We met Jacky Bryant on the
21st of February at the
Ministry of Environment,
in Papeete, Tahiti island.
|
“An opportunity for humankind to rethink”. These
words from Jacky Bryant, Minister of Environment of French Polynesia, show
a pretty distinctive idea about climate change. And we liked to hear
this from someone with such responsibilities!
A Plan on Climate Change, for the whole
society to think sustainable
As with most of the countries in the Pacific, the overseas
country of the French Republic (Pays
d'Outre-Mer) has a high vulnerability with regard to climate change. French
Polynesia is composed of several archipelagos, with small and mostly low altitude islands, and where sea level rise and cyclones are ones of the greatest threats.
When we met Jacky Bryant at end of February, he and his team were preparing a significant two-months task : several workshops taking place during March and April, with the final objective to draft a Strategic Plan on Climate Change (Plan Climat Stratégique). Each workshop deals with a specific sector and gathers the corresponding local socio-economic actors : transport, urbanism, energy, ecosystems, etc. The main purpose of the Strategic Plan is to issue recommendations and guidelines for a global sustainable development of the country. It will be adopted as a national development policy and taken into account on other government programs.
When we met Jacky Bryant at end of February, he and his team were preparing a significant two-months task : several workshops taking place during March and April, with the final objective to draft a Strategic Plan on Climate Change (Plan Climat Stratégique). Each workshop deals with a specific sector and gathers the corresponding local socio-economic actors : transport, urbanism, energy, ecosystems, etc. The main purpose of the Strategic Plan is to issue recommendations and guidelines for a global sustainable development of the country. It will be adopted as a national development policy and taken into account on other government programs.
French Polynesia is made up
of 5 groups of islands : the Society Islands, the Tuamotu Islands, the Gambier
Islands, the Marquesas Islands and the Austral Islands.
(Picture : GNU Free Documentation License)
(Picture : GNU Free Documentation License)
Prized seas
When we asked the Minister how French Polynesia makes
its voice heard during international discussions about climate change, he replied
: “French Polynesia lies on a 5 million square kilometers maritime surface. This is
larger than the whole European Union. The natural resources are numerous, but here
you will have to look below the ocean to see them! For instance, the undersea
grounds contain lots of rare earths,
which are nowadays the subjects of strong economic and strategic interests.”
Rare earth properties and uses table.
(Picture : Geoscience
Australia)
|
“Another example is the fish resources”, Jacky Bryant
adds. “There is an area north of our Tuamotu
archipelago where tuna reproduce. The huge quantities of tuna in this area make
it very valuable and fishermen from all over the world would like to come and
fish there.
We do not mean that we want these resources to be exploited. We are just saying that French Polynesia is not only some ‘rocks floating in the middle of the Pacific’. If these resources are to be exploited one day, it must be in a very sustainable way.”
We do not mean that we want these resources to be exploited. We are just saying that French Polynesia is not only some ‘rocks floating in the middle of the Pacific’. If these resources are to be exploited one day, it must be in a very sustainable way.”
Jacky Bryant comments : “Chinese and Russians for
instance understood the values of the Pacific waters. This is why they have
started to invest in some countries, without any compensation, building stadiums
for free for example. Long term investments to ensure them a position in the
Pacific…”
Climate
change and… education
“We know that
climate change will result in several kinds of difficulties in the future. And
we try to get ready for that”, says the Minister. “For instance, we have in
mind which islands could be the destination of a possible migration of people,
due to sea level rise. This destination would be the Marquesas Islands, North
East of French Polynesia. These islands have higher altitude lands and lots
of these lands still belong to the State.”
Jacky Bryant adds : “I am convinced that the future
changes represent also an opportunity to correct and to re-think. Lots of
components of our society have to be rethought. Sustainable development must be
part of all actions and changes should also be the occasion to improve. Let’s
take the example of tourism in French Polynesia : today we offer mainly seaside tourism, tomorrow we should also
promote a cultural tourism”.
The tourism is the first economic sector of the
country and represents around 25% of local gross domestic product (IEOM, 2008). Nevertheless French
Polynesia is mainly a seaside tourism destination. It is often associated to
white sand beaches and turquoise waters! The Minister explains : “There is
a strong archeological heritage to protect and promote. This is why I am in
favor of creating a university diploma in archeology, which for the moment does not exist here. Our cultural and heritage sites are located in coastal
areas. On the one side, climate change will have an impact on the seaside
tourism and on the other side, it will imply adapting the coastal
infrastructures : French Polynesia needs qualified people to control and go
along with it!”
This temple, called marae,
is part of the archeological heritage of the Moorea island. Surprisingly it is located in the middle of a private property, which was bought some years ago by an American. |
~~~
In a
previous article, we mentioned that Maldives is trying to buy land in Sri
Lanka and India as anticipation to possible relocation of the population due to
sea level rise. Recently Anote Tong, President of the Kiribati in Central Pacific,
recognized that there is an ongoing discussion with the government of Fiji, in
order to buy land there. Kiribati has already started to see its coasts taken
by the waters, mainly due to sea level rise and erosion, and has no other
choice but to prepare a migration of its entire population, 113 000
people.
~~~
Journalists followed us while we met Jacky Bryant end of February. This is the news report, by the French Polynesia TV channel TNTV.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No comments:
Post a Comment