(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown Guyana) Officials of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Institutions attending the first set of sectoral cluster workshops prior to a forum with H.E. Edwin Carrington, Secretary-General of CARICOM at the CARICOM Secretariat, have called for greater levels of interaction among stakeholders to address the use of natural resources and climate change, especially energy, water and land.
At the conclusion of the workshop involving regional organizations devoted to Climate Change on Monday, Mr. Garfield Barnwell, Director, Sustainable Development at the CARICOM Secretariat said officials highlighted the need for the Region to invest dedicated time and resources to ensure the Regional Strategy on Climate Change was finalized.
They also considered ways in which the Region’s Private Sector could be more deeply involved in addressing climate change issues.
In addition, participants reiterated the need for a cohesive strategy and capacity to engage in negotiations in the run-up to talks on the successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol scheduled for December 2009. Participants also pointed to the necessity of having representation from the Region’s political directorate in addition to the technical experts, in the preparation for those negotiations.
Water Management was also discussed during a separate workshop on Monday. Participants, Mr. Barnwell said, focused on the need for public awareness and public education, and a more integrated and proactive approach to water management at the national level and regionally.
On Tuesday, cluster workshops will be held to discuss Agriculture, Security and Air Transport.
Recommendations from the cluster workshops will be presented at the Second Meeting of the Secretary-General and Heads of Community Institutions which will formally open on Wednesday morning at the CARICOM Secretariat. Thirty-one regional institutions have been invited to the two-day meeting.
The first meeting was held in October 2007.
