HEAD of the Climate Studies Group, Mona, Dr Michael Taylor, has called for increased support from the Government and private sector to fund research on the impacts of climate change on Jamaica and the Caribbean.

“I argue for research. I am making a plug for private sector, Government, and academia to come hand-in-hand to support research. We must know what is happening to us so that we can appropriately respond,” said Taylor.

“We clearly are not getting enough [monetary support]. Science research is not necessarily the most well-funded aspect of research right now, and there is a role not just for Government but also for the private sector”.

Taylor, a physicist, was speaking at a seminar put on by the Shipping Association of Jamaica and the Maritime Authority of Jamaica (MAJ) under the theme, ‘Climate change: A challenge for Jamaican Maritime too’. The event – hosted last Wednesday, which was recognised as World Climate Change Day – formed a part of the Maritime Awareness Week of activities.

Taylor, who also lectures at the University of the West Indies, Mona, listed the need for adequate research among five crucial things the country should consider as it tackles the challenges of climate change.

“We are sensitive and we are vulnerable, but that does not mean that we are helpless. There are things that we can do to respond to vulnerability… One of the things we need to do is to research,” he noted. “We talking about contextually relevant science research.

How are we going to adapt to climate change if we don’t know what climate change is doing to us?”

Taylor leads a team whose studies include mitigating the fallout from climate change in the Caribbean through the development of models to predict changes in climate in order to craft appropriate responses.

It was not immediately clear up to press time how much Government currently takes from its coffers to finance climate change research.

Meanwhile, Bertrand Smith, director of legal affairs at the MAJ, in his address last Wednesday, noted the dreaded effects that climate change will have on shipping, which he said is the safest and most economical mode of transport of goods to the country.

“The increase in precipitation, sea-level rise (will lead to) more flood events, (it) will have negative impacts on our port facilities. The higher the sea-level, the higher the issue of clearance for our cranes,” he said.

“The more hurricanes we have, the more weather delays and interruptions in our shipping activities. And, of course, the more floods we have the more sedimentation, the more dredging and an increase in harbour fees”.

Smith added that there were, however, some measures that the International Maritime Organisation have taken to help combat climate change, which he said are applicable in Jamaica

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“They have been looking at intelligent loading by the cranes of trucks so there will be less carbon dioxide emission; cleaner vehicles; and phasing out the old equipment.

They have also looked at things like improving ship routing so ships spend less time at sea, and reducing the ship’s speed,” Smith said.