Environment

I have the honour of speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General of the CARIFORUM Member States who because of conflicting obligations could not be here today. I bring you greetings in his name and on behalf of CARIFORUM, which comprises six small island developing and low lying coastal states, each with distinct characteristics, but all being apart of the family we know as the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is pleased to welcome you to this Regional Needs Prioritization Workshop within the Programme on Capacity-building related to Implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements in African, Caribbean and Pacific Countries project. This project is supported by the European Community and implemented by UNEP. Therefore, UNEP and the Secretariat of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) are called to be the leading actors for implementation of the Caribbean component of the project.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)  World Environment Day is observed in many places across the world on 5 June every year. The day has been singled out to inspire awareness and enhance political attention and action towards the environment. It is an opportunity for many of us living in the developing world to think of our contribution and approach towards making the world a better place for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. This year's theme is Your Planet Needs You - Unite to Combat Climate Change.

CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana)  Dr Edward Greene, Assistant Secretary-General of the CARICOM Secretariat has called on Caribbean Governments to pay greater attention to the conditions under which police officers across the Region are expected to function.

Mr. Edward Emmanuel, Programme Manager, PANCAP Coordinating Mechanism and Chair of the Opening Proceedings of this Meeting
Hon. Karl Hood, Minister of Health, Grenada and Chair of the OECS Ministers of Health
Mr. Felix St. Hill, Acting Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Saint Lucia
Prof. Peter Figueroa, Deputy Chair of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism of PANCAP
Mr. Carl Browne, Director, PANCAP
Members of the Regional Coordinating Mechanism, PANCAP
Officials of the CARICOM Secretariat and PANCAP Coordinating Mechanism

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat will be engaged in a car pooling exercise and a Walk on World Environment Day which is being observed Thursday, 5 June 2008 under the theme_ Kick the Habit! Towards a Low Carbon Economy.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Environmental concerns and food security are two new issues which the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Youth Ambassadors (CYAs) have identified as growing risks to the Regional youth population, and plan to play a more active role in these areas.

(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Ministers of the Environment have given the green light for a Community approach to tackle environmental and natural resource management and have mandated the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat to coordinate consultations with national and regional stakeholders to develop the proposed CARICOM Environment and Natural Resource Policy Framework (CENRPF).

(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 Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) is significant as much for the fact that it is actually taking place, as it is for its ultimate goal in helping to fashion a Caribbean Environment and Natural Resource Policy Framework. This is not an easy task given the multifaceted ambit of environmental issues, its widespread impact on the social and political landscape and on the lives and livelihood of the citizens of the Caribbean, and indeed on the future of the Region as a whole.