Hold leaders accountable for climate inaction, urge scientists
Published:Friday | May 6, 2022 | 12:09 AMChristopher Serju/Senior Gleaner Writer
Two local scientists are urging politicians and technocrats in government ministries to do more than pay lip service to climate change issues, saying that it is time for them to be brought to book for their inaction.
The charge came from Dr Orville Grey of the Green Climate Fund and Professor Tannecia Stephenson, co-director of the Climate Studies Group, The University of the West Indies, Mona, on the final day of Uncut 2020: Conversations on Climate Change at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel in St Andrew, reflecting on the five years since Jamaica signed the Paris Agreement.
The scientists were responding to a question from chief hydrologist at the Water Resources Authority (WRA), Geoffrey Marshall,.
“What can be done for the decision-makers to actually take action on the science that’s being presented ... and the warning that is being given, if there is a gap?” Marshall asked the duo following their presentations.
Stephenson said that all Jamaicans must take some responsibility for facilitating the lethargic responses of successive administrations to the sound scientific evidence, which shows, among other things, that Kingston will be one of the first cities across the world affected by climate change by next year.
“I think sometimes we allow our decision-makers to get away with ignoring the science. There is a role for us to hold our politicians more accountable, given the science and the urgency of this response to climate change,” she said.
Citing a recent report which warns that global greenhouse gas emissions must peak by 2025 “at the latest” to keep average world temperatures from increasing beyond two degrees Celsius before the end of the century, she issued a call to action.
“It’s so urgent that we should all be making a move to hold all ourselves more accountable, and our decision-makers have to be at the lead in terms of direction for the country,” Stephenson noted.
Grey noted that there were challenges with getting people to act decisively, even in the light of overwhelming scientific evidence.
“ ... The challenge that I have many times is trying to get the technical personnel to be more forceful in providing that evidence to a minister – to be able to say to a minister that I understand your concerns, but this is the reality – and be forceful about it because you do have to deliver on your own technical mandate,” he said.
“... Sometimes there is a fear of pushing the case with those at the highest level to drive the impact home.”
He then turned the spotlight back on to the WRA executive.
“I think institutions like yours and others will have to be more forceful, not just in getting the man in the street, but also the political directorate, to understand and appreciate but also ensure that it is translated into the policies that we are putting out,” said Grey.