The Obama administration has acknowledged that environmental degradation and climate change are two of the most pressing issues for the contemporary global community. In response, a release from the Council on Hemispheric Affairs (COHA) argues that if sustainability is really a concern of Washington’s, then that is reason enough to consider greater levels of cooperation with Cuba.
After all, Cuba is the most biologically diverse of all the Caribbean islands and has 12 times more mammal species, 29 times as many amphibian and reptile species, 39 times more bird species and 27 times as many vascular plant species than the United States and Canada. The island is blessed with extensive coral reefs, endemic fauna and diverse populations of fish. It is resource-rich, and for reasons of proximity, the Council on Hemispheric Affairs believes that the United States could play an important role in protecting these resources through bilateral development of compatible and sustainable environmental policies.
For Cuba, the resources the United States could provide for this purpose would greatly aid current limited efforts. The goal would be to achieve a balance between tourism and economic growth: for sustained tourism, the island needs the natural resources and reefs that draw travelers from around the world. And for economic growth it needs both tourism and the great profit that will come from expanded oil exploration and production in nickel and copper industries. The state has an interest, therefore, in making sure that industry does not continue to harm Cuba’s environmental riches, e.g. to prevent oil spills that would destroy the delicate reef.
According to COHA, without greater enforcement of environmental laws and the formation of a U.S.-Cuba partnership for environmental sustainability, the Caribbean’s most biodiverse island will continue to be damaged, as state-run industries dump chemicals into the sea, and contribute on land to high levels of deforestation, heavy land erosion, and sedimentation of freshwater streams.
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