Adapting to climate change and dealing with its consequences is urgent, but communities affected by coastal erosion in Panama, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guatemala, and Mexico watch in distress as these efforts fall short. Instead, a lack of information, government inaction, and short-term decisions that may worsen the outlook are the constant.
Adaptarse al cambio climático y combatir sus consecuencias es urgente, pero las comunidades afectadas por la erosión costera en Panamá, Colombia, Puerto Rico, Guatemala y México ven con angustia que eso no ocurre. Por el contrario, la falta de información, la inacción de las autoridades y las decisiones a corto plazo que podrían empeorar el panorama a futuro son la constante.
Although the government of Puerto Rico is betting on building two breakwaters to contain the sea’s progression into this municipality, residents question the projects, fearing they replicate a system that previously displaced an entire community.
Aunque el Gobierno de Puerto Rico apuesta a la construcción de dos rompeolas para contener la entrada del mar en este municipio, residentes cuestionan los proyectos porque reproducen un sistema que provocó el desplazamiento de una comunidad entera.
The experience of communities in Isabela and Vega Baja shows that the government of Puerto Rico acts against the recommendations of experts and its own public policy, which is supposed to protect coastal natural resources.
La experiencia de comunidades en Isabela y en Vega Baja muestra que el Gobierno de Puerto Rico actúa en contra de las recomendaciones de expertos y de su propia política pública, que se supone proteja los recursos costeros.
Far from slowing the pace of construction on Puerto Rico’s coasts to address climate change, as experts have requested, Gov. Pedro Pierluisi’s administration hit the accelerator to approve construction permits along the coasts.
Few places in Grand Cayman offer the expansive, open views of the Caribbean Sea like those seen from the top floor of The WaterColours condominiums.
To start, most places lack this elevation. On an island with an average altitude of six feet, it’s a luxury to take in the turquoise waters and white sand beaches from a 10th-story perspective.
Until recently, only this complex, a 2014 creation of luxury developer Fraser Wellon, and Kimpton Seafire Resort by the Dart group, the islands’ largest private landowner, had achieved such heights. That’s soon to change, but for now, this particular sea view, from the top-floor penthouse of the late Jamaican tourism mogul Ernest “Ernie” Smatt, remains one of Grand Cayman’s most elite. The complex is just one of dozens of luxury condominiums that have filled in Grand Cayman’s vulnerable coastline over the past decade. During the COVID-19 crisis, construction of such projects has accelerated, exposing the local population to serious climate change threats in exchange for properties most Caymanians cannot aspire to own in a lifetime.
