IT'S election season in Tobago – a season when political parties promise sunny days ahead.
Amid the campaign for the December 6 polls, the People's National Movement (PNM) and Progressive Democratic Patriots (PDP) have discussed plans to revive tourism and boost the economy, which has been badly affected by the covid19 pandemic.
Chief Secretary Ancil Dennis recently announced $50 million in relief for those whose revenue have been affected by covid19.
PDP leader Watson Duke has also offered his bag of goodies with a promise of an ex gratia payment for all THA workers before Christmas, if elected into power.
But while the pandemic has hit Tobagonians' pockets owing to the restrictions taken to limit the spread of the virus, the impact of climate change could prove even more disastrous in the near future.
Earlier this month, world leaders were at COP26, a climate change conference, in Scotland discussing plans to reduce carbon emissions and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, ideally, by 2030.
Warmer ocean temperatures have been fuelling storms which saw a record 30 named in the Atlantic in 2020.
Tobagonians will recall the devastation of Tropical Storm Karen which hit the island on September 22, 2019. Karen's rage left Tobago battling landslides, damaged roads, flooding, and damaged boats, amounting to $24 million in destruction.
[caption id="attachment_926708" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The coastline at the Magdalena Grand Beach and Golf Resort, Lowlands has been affected by coastal erosion. PHOTO BY DAVID REID[/caption]
The picturesque Pigeon Point has not been spared the effects of climate change, losing almost 25 feet of shoreline to coastal erosion over the last two decades.
Coral reef ecologist Dr Anjani Ganase believes TT's leaders are not cognisant of the grave consequences involved.
She told Sunday Newsday, "I don't think there is an understanding about the many ways in which climate change will affect our country – environmentally, economically and socially."
Ganase said the livelihoods of many Tobagonians depend on healthy reefs, which are negatively affected by bad practices such as dumping detergents and other chemicals into rivers and the ocean. She said this deteriorates coastal water quality and causes coral disease outbreaks.
"We benefit from the significant biodiversity that lives on healthy reefs. This includes our fisheries; most of our seafood depends on coral reefs. Coral reefs provide coastal protection, especially in the low-lying south-west Tobago, and support our livelihoods which is heavily dependent on ocean tourism – 40 per cent of visitors come to Tobago for coral-reef related activities."
Although TT's carbon emissions are not high when the volume is considered, Ganase noted this country has "some of the highest emissions per capita in the world."
Ganase said she was heartened to see the Prime Minister and other Caribbean leaders call for immediate action at COP26 in Glasgow but she remains worried.
"Change will happen; its pace that conc
