Hilary Robertson-Hickling

I was thrilled to hear Eleanor Jones, one of my former lecturers at the University of the West indies (UWI), speaking on a radio programme about climate change and other environmental matters.

She was one of the pioneers who was active in the early 1970s when the cry in the wilderness was for conservation of the environment. If people in business, government and in the community had heeded the warnings, some of the disasters which now afflict us could have been prevented or at least their impact reduced.

At last, the British government has decided that it needs to address the environmental issues with urgent action after the publication of a recent report by a leading economist in the United Kingdom.

Higher-level advocates

It would appear that the only issue which gets action taken is that which has an economic outcome. For years, environmentalists around the world have battled with governments, businesses and communities about the future of the planet which we all must share.

There is much greater need for advocates for the environment at the highest levels. And former vice-president Al Gore in the United States has been a wonderful advocate in that country, which did not sign the Kyoto Protocol.

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken the lead by changing the policy direction in California to address the environmental issues.

Here in our region we have several concerns which will affect the future of our region: dying coral reefs, deforestation, population growth and the possibility of rising sea-levels, among other things.

With the likelihood of more hurricanes and extreme weather, we have to be prepared through the educational system, the media, and other agencies to promote sustainable development; and we have to find ways which engage more of the population into talking about and doing what is required for the future of our region and nations. A recent report notes that the depletion of marine resources, including fish, will result have catastrophic results in the future

Central to our thinking

We need to learn from our mistakes and we have the issue of sustain-ability facing us. I hope that we will make appropriate decisions about the maintenance of the Cockpit Country for future generations.

We tend to be people who live for the present and, therefore, we are poor stewards of the country's natural resources for the future.

The group of advocates about the Cockpit Country needs to develop a careful strategy which will engage Jamaicans at all levels and then work with government and the business sector to come up with an appropriate strategy.

This is not an issue which should be addressed in an adversarial manner. We cannot afford to use our limited resources in such a manner and although there are rich deposits of bauxite ore, we cannot repeat the mistakes of the last era.

I believe that we must find a way to make environmental matters central to our thinking and behaviour. We have ongoing problems which have been highlighted by the devastation of hurricanes and extreme weather, squatter settlements in riverbeds, the construction of housing in appropriate areas, and wanton destruction of the environment.

Somehow we have to plan and implement economic development while preserving the environment. That is part of the legacy that we will leave for future generations.

Hilary Robertson-Hickling is a lecturer in the Department of Management Studies, UWI, Mona.