Dear Editor,

Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s pledge to curb climate change does not seem to meet reality in Jamaica, considering the fact that mining licences have been handed out freely.

Also, Opposition Leader Mark Golding has no right to criticise the Government on the environment as the People’s National Party also paid scant regard to the environment when it formed the Government and could have countered these mining licences.

Our tourism industry, which — I will go out on a limb here and say that it makes our present economy possible — is linked to the environment. If our environment dies, so does tourism and majority of our economy.

There is little time for pretty talk, promises, and self-proclamations of being a so-called “climate leader of the Caribbean”.

The country needs sustainable development, whereby the environment and economy is in a healthy balance and the collective gross domestic product (GDP) per capita increases so that people can focus on climate change.

Given the current scarcity of resources, people living in Third World nations, like Jamaica, tend to focus more on survival and meeting basic needs, unlike the First Worlders such as the US, UK, Russia, China, etc that can focus on climate change because the majority of their populations do not have to worry about food, clothing, and shelter.

Furthermore, a system of accountability ought to be established for the supervision of climate financing funds distributed by First World nations to ensure that the money is used for its intended purpose – the environment – not in pet programmes, or worse, feathering the nests of embezzlers.

Marcus White

marcwhite918@gmail.com