Preparations have begun for the 60th Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), which will be held early next month in Georgetown, Guyana.
Under the chairmanship of Honourable Kerrie Symmonds, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, regional ministers responsible for trade and economic development will meet 10-11 June.
Environment and Sustainable Development Ministers of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) met in a special session of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in Antigua and Barbuda, 30 April 2025.
The Hon. Sir Molwyn Joseph, Minister of Health, Wellness, Environment and Civil Service Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda, chaired the one-day meeting, which deliberated on regional environmental and natural resources governance, and sustainable ocean-based economic development.
Senator the Hon. Dr. Joyelle Clarke, Minister of Sustainable Development, Environment, Climate Action and Constituency Empowerment of St. Kitts and Nevis, lauded the CARICOM Environmental and Natural Resources Policy Framework as significant, directional, and instructional.
The private sector in the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) must take the lead in strengthening regional food security, driving economic development, and stimulating investment in the agriculture sector.
As the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) pursues the blue economy as a feature of its economic development strategy, it recognises that marine biodiversity conservation, restoration of ecosystems, and the reduction of plastic pollution, are critical to this effort.
Regional statisticians and agriculture stakeholders are participating in a workshop in Trinidad and Tobago aimed at building capacity to measure and monitor food security and nutrition (FSN).
CARICOM Assistant Secretary-General, Dr. Wendell Samuel, has called for cooperation to shape a future in which “our environment, including oceans, is not only protected, but fully leveraged for the benefit of our people and future generations.”
Sir Molwyn Joseph, Chair of the 118th Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), delivered the keynote address at the opening of the meeting in Antigua and Barbuda, 29 April 2025. Sir Molwyn chaired in his capacity as Minister of Health, Wellness, the Environment and Civil Service Affairs of Antigua and Barbuda.
Please read his remarks below:
With the hurricane season approaching (June - November), the CARICOM Secretariat will begin a webinar series aimed at strengthening the preparedness of the agriculture sector of the Region.
A regional policy framework on the environment, which CARICOM Ministers responsible for the Environment have approved, was launched on Tuesday, 29 April, in Antigua and Barbuda.