As a country which depends heavily on tourism, it is important for Barbados to protect its beaches from harm. In recent years traditional concerns about routine beach erosion has been replaced by fears about the likely fallout from climate change.
Such concerns have prompted the investment of millions of dollars, much of it loaned by the Inter American Development Bank, to help shore up the island’s coasts. This work is led by the Coastal Zone Management Unit.
Minister of Tourism and International Transport Richard Sealy has voiced his worry about the negative fallout climate change can have on Barbados’ tourism sector if steps to negate its effects are not taken.
“The tourism industry is very important to Barbados for several reasons.
“It is the main economic activity and source of employment and also acts as a major catalyst in promoting infrastructural development, socio-cultural awareness and an appreciation of the need to take care of and maintain the environment,” he said in a message on World Tourism Day last year.
“Barbados, and indeed the entire Caribbean, is increasingly being affected by the impacts of climate change which threaten our regional water resources in a number of ways. These include increased drought conditions and saltwater intrusion of aquifers.”
“These threats are also exacerbated by unsustainable consumption patterns, population pressure on limited water resources, and a tourism sector that is growing in size and prosperity.
“This combination of factors has placed increasing pressure on the island’s freshwater resources.”
The fact that the majority of Barbados’ hotel plant is located on the coast has also heightened concerns about coastal degradation and related impacts.
In a 2011 report entitled An Assessment Of The Economic Impact Of Climate Change On The Tourism Sector In Barbados, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean said Barbados and other Caribbean tourist destinations had reason to fear climate change
“The majority of the island’s infrastructure, government, health and commercial facilities also lie along various segments of the 97 kilometre coastline, which includes low-lying and highly erodible shore areas that are particularly susceptible to [sea level rise].
“Further, there is overwhelming scientific evidence that [sea level rise], associated with climate change projected to occur in the twenty-first century and beyond, represents a serious and chronic threat to the sustainable management of the coastal zone in Barbados and in other CARICOM countries.
“Adaptation to future [sea level rise] will therefore necessitate revisions to development plans and major investment decisions, which must be based on the best available information about the relative vulnerability of specific coastal areas, and the economic and non-market impacts on infrastructure and environmental and heritage resources.”
In Barbados’ new Green Economy Scoping Study prepared by the University of West Indies Cave Hill Campus in association of the United Nations Environment Programme, it was pointed out that “at this point in time . . . there are no cost estimates for adaptation in the case of Barbados”.
“However, projections of the economic impact of hurricane damage due to climate change to Barbados’ tourism, infrastructure, agriculture, fisheries, public health, and ecosystems between 2050 and 2080 varies between US$100.4 million (low scenario) to US$ 566.4 million (high scenario),” it added.
“That is, between 3.9 per cent of GDP and 21.8 per cent of GDP. The integrity of the Barbados’ ecosystems is also menaced by internal evolution.
“Undoubtedly, adaptation measures are needed to maintain the integrity of ecosystems of Barbados. However, these policies could place a significant burden on already heavily burdened fiscal accounts.”
