Roy M

S temperatures soar and descend to inhumane extremes; flood waters ravage communities, wreak havoc and spread deadly disease; droughts destroy massive acreages of vegetation; fires raze forests, hometowns, industrial and commercial life; and death and destruction exceed global forecasts, it is baffling that Trinidad and Tobago, whose carbon emissions rank among the top ten per capita worldwide, appears to be least concerned about implementing climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. The issue did not escape the attention of Caricom Leaders as a matter of extreme regional urgency during proceedings marking Caricom's 50th anniversary celebrations.

At the G77 and China Meeting on Environment, Science and Innovation, recently hosted in Cuba, at which issues resulting from climate change were discussed, Minister of Planning and Development Pennelope Beckles was reported as having identified rising sea levels, extreme weather events, flooding, drought and the degradation of coastal ecosystems as significant threats to Trinidad and Tobago, and called for swift and decisive action to mitigate and adapt to these adversities. The minister stressed 'our scientists and engineers have a crucial role to play in understanding the complex interactions between climate change and our ecosystems', concluding by saying the challenges posed by climate change in T&T are significant and that by harnessing the power of science and technology, we can confront these challenges head-on.

On the assumption that Minister Beckles was genuinely serious in expressing these sentiments, concerns should be raised regarding the Government's appetite for the mitigation and adaptation initiatives already being driven by the two T&T female scientists, Dr Lorraine Sobers and Dr Camille Wardrop Alleyne.

Dr Sobers' work on CO2 Emissions Reduction Mobilisation (CERM) will assist Trinidad and Tobago in honouring its commitment to the 2015 Paris Agreement by reducing T&T's carbon footprint as part of an international ef-fort to bring global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Dr Sobers explains that as the technology that is critical to realising this objective, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) can offset the carbon footprint fossil fuel consumption while the energy sector transitions toward more renewable energy contributing to world energy demand.

A proud ambassadress of Enterprise Village, Chaguanas, Dr Sobers is a reservoir engineer with specialisation in enhanced oil recovery and carbon storage and a lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, The UWI, St Augustine. A Fulbright Scholar, she has an MSc in petroleum engineering from Texas Tech University and a PhD in petroleum engineering from Imperial College, London.

The work of Dr Alleyne, who heads her specially minted Caribbean Space initiative, is intended to serve as a framework for the development of a satellite technology programme; a unique solution to stimulate and diversify the economies of the Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS) which, due to exposure to high risks from environmental threats and natural disasters, especially climate change, are considered the most disaster-prone region in the world.

Benefits to be derived from this initiative include remote sensing, weather monitoring, Earth observation, marine life conservation, natural disaster planning and preparedness, water and agricultural management, and the mapping of the region's topography.

Dr Alleyne contends that Caribbean- owned and operated satellites that have the capability to monitor the region's weather and climate and allow for natural disaster planning is crucial.

Trinidad-born Dr Alleyne is an American aerospace executive, trained rocket scientist and 28-year NASA veteran. She leads a strategic space consultancy that assists public and private sector organisations in finding space-based solutions for sustainable development.

Received with keen interest at several technical and socio-economic conferences locally and regionally, these initiatives, related to climate change in the Caribbean region and carbon emission reduction in Trinidad and Tobago, have been placed on the desks of T&T and Caricom decision-makers long pre-dating the sentiments now astonishingly being expressed by Minister Beckles that 'our scientists and engineers have a crucial role to play in understanding the complex interactions between climate change and our ecosystems'. Minister Beckles ought to know that stage has long been passed and scientific solutions proffered.

So kept in the dark have we been subjected to regarding the bitter truths of the threats of T&T's carbon emissions to our daily lives, one is left to speculate whether neglect of the works of Dr Sobers and Dr Alleyne could well be the determinant of life and death for many of us.

Given the devastating catastrophes occurring worldwide, should it not be with some degree of urgency that Minister Beckles advise the citizenry on the status of Dr Sobers' carbon emissions reduction solution proffered since 2016, and the Caricom Secretariat do likewise in respect of Dr Alleyne's satellite technology intervention placed on the table since 2019; or must we just sit back, gaze upon a world in peril and casually await our fate?

-The author is a former special adviser and co-ordinator, National Tripartite Advisory Council (NTAC).

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