The Minister of Public Works and Environment highlighted the importance of protecting the island’s coastal systems at a global environmental conference this week.

Jaché Adams told participants in the Virtual Island Summit that adapting to coastal change is difficult “because we aren’t making decisions about land, we are making decisions that affect people’s lives”.

He pointed to understanding resilience as key in adapting to climate change.

Mr Adams made the claim at the summit hosted by Island Innovation, a global platform which advances sustainable development, climate resilience, and innovation for island communities and small island developing states worldwide.

The three-day global online conference, which ends tomorrow, connects islanders worldwide to share knowledge, best practices and innovative solutions for the unique challenges their communities face.

Mr Adams told participants that for many, a coastline is somewhere they visit but in Bermuda “the coastline is where we live”, adding that it is part of the island’s livelihood.

Speaking on coastal change, he said: “The reality is we that we don’t experience coastal change through a report or a presentation.

“We see and feel the effects of it everyday, we see what happens when waves batter our coastlines during a storm, when beaches lose sand, how flooding affects certain roads and communities.”

Mr Adams said adapting to coastal change is difficult “because we aren’t making decisions about land, we are making decisions that affect people’s lives”.

He said having responsibility for the island’s public works and environmental sector, he has widened his understanding of infrastructure.

Mr Adams said the coral reef system near the island is one of Bermuda’s most important pieces of natural infrastructure.

“It was built by nature,” he emphasised, adding that Bermuda is home to the northernmost coral reef system of the Atlantic Ocean.

Mr Adams told attendees: “Yes our reefs are beautiful and they support marine life, our fisheries and our tourism industry but they also form part of our natural defence against the power of the Atlantic Ocean.

“So I have come to think of our reefs as part of our infrastructure and I believe that idea has implications far beyond Bermuda.”

He said if it is accepted that “nature is also infrastructure” then protecting natural structures must be treated as an investment in resilience.

He told the forum that in Bermuda, the Government is moving ahead with plans to protect 20 per cent of the ocean.

Mr Adams said: “It is why we are actively working to restore and protect our mangroves which provide habitat and help stabilise our shoreline.

“It is why we continue to protect our coral reefs, seagrass beds and other marine habitats that support our fisheries, our economy and the health of the ocean around us.”

The minister noted that these may not appear to be “traditional infrastructure projects, but protecting a reef that helps break the force of the ocean is infrastructure”.

The forum heard that Bermuda is moving to establish a Climate Change Task Force, which will include stakeholders from the private, public and third sector.

Mr Adams said that the group will be tasked with taking scientific research and “begin a path towards practical decisions and solutions”.

He added: “Now is the time that we move on actions and actually begin to put practical solutions forward.

“There is no doubt that the challenges ahead will require difficult choices.

“As we all know, there will not be one answer for our islands but perhaps there is one principle that we can all share and that is: resilience should not only be about fighting and resisting nature, it should also be about understanding how to work with it.”

He said small islands may contribute little to the forces driving climate change but noted that “we are living with many of those consequences”.

Mr Adams said: “In Bermuda, protecting our environment isn’t separate from protecting our infrastructure

“It isn’t separate from protecting our economy and certainly not separate from protecting our people.

“Truthfully, at the end of the day, it is all the same fight.”