Joan Smart-Berkel opens Caribbean Foundation for Sustainability Environmental Expo

Written by State Secretary of Health, Joan Smart-Berkel
Saturday, 07 June 2008
www.sxmislandtime.com

PHILIPSBURG - The following is the full speech given by the State Secretary of Health, Joan Smart-Berkel at the opening of the Caribbean Foundation for Sustainability Environmental Expo on Saturday morning at the Emilio Wilson Park.

Good Morning, Leader of Government Mrs. Sarah Wescott-Williams, Mr. Jan Beaujon. Manager W.I. Bank, invited guests, Ladies and Gentlemen.

In the first place I would like to comment the organizers of this first Eco-Expo. Events like these are important to create awareness to the different issues concerning our environment and we must be honest: public awareness is the precursor to political attention and action. Today I have been so, so amazed after driving in the Mercedes Benz that run on cooking oil

When the United Nations established World Environment Day in 1972, one of our primary concerns now, Climate Chang” was hardly mentioned at that time. Instead there were concerns on Limits of Growth with discussions on when certain resources would run out.

However we will probably not easily run out of some resources, but as you can see now the demands for one of our major resources in the would is starting to be out stripped. So for further economic growth we need to change our strategies.

We all know the cause of climate change and global warming and we know the consequences. Imagine a sea level just a few decimeters higher and a hurricane just a little bit stronger that what we had in hurricane Luis and Lenny: The Great Salt Pond would not only become part of Philipsburg, but could reach as far as Cul-de-Sac.
The time has come for us as a society to start adapting our planning our building codes and stop building these huge buildings so close to our shoreline.

Adaptation to climate change is needed, but we also need to avoid excessive consequences by drastic reduction.

The time has come for us to look at alternative energy sources, but simply economizing will still be necessary. In this regard the current increase in the cost of oil products should be considered an opportunity to increase our futures and present quality of life.

The slogan for this world environmental day is: CO2, Kick the Habit. Towards a Low Carbon Economy”
It is time for us to treat this as you would any other addiction. If we simply change our frame of mind, we can easily reduce our carbon emissions and improve our quality of life at the same time:
For example. We live on an island with a balmy climate; still we sometimes want to mimic the dress code of colder regions, regarding them chic and in fashion. Don’t you think the time has come for us to adjust our formal dress code accordingly?

With our constant traffic jams it would be better to implement the use of smaller cars which would assist in making the lines seem shorter and it could assist in fewer traffic jams.
We could start walking more, which would contribute to a healthier St. Maarten and give us a better environment to live in a pass on to our future generation.

In closing I would once again like to commend the organizers for this event and it was great driving in our new environment friendly vehicle. I thank you