Open letter urges MPs to take action on climate change
Dear Representatives of the Cayman Islands and United Kingdom Government: We, the youth of Cayman, urgently call upon you to develop a comprehensive plan to prepare our islands for the imminent impacts of climate change. Time and time again, we have all been warned about the effects of climate change, yet virtually nothing has been done to strengthen our climate resilience. The climate crisis is no longer something that we can overlook; failing to prepare our economy is failing our children’s future.
The purpose of this letter is not to oppose development on our islands but to advocate for sustainable, innovative, and responsible growth that we, as a country, can achieve. The residents of the Cayman Islands are still looking for a plan for developing climate-resilient infrastructure, diversifying our economy, or protecting our natural barriers of defence against strengthening storms. The truth is that without a clear strategy, the youth of Cayman feel lost in the hopelessness of our future.
Twenty years ago, Hurricane Ivan devastated our island, livelihoods, and economy. Recovery took months, and the trauma remains. Facing such destruction every hurricane season is not a question of if but when. Science predicts this scenario will occur within our generation.
Rising global temperatures lead to warmer ocean waters, which provide more energy for hurricanes, resulting in higher wind speeds and increased precipitation. The indispensable role of the Central Mangrove Wetlands as a buffer against storm surges and its function to protect biodiversity makes it invaluable in the defence against the climate crisis and global ecocide. The protection provided to our community by these wetlands is constantly undervalued, and with Hurricane Beryl emerging as the earliest high-intensity hurricane on record this year, the protection of our mangrove ecosystems is critical.
We call on you to take necessary actions to protect our children, economy, mangroves, coasts, heritage, and futures in our beloved Isles. No amount of promise will ensure our security without action. Our Government must adhere to the Constitution under Section 18 to “secure ecologically sustainable development and use of natural resources.”
It is only right that the voices of the youth are heard and included in the decision-making process. The significant infrastructural choices made today will have long-lasting impacts on our environment and economy, shaping the island we will inherit. Integrating climate awareness in schools and universities will build community resilience by providing essential information on climate risks, adaptation options, and disaster preparedness. In other British Overseas Territories, such as Gibraltar, climate education is compulsory in the curriculum and implemented as a necessity through legislation.
Raising awareness of our vulnerabilities to climate change and correcting misinformation is imperative to empowering the local populace. Enhancing education programs is essential to brace our livelihoods for the impacts of the climate crisis.
Under the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, the Cayman Islands signed on under the United Kingdom in 2009 for a Biodiversity Action Plan. The 2020 targets were classified as “little progress” or “no progress” due to “weak legislation” and mismanagement of the Environmental Management Fund.
The Cayman Islands significantly contribute to the UK’s biodiversity, and yet, this richness is continuously threatened by unsustainable overdevelopment. Our legislation must be strengthened, and any plans to develop which threaten biodiversity hotspots must be placed through a thorough Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). EIAs are necessary for making informed decisions. Making them a necessary process by law can ensure that Cayman develops sustainably, combining anthropocentric and ecocentric mindsets within our local Government.
Many small island nations are already experiencing the detriments of being low-lying, with the numbers continuing to grow — the foreseen effects of climate change on the Caribbean point to an unpredictable exposure to our national security. As the UK holds inherent liability for climate disasters, it is, therefore, the role of their Government to ensure that its Overseas Territories are making sound climate decisions.
The British National Security Strategy’s consciousness surrounding climate change and its potential effects across a plethora of factors is a big part of making Britain more resilient. This awareness should be appointed throughout the public and private sectors to ensure sound climate decisions are being made throughout different aspects of the Caymanian socio-economy.
We have reached a point in our history where business cannot go on as usual, and now, more than ever, we need the governance of the Sovereign to guide us to a secure, survivable future. The cost of rebuilding Cayman repeatedly is far greater than that of investing in our future resiliency now.
Our financial security enabled our ministers and premier to aid neighbouring islands after Hurricane Beryl, highlighting our potential to lead the Caribbean in sustainability. To harness this potential, diversifying our economy is crucial. Our heavy dependence on fossil fuels for energy and our economy’s reliance on the tourism industry make us vulnerable to climate-related disruptions.
In order to enhance our stability in the face of climate change, we must adopt forward-thinking policies. Following the example of the plans detailed in the Labour Government Manifesto intensified efforts and decisive actions are necessary to meet the targets laid out in our National Energy Policy.
Evidence from other Caribbean islands, like Barbados, demonstrates that diversification into renewable energy is feasible and beneficial. Securing households’ and businesses’ energy supplies to be resilient in the aftermath of climate disasters is vital to softening the negative impacts on our livelihoods and economy.
The urgency of addressing climate change cannot be overstated. Immediate action is essential to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for the Cayman Islands. The decisions made today will profoundly impact our environment and economy, safeguarding them for future generations. Government officials, the time to act is now! Prioritise sustainable development and community protection. Every choice you make today shapes the future we will inherit.
