Transcript UNESCO FUTURE FORUM ON SIDS 8 July 2009

UNESCO FUTURE FORUM ON
SIDS
8 July 2009
Presentation by Cletus I. Springer
Director, Department of Sustainable
Development
Organization of American States
About the OAS
World’s oldest multilateral organization formed in
1889
Longstanding concerns about peace,
governance, development, regional cooperation
and security in the Americas
Fully owned and managed by its 34 member
states
Holds an General Assembly annually and a
Summit of Americas biennially.
Summit in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2009
dealt with human prosperity, energy security and
environmental sustainability
OAS Department of Sustainable
Development
40 + years of experience on Sustainable Development and
Environment in the Americas.
Principal Technical Arm of GS/OAS for supporting Political Organs of
OAS and meeting technical-policy needs of Member States on
Environment and SD.
Medium for exchange of information and cooperation through project
execution, policy recommendations, support to political bodies and
Ministerial Processes.
Vehicle for Public Participation in Sustainable Development and
Environmental Management
Technical support for addressing sustainable development and
environment in strategic areas of the OAS (* See (CP/CISC–17/03
Structure of DSD
Sections
– Energy and Climate Change Mitigation
– Environmental Law, Policy and Good
Governance
– Biodiversity and Sustainable Land
Management Risk Management and
Adaptation to Climate Change Section RISKMACC
– Integrated Water Resource Management
DSD Mandates
Executive Order No. 96-6 (Creation of DSD)
Summit of the Americas Process
General Assembly Resolutions
CIDI and CIDS Resolutions
Santa Cruz +10 Declaration
Inter-American Program on Sustainable Development (PIDS) 20062009
Strategic Plan for Partnerships for Integral Development 2006-2009
Declaration on Security in the Americas (October 28, 2003)
PC Committee on Hemispheric Security
Joint Consultative Organ (JCO) on Natural Disasters
National Focal Points
Implementation of Mauritius
Strategy in the Caribbean
Progress difficult to quantify due to lack of data
Enhanced public awareness of environment and sustainable
development over past 20 years, but not translated into progress
More Ministries of Environment but still fragmented decision-making
More coastal zone management units but still increased sea
erosion, sand-mining and destruction of coral reefs
More policies and laws but limited enforcement
Better collection and disposal of solid and liquid waste but limited
reuse and recycling
more disaster management agencies but limited vulnerability
reduction and resilience building to natural hazard risks
– Weak risk management ethic
Implementation of Mauritius
Strategy in the Caribbean
Generally:
– Inherent vulnerability not being reduced and resilience not being
strengthened in most critical areas
– Limited use of Market based instruments (MBIs) to encourage
transition to sustainability
– Economic, social and environmental benefits of RETs not being
fully exploited
Wind energy being used in 2 countries
Policy tensions between Government and utilities regarding RETs
Governments not leading by example on energy efficiency
RET use in public and private sector not being sufficiently
incentivized
Demand reduction not being encouraged
The International Response
Personal concerns:
– Imbalance between international processes
and advancement on national SD priorities
– Already limited national capacity of SIDS
being overburdened by MEA processes
(meetings, reporting, verification, etc)
– National capacity being redirected towards
supporting management architecture of MEAs
rather than national level implementation
– Plea to UNESCO to break out of this trend
Ideas for UNESCO’s Consideration
Support efforts at promoting integrated development planning in
SIDS
Support the identification and absorption of technologies in areas
such as renewable energy, waste minimization, hazard risk
management, biodiversity management and water resources
management, forensics, etc
Promote the use of ICT in early warning systems
Support efforts at mainstreaming climate change mitigation and
adaptation in development planning
Promote the design and adoption of green policies and strategies
Support the design of industrial policies especially in cultural
industries, in context of ecological services
Help build capacity of SIDS for effective participation in carbon
markets
Support community resilience building
Continued support for ISARM initiative
END
THANK YOU!!!
MUCHAS GRACIAS!!!
MERCI BEAUCOUP!!!