PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten – Independent Member of Parliament (MP) Leona Marlin-Romeo, has sent a letter to the President of Parliament requesting answers to the statement/comment made by MP Sarah Wescot Williams in her capacity as member of the CKAIR committee on climate control.
This prompted Independent Member of Parliament Leona Marlin Romeo to inquire about the data regarding the emission of possible toxic gases on Sint Maarten.
Details on the subject matter is needed as the Netherlands is one of the participants of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and in a recent ruling the district court of the Hague ordered the government to cut the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by at least 25 percent by 2020.
Questions such as:
- What are the figures/data on how much Sint Maarten emits that ultimately contributes to the global crisis?
- Has there ever been a study on greenhouse gas emission on Sint Maarten and how much is in our atmosphere?
- Considering the Kingdom constellation where does Sint Maarten rank in greenhouse gas emission?
- Will this court ruling have any sort of effect on Sint Maarten?
- The issue of global warming is not new what measures have the government of Sint Maarten taken in the last 10 years to address this issue, bearing in the landfill issues that maybe producing methane, and carbon dioxide gas?
Data is direly needed in this area on Sint Maarten. Similar to the Dutch environmentalists’ argument, and subsequently the court agreed, the government has a legal responsibility to protect its people against looming dangers, including the effects of climate change.
