Despite facing increased threats from climate change it would be difficult to move Georgetown inland but it would be pragmatic to encourage new development to take place elsewhere, according to Guyana’s lead negotiator to the UN climate change convention, Andrew Bishop.
“It would be difficult to move Georgetown. What you can do is move development,” Bishop said as he spoke on ‘Climate Change, Urban Planning and Low Carbon Develop-ment’ at Moray House Trust yesterday on Quamina Street. The lecture was the first of four organized by the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of Guyana. The lectures will be held on Fridays throughout the month.
Bishop said that countries with low-lying coasts like Guyana and Belize are especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change such as higher tides and flooding. He noted that more than half the world’s population lives in urban areas and is a great source of energy consumption as well as carbon dioxide emissions. Bishop described it as a “Frankensteinian” situation. “You create a monster and the monster turns back on you,” he said.
According to the official, cities can play a role in mitigating climate change. He said that cities