Joe Issa Renews Call to Cut Global Warming

 

Last year at this time one of Jamaica largest indigenous petroleum dealers, Joe Issa, was urging world leaders ahead of COP 21 Paris Conference to reduce global warming.

 

Issa’s call came amid fears of imminent catastrophe in Jamaica by the end of this century if global warming was kept at the 2 ^oC above pre-industrial levels agreed upon by the leaders, urging those responsible to increase their carbon-cutting pledges sufficiently to reduce global warming to 1.5 ^oC.

A year later, with news that global warming is reducing world gross domestic product (GDP) by 1.22 per cent with warming of just one degree Celsius, Issa has renewed his call for the protection of the economy and people of low-lying countries such as Jamaica.

According to experts, the impact of hurricanes and other weather systems on the economy of Jamaica as a result of global warming has already been severe, fuelling greater concerns for the future.

Echoing Issa’s concern is Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Daryl Vaz, who spoke at a recent meeting of the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).  

“We do know that any major shifts in weather severity and patterns could mean a significant loss of Gross Domestic Product for Jamaica, and indeed we are no strangers to this.”

Issa’s fears are supported by an Inter-American Development Bank report on Jamaica’s Catastrophe Risk Profile, which said “the island is at risk of losing US$105 million annually due to hurricanes and other extreme weather events.”

It said that “as far back as 2006, Jamaica recorded a 7.3 per cent loss to GDP as a result of the impacts of climate change.”

Like Issa, Minister Vaz calls for action: “We cannot sit by and allow climate change to derail our progress, and so we remain committed to the goals of the Paris Agreement.”

Experts warn that the current rate of global warming is already causing impacts beyond the current adaptive capacity of many countries, particularly Small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Jamaica.”   

Minister Vaz said “even with the Paris Agreement’s provision to limit global warming to an initial 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial figures, significant residual impacts and losses are predicted,” the Jamaica Observer reported.

The IPCC is a team of heavyweight consultants formed to assess the science related to climate change.

The team includes Grard Alleng, Senior Expert Climate Change Inter-American Development Bank; Dr Hoesung Lee, Chairman of IPCC; Daryl Vaz, Minister Without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation; Professor Dale Webber, Pro Vice- Chancellor, UWI; and Lt Col (ret’d) Oral Khan, Chief Technical Director, Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation.