GOVERNANCE IMPORTANT TO ENVIRONMENT ISSUES

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The recognition of the need to focus on the governance of the various strands of the environment and natural resources issues was one of the most instructive outcomes of the meeting of officials of the Twenty-Fifth Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Integration (COTED) on the Environment.

This was the view expressed by Dr. Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General, Human and Social Development, Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat as he spoke at the Opening Ceremony of the Ministerial Session on Thursday 17 April at the International Conference Centre, Georgetown, Guyana.

Dr. Greene said that from the discussions earlier in the week, the officials felt that the governance of the issues was key to ensuring that whatever framework was designed could be meaningfully executed with the participation of all partners in Member States, with the expertise of the Regional Institutions and with the support of the Development Partners.

“In this regard, several options are being placed before this Ministerial Council for consideration. Are we going to perfect the existing Regional Coordinating Mechanisms to Sustainable Development now being pioneered by UNECLAC? How do we include the Social Elements of the Mauritius Declaration which placed emphasis on education, health and culture as critical components of sustainable development? Do we hark back to the essential features of the SIDS Programme? Has the current focus on climate change, important as it is, diverted the programme from its broader objectives? And what about the mechanisms for sustainable resource mobilization and funding? Are the programmes engaging the Region to be donor driven? From whence are the resources to be derived to sustain the environmental agenda? And on what priorities are they to be bestowed,” Dr. Greene asked.

At the level of the officials, Dr. Greene noted that there was recognition that the key to a coordinated approach to the environmental issues under discussion was the formulation of a Caribbean Environment and Natural Resource Framework, and a strategy that allowed partners to knowingly contribute to the objectives which they have shaped, and which they therefore had a commitment to deliver.

Cohesive leadership of the process was also identified and officials recommended that the Ministers consider the establishment of a Bureau of Ministers on the Environment. That body is envisaged to act as an executive group with connectivity through a networking mechanism to Member States, relevant regional institutions and developing partners.

The officials, Dr. Greene said, were cognizant of the need for a regular forum for consultation and decision-making and recommended that there must be regular meetings of the Council with a focus on the environment.