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Climate Change the Struggle Is Real
Wed, July 27, 2016

OCEANA and the World Wildlife Fund today held their second annual seminar called Â The Nature of Energy vs. the Energy of Nature.  Now, it may sound like just another dreary talk shop in a hotel room with bad pastries and cold coffee, but the organizers hoped to wake up participants and the wider community with the dire message that climate change and its consequences are real and it requires everyone, form government to the grocery shopper to pay attention and act.  Here’s how they put it:…

Nadia Bood - Climate Change Advisor, WWF
"It's extremely important given the threat posed by climate change. It's a forum where we can get together and dialogue about issues related to climate change and how best we can try and adopt our actions and our efforts to promote a greener development pathway that will help to minimize or at least buffer against some of the threats that will be coming from climate change events."

Janelle Chanonna - VP, OCEANA Belize
"I can only hope that everybody gets on board because we are all in the same boat it will not be that people who do not believe in climate change will suffer a different future than the ones that already believe in climate change. But this is really a matter of unity. Once people understand this will impact my home, this will impact my livelihood, this will impact who I am as a person, as a human being this will be the difference of whether I get to walk outside, breathe clean air, jump into clean water or if already like China and certain other countries are walking around with oxygen tanks. That is when it hits home as to if I don't do something about it I will still be impacted by this."

Nadia Bood - Climate Change Advisor, WWF
"While Belize is not a major emitter we would be one of those countries that will receive the brunt of the impact of climate change. We by our location its very low lying, it's within the hurricane belt, the season hurricane belt. We have history of experience of significant damages from storm, flood events, other mechanical damage, erosion, damage to housing and infrastructure, damage to our marine environment and our reefs."

Janelle Chanonna - VP, OCEANA Belize
"We heard very sobbingly our own prime minister talk that a child born in this year may see their home disappear. I don't think it gets more real to anybody when you start talking about your home. That is your castle, that is your sanctuary and then when you talk to people about your children. That the things that your eyes have beheld, grandeur of Belize they would be robbed of that because of what we're not doing today or what we're doing today. So it's about bringing home that it's your loved ones, it’s not some faceless unknown person that's going to be affected by this. It's your loved ones, it’s your grandchildren, it’s the generation of Belizeans to come."

Jules Vasquez
"Might we sea someday over take the coastal areas of Belize City?"

Carlos Fuller - Int'l Reg. Liaison Officer, Climate Change Centre
"In fact believe it is already occurring. The issue is that no matter what kind of sea wall we build; in fact the water is going to go up the river and then find another way to enter into the city. You saw in Miami in the video that it is actually coming in through the canals. Miami is sinking whenever they have a spring tide so in fact the same thing is going to occur in Belize City."

"We need to decide look we need to build in higher land. Yes Belize City is going to remain a fantastic city but it is an area where you'll visit occasionally it is not where you are going to plant your roots because if that is where you plant your roots that anchor is going to sink you and you will sink along with it. So indeed we have to recognise that Belize City is going to remain extremely vulnerable, it's going to become more and more costly and in fact those areas that are going to remain above sea level are going to be those who have invested in tremendous amount of landfill."

And apart from your home, climate change could also affect that snapper on your plate. The truth is warmer ocean temperatures affect fish spawning and migration patterns – and in Belize the effects are already being experienced:

Roberto Pott - Belize Coordinator, Healthy Reefs
"For Belize it's very important for us to make that socio-ecological link understanding that when we lose our reef, when a reef is not as healthy as it used to be it impacts us both in terms of the direct economic benefits that we see but there's a larger un documented benefit when it comes to the household accessing sea food. Households from the research we have done are piloted in Belize; households are saying that they are seeing smaller fish, the fish is getting more expensive and we think that's not only because of the increase in the price of fuel and other operating cost it's just because the stocks are way less than what it used to be."

Carlos Fuller - Int'l Reg. Liaison Officer, Climate Change Centre
"So indeed we will not be seeing a mass migration of fish this year or next but it is slowly occurring and we have to do the medium measures. So the scenario I was speaking about was if we do nothing but for example if we continue work in our protected areas for example in the fishing industry where we have areas where we allow fish to spawn. Where the fish recognize that they can go in there reproduce and in fact then are safe there. If we recognize our close seasons again all those things would then be able to combat the issues of climate change but if we don't do anything indeed the doomsday scenario is upon us."

And while food on your plate is one thing – the larger issue is infrastructural preparedness.  We see continued government and private sector spending on seafront developments.  And while private ventures are one thing – to be spending public funds on high cost ventures with an uncertain lifespan is another.  The speakers commented today:…

Roberto Pott - Belize Coordinator, Healthy Reefs
"I think what is seeing a lot is people haven't been keeping the advice of scientists and even of planners who make good plans but I don't know we're following through on those good plans."

Carlos Fuller - Int'l Reg. Liaison Officer, Climate Change Centre
"The municipal airstrip in my opinion was a tremendous waste of resources. We have 2 airports that are 8 miles apart as the crow flies, that is madness to have 2 airports 8 miles apart and one of them is at risk and to the best of my knowledge no consideration was taken about sea level rise in that area."

It was a one-day event.

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