Aretha Welch awelch@trinidadexpress.com

The voice and concerns of small, poor states cannot be ignored at next week’s Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Port of Spain.

This from Christine Platt, president of the Commonwealth Association of Planners, who met at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, Port of Spain, on Thursday.

In light of the upcoming CHOGM meeting which will heavily focus on formulating solutions to tourniquet global warming she said: ’However, much of you might think small island states don’t matter, people must understand the impact of anything that happens anywhere will be felt around the world.’

Speaking to the Express, after the meeting, she said: ’People in slums are the most vulnerable to climate change. These people have often had to settle on most marginalised land, in places which ought not to have been developed, flood plains, low-lying coastal areas and very high hillsides.’

She also warned: ’People living in small island states (like the Caribbean) are also most vulnerable, some of the countries will disappear.’

The average citizen’s stand on climate change is not nearly strong enough, and the magnitude of the catastrophic effects which the earth’s eventual over heating will have on us is not understood by those who will be most affected.

More information must be dispensed and people must understand their plight.

These were the sentiments echoed by several town and country planning experts who were present at the meeting.

Platt alluded to the damaging effects of carbon fuels on the environment and said, ’We must focus on stopping the urban sprawl and making people commute long distances for employment. Public transport must also be effective.’

She said planners who have studied the effects of climate change now know that ’we must restructure our cities so people are not forced to commute by car’.

She said people should be able to rely on public transport, as this would not only lessen time-consuming traffic pile-ups but help the environment. (Trinidad Express)