A warm welcome to my colleague Ministers of Agriculture and officials here for the 27th Special Ministerial Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development. I hope that your stay in Guyana will be enjoyable, but more importantly that our deliberations will be successful.
coted
[Salutations]
It is customary on occasions like these for us to remind ourselves of the times in which we are gathered. This 27th Special Meeting of COTED is being opened here this morning against the background of a global food crisis, precipitated by spiralling commodity prices worldwide, and characterized by Olivier De Schutter, UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, as a “ Silent Tsunami”.
Ladies and Gentlemen_
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The Twenty-Fifth Special Meeting of the Council For Trade and Economic Development [Environment] (COTED) was held in Georgetown, Guyana, from 17-18 April 2008, under the Chairmanship of Guyana.
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.
Mr. Chairman
Hon. Robert Persaud, Minister of Agriculture, representing the Prime Minister of Guyana
Hon. Allen Chastanet, Minister of Tourism of Saint Lucia and Representative of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Lead Head of Government in the Quasi-Cabinet with responsibility for Sustainable Development
Ministers of Environment of CARICOM Member States
Assistant Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque and other members of Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Other Government Officials
Representatives of Agencies within the UN System
At a time when the world is grappling with climate change and its consequences, this 25th special meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (Environment) is timely. Our Agenda Items speak to critical issues facing the Region, and our deliberations in Georgetown will seek to charter a course for meaningful action for the future.
Within this context, it is appropriate that this COTED Meeting will discuss the development of a Regional Policy on Environment as a direct response to the common challenges and opportunities we face.
Mr. Chairman
Hon. Robert Persaud, Minister of Agriculture, representing the Prime Minister of Guyana
Hon. Allen Chastanet, Minister of Tourism of Saint Lucia and Representative of the Prime Minister of Saint Lucia, Lead Head of Government in the Quasi-Cabinet with responsibility for Sustainable Development
Ministers of Environment of CARICOM Member States
Assistant Secretary-General Irwin LaRocque and other members of Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Other Government Officials
Representatives of Agencies within the UN System
(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) The environmental dimension within the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME), Climate Change and Disaster Management, are high on the agenda of a Special Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on the Environment on 17-18 April 2008.
Co-Chairmen
Honourable Ministers
Distinguished Delegates
Assistant Secretaries-General and Staff of the CARICOM Secretariat
Representatives of the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is with the greatest pleasure that as Secretary-General of the Caribbean Community, I join the honourable Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation of Guyana, in welcoming you all to this historic Second Joint Meeting of the Councils for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and Human and Social Development (COHSOD).
Distinguished Delegates, It is my honour to be afforded the opportunity to Chair this the 25th Regular Session of the COTED.
I am reassured by the manner in which we worked yesterday to complete the COTED/COHSOD Agenda. I know that our concerted efforts today will result in timely agreement on important items on the Agenda.