PM to youth: 'Be conscious of climate change and the world's future'

Prime Minister Andrew Holness has urged youth to become more conscious of the future of the world due to climate change, so that they can play a deeper role in designing a sustainable future for the planet. 

Speaking during the University of Missouri's Black History Month Lecture Series in the US state last week, the prime minister outlined several effects climate change has been having and could have on countries, especially small island states, such as Jamaica, such as increasing debt and exacerbating various social, health and environmental issues. 

"The truth is the future of the world could see many of these islands losing their coastal areas; many of them not being viable because of frequent natural disasters; many of them suffering from extreme drought and extreme flooding," he said.

He noted, for example, that Jamaica has seen a shift in rainfall patterns, resulting in an increasing amount of the country's rainfall coming from the north west region of the island, rather than from the north east. He contended that if the situation continues, it could force the state to spend more on laying infrastructure to harvest water from the north west region. 

"How do we pay for this? We may have to borrow, and if we have to borrow that places us in a precarious position," he said. 

He said a new financial approach has to be designed to assist vulnerable countries like Jamaica. He added that a deeper understanding of how poverty due to climate change will affect the world also has to be developed. 

Prime Minister Holness said youth will have to play a greater role in advocating and designing how resources will be managed to mitigate the effects of climate change. 

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