Bad land policies drive global warming, says UN rep
Published:Wednesday | January 30, 2019 | 12:00 AMChristopher Serju/Gleaner Writer
GEORGETOWN, Guyana:
Caribbean journalists have been challenged to up their game by helping different regional populations to fully understand climate-change issues such as global warming, most of which are linked to the use – or misuse – of land.
“Climate change will be the most defining challenge of our times,” Dr Pradeep Monga, deputy executive secretary of the United Nations Executive Direction and Management Unit, told regional journalists in Georgetown, Guyana, on Sunday. “We only have one planet, so we don’t have a Plan B for us,” he reminded the group.
Monga called for Caribbean states to craft coherent land-management policies that are sustainable and economically viable.
“The main thing is, very few people know climate change can be addressed through land management more than anything else. If we don’t manage land sustainably, or don’t have sustainable agriculture, then we release carbon back into the air. So in effect, we can further compound the problem, instead of solving it.”
Monga, who was addressing a media training workshop for the group of environmental journalists, argued that the fragmented agenda on land created its own level of hardship.
He explained: “Many ministries, many different departments, you talk with an urban planner, he wants to put up houses. You talk to the farmer, he wants more productivity, more income. You talk to women, they want sustainable incomes, and so there is always a changing narrative, and this is the problem. So how to bring this fragmented agenda in the minds of people into a more holistic and cohesive way, that’s where we need your help.”
Land degradation and drought are among the central issues being discussed at the 17th Session of the Committee for the Review of Implementation (CRIC 17) of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, which got under way here on Monday at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre. The conference ends on Wednesday.
Thereafter, CRIC 17 will submit recommendations for consideration to its governing body, the Convention of Parties, during its next meeting from October 17-18 in New Delhi, India.