Dr. Singh also pointed out that while Belize remains one of the countries in the region that is the most vulnerable to climate change, there are several man-made pressures that are compounding the negative impacts and making things worse.
She pointed out that improper land use planning in coastal communities has caused haphazard development, which has increased their vulnerability to climate change. She explained that this is a problem that she has encountered in other countries where she has conducted similar assessments:
Dr. Asha Singh - International Consultant, FAO
"I put in this little box here for you not to run away and say, look, climate change is flooding, you know, climate change. It is a contributor to our flooding situation. But, we cannot forget the ad hoc development that we have that is operating in all our cities, the land planning or poor enforcement of land planning. And this is not a judgment on Belize. This is a global issue. This is a small island issue. This is an African issue. This is an Asia issue. This is a Pacific issue. And, you know, there are so many countries that I've worked, that you go, and you see this evidence here, not only Belize. But the awareness and the importance of action are very, very critical. And that, for me, is what supports our resilience-building. The stormwater drains, for example, here in Belize, [it's] time to ask ourselves, are these stormwater drains really engineered to take off this water? You know, what do we do? What are we doing about that? How can we try to deal with those things? How do we future engineer? And for me, what I am seeing is not in Belize; this is a general observation. As a professional, I see many times that we we move away from the engineering and the planning, so far in our thirst for development that we don't recognize how important it is, you know. And, it really does come to bite us back in - you know where - we're many times, you know. It's very, very critical that while we preach that we are vulnerable to climate change, we need advocacy as well to ensure that proper land use planning is taken into consideration."
Dr. Singh's report is in its final stages. When it is completed, she will submit it to the relevant Government agencies, the FAO, and the Green Climate Fund. She and her team conducted interviews with over 120 Belizeans for this study.
