New York Climate WeekClimate Week NYC“) – which culminates this Sunday – served as the stage for two Puerto Rican environmental leaders to present proposals for green infrastructure aimed at protecting the island’s bodies of water and coastal communities against the threat of climate change.
Green infrastructure is an urban system that integrates nature (“designed nature”) and, in that context, Brenda Torres Barretoexecutive director of San Juan Bay Estuaryspoke about the connection of red mangroves, reforestation of native plants and the care of forests, among other initiatives, to protect the communities near the estuary. Along with other international leaders, Torres Barreto participated, on September 24, in the panel “Technology and environment at the forefront of the cities of the future”, organized by the Clinton Global Initiative.
“We are bringing entities with the responsibility of managing the region’s infrastructure, from natural resources to gray infrastructure, to employ nature-based solutions”he said, in an interview via Zoom, to The New Day.
The bay estuary Saint John It covers eight municipalities, from the mountains of the capital to the coasts between Toa Baja and Loizaand connects rivers, streams and other bodies of water with beaches and lagoons. The flow of wastewater that caused the channeling and contamination of the Juan Méndez stream, in San Juan, affects about 51,000 people, Torres Barreto warned, about a scenario that deserves urgent attention.
“When we are working on situations like these, we must have that ambition to transform our environment, and the urgency that we have to take that move,” he reflected.
The director of Institute for Research and Action in Agroecology, Katia Aviles Vazquezwas also present at New York Climate Week, where she participated in the panel “How climate change drives violence against women.” International leaders discussed possible solutions for the communities of the Caribbean that will be displaced, over the years, by the coastal erosion.
“We have to start thinking about where the people (who will be displaced by erosion) come from and how far they are going to go, and how we are improving and creating the infrastructure for the healing and safety of all that link of movement”he noted Avilés Vázquez, in the same interview, after stating that the devastation caused by natural disasters causes displacement and violence in Caribbean coastal communities, mainly in the women.
More than 18% of natural disasters in the world, between 2000 and 2020, occurred in the Caribbeanwhich, in turn, represents less than 1% of the global land surface. According to Puerto Rican leaders, the deteriorated structures that surround the coasts in Puerto Rico represent a threat to communities and the ecosystem.
During her participation in the event in New York, the Puerto Rican also Xiomara Caro Diazexecutive director of Maria Fundreaffirmed his organization’s commitment to supporting groups that address the effects of the climate crisis in vulnerable communities on the island.
“Everyone in Puerto Rico knows that the issue of climate, heat, and having energy is a matter of life or death.”he said, in the context of the seventh anniversary of the Hurricane Mariaon September 20.
For Caro Díaz, connecting with other international leaders allowed her to confirm that the populations most affected by the climate crisis are women and racialized people, such as indigenous and black people. He explained that racist and gender violence place people in a more vulnerable position in the face of natural disasters..
New York Climate Week is an annual event organized by Climate Groupwhich brings together global environmental groups, companies, activists and leaders to present strategies for the climate crisis. This year, around 6,000 people participated in 600 panels, conferences and workshops, Torres Barreto reported.