Officials approve bold plan to protect coastal region from mounting threats: 'This would far exceed ... the past millennia'

A British firm was recently awarded a contract to oversee a major infrastructure project in Belize as part of the country's efforts to realize its ambitious climate goals.

As detailed by Environment+Energy Leader, Offshore Marine Subsea International, headquartered in Bristol, specializes in undersea engineering projects. OMSI will connect San Pedro and Caye Caulker to the mainland power grid.

San Pedro is a town on Ambergris Caye, the largest of Belize's coastal islands, while Caye Caulker is a tiny island popular with tourists. The move is part of Belize's ambitious plan to get 75% of its energy from renewable sources by 2030, based on the nation's 2023 Energy Policy, reported on recently by the World Bank.

It will help by reducing the reliance on locally sourced dirty fuels and providing more resilience against increasingly common and severe extreme weather events.

Belize imports about half its energy from neighboring Mexico, according to the World Bank, and much of that comes from hydroelectricity. While hydroelectricity is indeed renewable, it does have drawbacks, namely the habitat destruction involved. Belize is also reportedly exploring solar and geothermal energy as part of a multifaceted approach.

Though responsible for just 0.01% of planet-warming pollution worldwide, per the U.N. Development Programme, Belize is more vulnerable to the effects of the worsening climate than most nations. For example, Hurricane Lisa caused massive disruptions to power and water supplies in 2022.

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According to a study of storms that have passed over Belize's Great Blue Hole, there has been a steady increase in storms over millennia, but the researchers predicted a significant increase within this century tied to climate change.

As Goethe University Frankfurt's Eberhard Gischler, one of the study's authors, explained: "Our results suggest that some 45 tropical storms and hurricanes could pass over this region in our century alone. This would far exceed the natural variability of the past millennia."

The Great Blue Hole is part of Belize's barrier reef reserves system, a "biodiversity hotspot," per UNESCO, and is home to nearly 1,400 species. Infrastructure projects such as the one to be overseen by OMSI will play a key role in safeguarding Belize's natural treasures for generations to come.

"The Belize Government will do all it can to ensure this treasure is ours to enjoy, not only Belizeans but the rest of the world," former Deputy Prime Minister Patrick Faber said in the UNESCO report.