Water, Water Everywhere: Sea Level Rise and Land Use Planning in Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, and Pará

Abstract / Summary

The Caribbean and northern coastal Brazil face severe impacts from climate change, particularly
from sea-level rise. This paper analyses current land use and development policies in three
Caribbean locations and one at the mouth of the Amazon River to determine if these policies are
sufficient to protect economic, natural, and population resources based on current projections of
urbanization and sea-level rise. Where policies are not deemed sufficient, the authors will
address the question of how land use and infrastructure policies could be adjusted to most costeffectively
mitigate the negative impacts of climate change on the economies and urban
populations.