We urge our government to take charge in bringing a future that the youth of the Cayman Islands envision to a reality. Through the empowerment of the United Kingdom, our voices and concerns may influence the government of its Overseas Territory to become leaders of environmental guardianship in the Caribbean region.
We, the future, are pleading with you to take bold, decisive steps to secure a thriving, resilient, and sustainable Cayman for us all. This is our future you are defining. Your actions will determine whether we face a future fraught with climate disasters or one where we can live in harmony with our environment. Make the choice that history will remember kindly.
Protect our islands, protect our people, and build a legacy of sustainability and resilience that we can all be proud of. The time is now — our tomorrow depends on it.
Sincerely,
Those that face the consequences tomorrow of your inaction today.
- Fascinated
- Happy
- Sad
- Angry
- Bored
- Afraid
Category: Climate Change, Science & Nature, Viewpoint
Cut&paste incohesive statements.
“We, the youth of Cayman, urgently call upon you to develop… to prepare
… are pleading with you…
… We urge…
This is our future you are defining.”
Sorry boys and girls, you can bloviate all you want, but no one is listening. You have to ask yourself WHY?
Maybe because you write a lot without giving any useful information or any clear answers?
Do not just present a problem, take the next step and identify how to fix it. Realistically.
CNN: 90% of Ocean’s Fishery Depleted
CNN recently reported that It is thought that 90% of the planet’s fish stocks have already been used up.
But what would the seas look like if we did decide to permanently stop fishing?
Two trirds of the world’s population that rely of fishery as a mean part of our diet, would lose a mean source of our food supply
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230721-what-would-happen-if-we-stopped-fishing
Asking this simple question can provide a surprising insight into the profound impact we are currently having on the planet’s largest ecosystem and reveals to us questions of what we can do to help the ocean fishery to recover.
https://www.myvuenews.com/agriculture-minister-focused-on-doubling-seafood-exports/
During 2018 the Bahamas Agricultural Minister revealed a proposal to double seafood exports from the $90 million in revenue which gave way for lobsters to be farmed
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/rock-lobster-farm-could-soon-be-coming-menu-near-you-180965064/
With the Cayman Islands traditionally known for farming Turtles for domestic consumption and commercial tourism attractions
With all said above, why aren’t we also thinking of expanding our Turtle Center to start farming
• Lobsters
• Snappers
• Parrot Fish
Just a note for you and your audience to think about
Should the Turtle Center be Farming Lobster, Snappers and Parrott Fish for local consumption and engage themselves into a local Fishery Release Program on all three islands???
https://www.facebook.com/share/v/xnujxnYPHF46zMKj/?mibextid=jmPrMh
🆘problem: overfishing.
Solution: fish farming. When done responsibly, aquaculture can protect vital ecosystems and sustainably feed a growing population.
A Question: “why aren’t we also thinking of expanding our Turtle Center to start farming”
Answer: nothing is ever done responsibly in Cayman. Not one thing.
Caymanians have been saying for years that at the very least we should also be breeding conch in that location. Problem is that, in Cayman, people don’t listen to Caymanians. If they did, we’d still be able to walk the full length of seven mile.
like every other country, politicians are in it for what they can get. unfortunately for us, Cayman is so small that the effects are seen and felt almost immediately. the Marriott beach vanished in my life time. to all the young people, focus on equipping yourself with skills that can be applied globally.
focus on equipping yourself with skills that can be applied LOCALLY.
Well said, young people! Bravo.
Next time, name a few specific things you’d like to see happen … and sign your names.
Huge respect to you for speaking out.
Cayman needs to demand honesty. That’s the cornerstone of truth and justice. Without changes to the Elections Law to ban convicted criminals, good luck. The Finanical Secretary, and entire Parliament, is literally conspiring to hide KYD$2.1 billion in liabilities from our Balance Sheet to retain the FFR with the UK FCDO.
Having booked 12 consecutive months above +1.6’C, we are well into the crisis phase, ie. already in breach above the limit set for 76 years from now (per Copernicus Sentinel data – agreed across several sources). Acutely evident are fresh water supply issues impacting much of the world. Ice Age meltwater reservoirs have been exhausted by unchecked irrigation from the commons; reservoirs for hydro plants are drawn down to intake minimums, or shutting off power to cities and industrial zones; transportation and navigation hazards are materialising on major river watersheds as rivers like the Mississippi run 11-14 feet below historic norms. Some of the world’s largest rivers don’t reach the ocean anymore. We’re in it. This is happening right now kids. Of the published IPCC mitigations, G20 economies are still heavily geared towards “development” via construction (35% of total GHGE), diet change hasn’t been adopted(Agrifood systems accounting for 30% of total GHGE), Energy transition and transportation largely unadopted (some 20% of Total GHGE).
