Ministers of Environment and other environment experts will meet in Georgetown, Guyana on Thursday and Friday to address sustainable development, environment and climate change issues and their impact on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) as well as the Community.

This is the Third Joint Meeting of the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) and the Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which will be co-chaired by Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago.

The meeting will address issues related to water management, climate change and renewable energy, sustainable land management within the Caribbean Community, preparations for the Mauritius Strategy, sustainable consumption and production in the Caribbean and the Environment Pillar of the CARICOM Action Plan for Social Development and Crime Prevention.

However, the Meeting will focus primarily on the progress of the Community in formulating a regional environmental policy which would provide guidelines for the conduct of business at the national level with respect to managing the environment and natural resources. To date, base line data are being gathered through needs assessment and gap analyses to frame the policy, which is scheduled for completion December 2012.

In addition, the Meeting will be discussing the progress of preparations for, and solidifying the Community’s position on Climate Change for the 16th Conference of Parties (COP 16) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) set for Cancun, Mexico in December. While the outcomes of COP 15 in Copenhagen, Denmark fell below the Caribbean’s expectations in relation to the actions needed to tackle global warming some gains have been made in the Community’s advocacy to secure a target in Green House Gas Emissions that would limit global warming to 1.5OC. This is necessary to mitigate the dire threats to Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The issue of water security will also generate much debate in light of the drought challenges with which several Member States have been contending during the course of this year.

In preparation for the joint meeting CARICOM officials and environment experts are meeting in Georgetown, Guyana on Wednesday, 1st September, at the CARICOM Secretariat.

This joint COTED / COHSOD meeting on the Environment will be convened at the Guyana International Convention Centre, Liliendaal and will signal its start with an opening ceremony to be addressed by HE Bharrat Jagdeo, President of Guyana and the Hon. Stephenson King, Prime Minister of Saint Lucia and Lead Head of Government with responsibility for Climate Change and Sustainable Development in the quasi-Cabinet of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community.