Environmental organisations and governments will have to focus on better co-operation in the fight against climate change this year, campaigners warned yesterday.

Andrew Vaucrosson, the executive director for the Bermuda National Trust, said it would take more than a year to undo the damage done to the environment – but that a united global effort would be the key to success.

He added that the island’s Government would have to balance economic development with environmental protection as it battled the Covid-19 pandemic.

Mr Vaucrosson said: “Bermuda has a long history of using construction as a means to help provide jobs when the economy slows down and what typically is sacrificed are parcels of arable lands that could instead be used for farming or open spaces for both physical and mental health.

He added: “There are many environmental groups worried that the transparency typically afforded in the past when it comes to challenging development plans is being undermined by the desire to find ways to make the local economy grow.”

Mr Vaucrosson told The Royal Gazette that 2020 was a “make or break” year to stop the effects of climate change from becoming permanent.

Read more here: https://www.royalgazette.com/environment/news/article/20210109/more-effort-needed-to-tackle-climate-change-this-year/