A ripe climate

WHEN CARICOM leaders convene in Port of Spain next month to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the founding of that bloc, they must do so mindful of the past, but also with an eye on the challenges facing the region in the immediate future.

And there is no challenge more pressing than the need for climate change to be addressed and for data to drive policymaking in relation to it.

We endorse the Prime Minister’s call, delivered at UWI on Wednesday, for the collection and analysis of data in every field as part of a science-driven approach to decision-making at all levels of society.

“There are hundreds of areas of stimulating research to be explored and published,” Dr Rowley observed as he questioned the predominance of academics espousing “questionable, opinionated expressions in the local daily or Sunday papers.”

The PM may well have had specific commentators with whom he disagrees within his line of sight when he made these comments, but the overall point is still sound.

We need data to drive policy, not mere conjecture, and certainly not the subjective whims and preferences of our leaders.

Caricom leaders must use the opportunity of next month’s commemorations to recommit to environmental goals and to lobby key stakeholders.

Special guests expected include: Antonio Guterres, UN secretary general; Han Duck-soo, prime minister of South Korea; a high-level senior delegation from the US Department of State and the US Congress; Dr Sultan Al Jaber, UAE minister of industry and advanced technology and president-designate of COP28, joining virtually; and a high-level representative of China, assistant minister of foreign affairs Hua Chunying.

The available scientific research grows increasingly dire.

This year’s hurricane season has already seen the unusually early formation of several storms, with Tropical Storm Arlene being rapidly followed by Tropical Storm Bret which this week brought stiff winds and heavy rain to the eastern Caribbean and the Lesser Antilles. Tropical Storm Cindy also pushed north.

This came as researchers suggested an ecological collapse is not only imminent, but likely to start much sooner than previously anticipated. They warned that more than a fifth of ecosystems worldwide, including the Amazon rainforest, are at risk of a catastrophic breakdown within our lifetimes.

“It could happen very soon,” said Prof Simon Willcock of Rothamsted Research, who co-led a study published in the journal Nature Sustainability.

Paying attention to research means paying attention to the emergence of terms like “ghastly futures” and “widespread ecosystem collapse” in scientific literature. It also means looking at the realities on the ground right around us, such as flooding and landslides.

Caricom recently united to tackle illicit guns. It must now do the same on climate change.