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 RISK- MACC –Integrated Water Resource Management

DSD Mandates Executive Order No (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) Strategic Plan for Partnerships for Integral Development 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!!!