Cyprus learning about climate change the hard way

Just Words...

Cyprus got an early taste this week as to how climate change is affecting the regional weather system and why the island is totally unprepared to protect itself from a mediocre downpour.

Okay, the recent stormy weather was of an unusual variety ushering relatively extreme conditions which saw parts of Limassol resemble Venice on a wet weekend.

Most other areas that endured more than 30 minutes of heavy rain also witnessed flash floods, power cuts, trees felled from lightning strikes and a dose of hail for good measure.

This is now one of the wettest October’s in recent memory, with our dams and dry hinterland welcoming the rain, yet Cyprus was again caught on the backfoot, unprepared for the inclement weather.

Limassol said it was doing the best it can, with the mayor suggesting it was the previous lot who dallied with investment in flood protection while the former incumbent did what all good Cypriot politicians do – he blamed the financial crisis.

Point taken; Limassol didn’t have EUR 30 mln handy to bolster its anti-flood defences but surely the government has made enough dosh on selling passports to dodgy investors that it can stump up the cash to stop the island sinking.

The government has also made a few million on selling exploration licenses for our energy search, where has that money gone?

It definitely hasn’t gone on improving local schools and hospitals or subsidising eco-friendly schemes linked to renewable energy sources.

Not to mention there will be a huge insurance bill to pay as farmers seek compensation for damaged crops while local authorities will need help with the clean-up.

Despite extreme weather conditions slapping us regularly in the face, there is a lack of urgency in government to promote a green-tinted policy that will reduce carbon emissions or provide a sustainable solution to an economy standing on concrete stilts.

There are no incentives to ditch petrol/diesel cars for electric ones or hybrids, people are not encouraged to use public transport because it doesn’t exist on any meaningful scale while the approach to recycling is haphazard at best.

Cyprus is still trying to import gas to introduce a cleaner source of energy to our power grid, while alternative sources like solar, wind and sea are underutilised.

Most Cypriot homes are inefficient in saving energy while consuming far too much, this all counts in the war against the climate emergency.

Cypriot streets and homes looked like a warzone after brief storms because there is no cohesive, joined-up plan that is designed to tackle the effects of weather phenomena and the symptoms that cause it.

Government should be leading the way on a strategy to fight climate change. For example, ministers and MPs could cycle to work or get the bus (blasphemy I know).

Instead of being chauffeured around in gas-guzzling limousines, how about a fleet of hybrid cars for our politicians.

Bad habits die hard, but somewhere we need to start a conversation about how we can reduce our impact on the environment, this requires investment and forwardthinking (rare Cypriot commodities).

You know there is a problem when attempts to plot a cycle lane in Limassol saw the path painted around vehicles parked on the pavement.

Granted, the people doing the job were not the brightest stars in the universe but there was a message in the madness that taking ridiculous short-cuts will come back to bite you on the bum.

Cyprus is not built to withstand colder, wetter winters or longer, hotter summers and the more we misread the signs, tropical-type storms will soon become the norm.

I’m not suggesting everyone should become vegan overnight, shun plastic, ditch the combustible engine and make your own clothes, although we do need to generate less waste by reducing our carbon footprint.

Science and technology should help us how to do that, but that’s another area where Cyprus is found wanting in an analogue world of what might have been.

Nature, being what it is, will always be unpredictable, sending a few curve balls our way, but it’s the lessons we learn from the aftermath of adversity or disaster that will guide us to higher ground.

For the moment, we are not heeding the signs that our creaky infrastructure needs bolstering against the rain because our town planning is devoid of vision and common sense.

There is no method or design in the way our towns and villages are allowed to grow and expand, it’s a sprawling mess of anything goes just like building those castles in the sky.

A perfect storm is being created by unsustainable conditions that are not being rectified or addressed, be assured lightning will strike twice.