This morning, the Government was engaging in talks with representatives from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization and other participating NGOs and civil society organizations. They were all gathered at the Radisson Hotel to discuss the threats that climate poses to the livelihoods of the country's coastal communities.
As viewers are aware, severe erosion is affecting a country's coastline. That has prompted the Ministry of the Blue Economy and the Ministry of Economic Development to engage their partners from the Green Climate Fund for a readiness project entitled, Enhancing adaptation planning and increasing climate resilience in Belize's coastal zone and fisheries sector.
You'll remember that this project began in May of this year, so the exploration of this complex problem continues today. The organizers have planned a series of consultations to hear from community members about how climate change is directly threatening their livelihoods.
Our news team stopped by, and we got to speak with some of the organizers about how the first day of these talks was going:
Kennedy Carrillo - CEO, Ministry of the Blue Economy
"Climate change is here. It's not going anywhere. So it really depends on us, how we adapt. First of all, of course, we have to mitigate the impacts, but we also have to ensure that we are putting in plan the adaptation. And this particular project, which looks specifically at how the coastal communities, as well as the fishing sector, are impacted by climate change, is one that is inclusive of all the communities. As we have discussed, there are going to be three consultations taking place: Belize City, San Pedro [and Dangriga], and we believe that this will provide an opportunity for different stakeholders, not only the fishing sector but also different stakeholders involved in this important response to climate change. And so we are very happy to see that this project, which is a Green Climate Fund project, is moving forward together, of course, with the Ministry of Economic Development."
Dr. Osmond Martinez - CEO, Ministry of Economic Development
"Today's the launch, and the stakeholder's consultation has been completed now. So we had academia, NGOs, CSOs, the private sector, and the public sector. So, there has been a continuous process actually at this same conference room, or I think, that the other conference room, we did have some consultations about two months ago."
Kennedy Carrillo
"With the fishing sector and the coastal communities, we are seeing a lot of participation and a lot of interest. And really, this first project is one that is seeking to gather data so that we can plan a bigger project that will now be actually looking at how we make the necessary adjustments, either at the community level. For example, we have had our consultation in Monkey River. We had the Women in Fisheries Forum that actually took the women to the river to view the impacts. And so obviously with their recommendations, as people that are working in the sector, we will move forward to put in place the necessary measures."
The consultations will continue tomorrow in Belize City. The organizers will head to Dangriga Town on August 19, 2022, and then finish the consultation process in San Pedro on August 22.
