This weekend, the west and south coasts of La Réunion were hit by a heavy swell. Waves of up to 7 meters in height broke. In Etang-Salé, they reached the old national road and even hit the market in the town’s seaside district.
Heavy swell is a normal phenomenon for La Reunion Island. Our country is a tropical island off the coast of Africa, less than 1,000 kilometers west of Madagascar. The climate crisis is amplifying the damage caused by such a phenomenon, due to rising sea levels. Capitalism is responsible for the massive release of greenhouse gases. This economic system is all about profit. It exploits human and natural resources. In less than 200 years, millions of years’ worth of coal and oil have been burned up, polluting the atmosphere. One of the consequences of this pollution is global warming. Rising temperatures melt large quantities of ice. They eventually dissolve in the upper oceans. This rapid, massive influx of ice has the effect of raising sea levels.

25 years after Paul Vergès and Philippe Berne sounded the alarm...

In 1997, Paul Vergès and Philippe Berne held a press conference in La Réunion. They sounded the alarm. We had to prepare for the effects of global warming, which had already begun. Since then, the climate crisis has worsened. It is partly responsible for the drop in sugarcane production due to the drought that is becoming the norm. Eastern Réunion used to be the country’s water tower. Now, because of the drought, the inhabitants of the Cirque de Salazie have to endure water cuts. Water resources are currently insufficient to cope with an average consumption of 180 liters of drinking water per day per inhabitant, according to the average for Reunion Island.
Sea-level rise is the other immediate danger. This will continue for centuries to come, given the build-up of CO2 in the atmosphere. Clearly, more than 25 years after the warning was sounded, the people of La Reunion Island are still unprotected against this threat. This is all the more worrying given that the majority of our country’s population is concentrated on the coast. This is where the largest urban centers and most costly infrastructures are located.
As ocean levels rise, the waves move further and further inland. This is what happened on Saturday at Etang Salé.

Build new towns at higher altitude

It’s high time that the protection of the people of La Reunion from rising sea levels received the attention it deserves from all political decision-makers and the State. A single episode of heavy swell is a reminder of our country’s vulnerability to this phenomenon. Fortunately, the damage was only material. Reunionese need to wake up before anyone dies.
This means protecting what can be protected, and relocating the rest. This means halting all new construction near the coast, and preparing to build new towns at higher altitudes to accommodate climate refugees and the more than 100,000 additional Reunionese expected over the next 25 years.
Such a move must be the result of a realization: the climate crisis has made the coastline the most dangerous zone on La Reunion Island, and its inhabitants could be at mortal risk.
When will Reunionese wake up to this essential issue?

M.M.