should become a Kingdom issue requiring attention at this level involving all four Kingdom partners, as the climate change consequences will have a direct impact on the quality of life/human rights of the peoples of the Kingdom, including the three Caribbean partners.
The three Prime Ministers of the Kingdom Caribbean partners should meet to discuss this matter, and elevating climate change to a Kingdom level from an executive approach (Council of Ministers).
The special report released on October 8 by the United Nations Scientific Panel revealed that “climate change is running faster than we are – and we are running out of time.” This should be a wake-up call for the Caribbean Kingdom partners.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said that limiting global warming will require “far-reaching and unprecedented changes” to human behavior, according to the panel. “We are already seeing the consequences of one-degree Celsius of global warming through more extreme weather, rising sea levels and diminishing Arctic sea ice, among other changes,” said P. Zhai, Co-Chair of one of the IPCC Working Groups.
The global advice from the IPCC is to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – could happen as soon as 2030 – compared to two degrees, and this would reduce challenging impacts on ecosystems, human health and well-being; by 2100, global sea level rise would be 10cm lower with global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius compared with two degrees; coral reefs already threatened would decline by 70-90 per cent with global warming of 1.5 while with a two-degree increase all would be lost, according to the IPCC report.
The Netherlands has already been warned about sea level rises with a new independent water research institute Deltares report. A number of measures will have to be taken by the Netherlands such as increasing by 20 times the amount of sand used – 12 million cubic meters – for beach/shoreline replenishment/revetment; storm surge barriers will need to be closed more often and maintained on a more frequent basis. A Deltares researcher was reported to have stated: “The question is not by how much sea levels will rise but how much time we have to prepare.”
The Netherlands has the Delta Plan to deal with the effects of climate change. A person has been appointed to keep Dutch Members of Parliament informed on what has been done and what still needs to be done: Delta Commissioner Wim Kuijken.
Delta Commissioner Kuijken in his 2018 report to the Dutch Parliament, his recommendations included a national programme to combat soil subsidence; building guidelines to protect structures from extreme weather; and more research into water and climate.
The “building back better” concept is also part and parcel of building a climate-resilient nation for country St. Maarten.
Building back better must be based on “thinking outside of the box.” As the nation of St. Maarten rebuilds, going back to pre-Irma thinking is no longer possible; a new mindset is required in the post-Irma/Maria era in order to build a climate-resilient nation.
We cannot allow disaster risk to outpace resilience. If we do not change, we will be bound to repeat disaster with catastrophic consequences and we are now in a race against time based on the latest IPCC report. #SXMStrong
Roddy Heyliger
