The Opposition United Bermuda Party has urged Government to take seriously, the effects of Global Warming on the Island and climate change, which it believes can impact Bermuda immensely.

Opposition spokesperson on the Environment, Cole Simons, issued the warnings yesterday in Parliament during a budget debate on the Department of Planning.

Moreover, Mr. Simons is concerned for low-lying locations around the Island such as the airport and properties along the South Shore, worrying what will happen to them as tides are on the rise.

"The other issue we need to address Mr. Chairman, is the impact of hurricanes," Mr. Simons debated. "Because studies have show, as the temperature rises, the frequency and intensity of hurricanes will rise dramatically.

"And we saw what happened with hurricane Fabian and I'm told as a result of a conference I went to in November that this will occur more.

"So we have to look at our building codes, whether or not we're going to allow people to build homes on the ocean front or on the coast – that's one of the concerns I had for Southlands.

"That was, whatever you put on the coast is temporary."

Citing recommendations sent to the Minister of Environment on a development plan for Bermuda, he added: "One of the specific codes highlighted was that we need to take a step back and encourage people not to develop as closely to the shoreline as they've done in the past.

"Because they see going forward, they will be highly positioned to be at risk, from a flooding perspective and a hurricane perspective.

"To me, if we're talking about looking forward and doing what's best for Bermuda and protecting her environment and the economy and our industry – we cannot do it without considering climate change and its impact.

"Mr. Chairman, everybody knows that climate change is by far, the biggest challenge to civilisation today and we, like other countries, have a role to play.

"We have to basically, reduce our carbon footprint to do our bit to fight and mitigate the effects of Global Warming. People might say, 'well what impact does that have on Bermuda.'

"Well Mr. Chairman, you would be surprised. Number one, it's purported that tides will rise by two or three feet by the year 2025, and what does that mean for Bermuda?

"Well, we have many low-lying areas, and they include, number one, the airport. Number two, we have the causeway so we cut off St. George's, number three we have Sinky Bay.

"These are all low-lying areas that can be threatened with the rising tides.

"Mr. Chairman, I would have thought that somewhere in the forward planning process, the Minister and his team would have an area that will protect Bermuda from Global Warming.

"As well as setting a strategy on how we're going to deal with it going forward."