Taking the Samoa Pathway: Second Caribbean Green Economy Conference in Kingston, February 23 – 25, 2015

I will be writing, tweeting and reporting from this very special and important conference hosted by the Jamaican Government in Kingston this week. Below is the official press release. For more information, do contact Alison Christie Binger: Tel: 876-330-1155(cell); email: achristie@illuminartecommunications.com

I DO hope that the local/Caribbean media will report on more than the Minister’s keynote speech, and that there will be substantive, in-depth reporting on this meeting. By the way, you can follow me @petchary on Twitter.

Jamaica will host the second Caribbean Green Economy Conference (CGEC) on February 23-25, 2015 at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel in Kingston. Robert Pickersgill, Jamaica’s Minister of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change, will be the keynote speaker at the official opening.

The Conference is a collaborative initiative of The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the University of the West Indies (UWI) with support from the European Union. It will be held under the theme “Implementing SAMOA Pathway in the Caribbean through Green Economy.”

Several Ministers of Environment from across the Caribbean will be represented including Barbados, Dominica, Montserrat, St. Vincent, and Grenada. The Conference will also be attended by other policymakers, civil society, academia and the private sector and will provide an opportunity for cross-fertilization of ideas, experiences and institutional innovations. Countries that will also be represented include Trinidad and Tobago, St. Lucia and Guyana as well as the United Kingdom and the USA.

The conference will enable the establishment of the regional green economy network, as a living platform for sharing national experiences and further strengthening intra-Caribbean and intra-SIDS cooperation in the area of green economy. This network is expected to connect a vibrant community of policy makers, practitioners and thinkers who are focused on achieving poverty reduction and sustainable development through green economy.

It will also present and validate signature project activities and achievements as well as identify other programs that can further contribute to the establishment of resilient societies and economies. These include the review of draft reports for Haiti, Jamaica and St. Lucia; strengthening of the Regional Green Economy Network and the endorsement of Green Economy activities in the region.

A special highlight will be the presentation of the Green Economy Training Manual to inform a course in the field soon to be launched at the UWI. Winners of the Jamaica Green Economy’s School’s poster competition organized by the Scientific Research Council will also be announced.

Conference Agenda Highlights,

February 23. Presentations will be made on the impact of policies and initiatives that Caribbean countries have taken for achieving their development goals through the green economy. Several perspectives of the green economy concept will also be shared to gain consensus on the regional outlook. The impact of transitioning towards a green economy will be further examined by sharing the outcome of the country assessments undertaken by UNEP.

February 24. The focus will be on demonstrating how enabling conditions may be created that can foster the transition to green economy across the region with reference to specific topics of relevant interest. It will also highlight measures to implement the SAMOA pathway in four focal areas : tourism, water, food and SMEs.

February 25. Private sessions will be held between the countries in which the project has undertaken activities (Jamaica, St. Lucia, Haiti and Barbados). These international conversations will focus on next steps and follow-up of the project. How to support other neighbor countries in their transition to green economy will also be analyzed.