Humans were able to survive the Ice Age.
Climate changes of the past were different from modern climate change. The cause was natural, not the result of human behavior.
Humans will survive the Warming Age as well. The planet Earth needs some R&R time anyway.
we should embrace conservationism; protect our environment which is continually under assault, overfishing, overbuilding, building too close to the sea, mitigate the garbage, sewage, protect the water lens’ and groundwater.
Climate change. You want a plan to protect the islands from the ‘imminent impact’. It’s lovely rhetoric, and I’m impressed with your passion. You can’t define what our leaders should do, nor can anyone else. It is well-intentioned lip service to an ethereal wish for an outcome which isn’t supported by any data anywhere.
Please, PLEASE encourage our people, our visitors and our politicians to embrace conservationism. It’s NOT the same thing. We shouldn’t want to fund organisations to study our own waters, temperatures, etc. We should clean up our act.
The fact that recycling is such a poor, dismal effort in these islands is beyond belief. Are we waiting for some MP’s cousin to find a way to make money off it? If we’re going to have to PAY for something, we should begin with real and comprehensive recycling, and mitigating the dump and installing a true waste management system that doesn’t just involve stacking it higher, or hiding it out of sight.
Conservation equals action.
Climate change equal spending money on idealism.
Thanks for your comment. Hope they”ll understand.
Yeah, nothing will ever change when you keep voting for this standard of corrupt, self-serving, ill-educated MLA. Too many vested financial interests and powerful backers.
There are no true visionaries in Cayman. So it doesn’t matter who they vote for. They might as well elect a glass of water.
Late Bo Miller was a true visionary. Gone too soon. Cancer. Yet nothing is being done to address cancer rates in Cayman.
“ Those that face the consequences tomorrow..” can start with bringing awareness and offering solutions for highly toxic and polluted environment in Cayman. Forget GLOBAL scale of problems, think LOCALLY.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240731-how-tahiti-locals-fought-back-against-olympic-surfing
i have to wonder what we’d do..
Your intentions are good, but you not even remotely understand the problem. Long letter about nothing, just generalities. You won’t even sign the letter.
ok anonymous.
Well,well you didn’t sign yours either!
@“Those that face the consequences..”
Do you know who Boyan Slat is? He is a 27yo Dutch born CEO of The Ocean Cleanup group.
He isn’t running around demanding anything from anyone.
Why wont you actually do something? You don’t know what you can do? For starters invite Boyan Slat if he is available to advise you, go and volunteer at his company, bring the knowledge and skills back to Cayman… There is a lot you can do…
Blaming wont work, demanding wont work, ecoterrorism win’t work… sorry, You are born into this mess and it is now your challenge to overcome. It won’t be delivered to you on a silver plate with a blue rim.
Start teaching little kids about pollution. Create projects you can accomplish with little kids participation. Use your creativity and imagination, do what others do.
Your only hope is a properly educated youth. The fossilized 🦕🦖won’t help you.
For starters see what others do. https://theoceancleanup.com/
https://theoceancleanup.com/about/
“WE DEVELOP AND SCALE TECHNOLOGIES TO RID THE OCEANS OF PLASTIC
Our cleaning technologies are deployed around the world as we conduct the largest cleanup in history. For over ten years, The Ocean Cleanup has been researching, extracting, and monitoring plastic pollution in oceans and rivers globally – with millions of kilograms removed to date.”
He was 17 when he started his company.
This 70 ish year old person join hands with you! I would be the happiest senior citizen if I could see some evidence that our people cared just a little! We all can and should do something.
Please run for office.
They are not eligible.
Why would you want to place an idealistic young person with high morals into that den of iniquity?
Naive is the word you were looking for.
Oh how I wish I could! That job requires more stamina than I have now.
Don’t give up. You have all done a good thing here. Awareness sometimes is absorbed kicking and screaming.
I think if you delve into the data, you will realise that climate change as a whole is a global effect, and to make a significant change here, we must focus on conservation. We can make great changes, you young people and the rest of us. We just have to come to an accord. The rest of us want measurable changes, not studies or rhetoric.
Tell you a story. A friend at the store last week was questioning my use of a shopping bag and bringing the plastic bags back to the store to reuse. He quite properly noted that what I was doing was “a drop in the bucket” and therefore insignificant. I agreed with him, however I said, “yes, a drop in the bucket, however, it’s MY drop. This is how I am using it. You can use your drop however you want.”
There you have it. Let’s all get together and put pressure on those who need it to clean up our beautiful islands, to make it as pure as it once was. It’s not too late for us, but we can’t keep piling trash on top of trash, and hiding it in a pit out of sight isn’t the answer either. It’s a tricky thing, as dissembling Trashmore constitutes dangers of its own. It will require insight, and boldness, and sacrifice and a shitload of money. This is where we should spend it.
Thank you all for your passion. You are our future.