I have the honour of speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General of the CARIFORUM Member States who because of conflicting obligations could not be here today. I bring you greetings in his name and on behalf of CARIFORUM, which comprises six small island developing and low lying coastal states, each with distinct characteristics, but all being apart of the family we know as the African Caribbean and Pacific Group of States.

I take this opportunity to congratulate the leadership of the European Commission for its foresight in developing this timely initiative which will address the capacity needs of our countries with respect to the implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), as part of a global programme within all ACP states.

In CARIFORUM, we are very pleased with this initiative, and see this as a welcome opportunity to address the myriad of capacity issues which continue to plague the successful implementation of MEAs at the national level which in turn slows the rate of progress with the achievement of our sustainable development goals. We firmly believe that MEAs represent a good platform through which national environment and sustainable development goals may be realized and many of the problems affecting the global commons addressed.

For us at the Secretariat, this project presents a much needed opportunity to strengthen our own internal capacity to delver specialized services to our Member States with regard to the implementation of MEAs. The CARICOM Secretariat is the regional hub for the Caribbean under this project and will be strengthened to allow for the delivery of quality capacity-building services to Caribbean countries, such as project management and writing skills, negotiations and lobbying skills, legal drafting skills, information management and exchange, and the synergistic implementation of MEAs in a coherent and integrated manner.

The project is designed to increase the capacities of Caribbean States and the CARICOM Secretariat in the above-mentioned areas and will entail the provision of technical assistance, training, policy and advisory support services to enhance the capacities of the countries in implementing their obligations under MEAs. This will facilitate Caribbean countries to address development challenges associated with the adverse effects of climate change, loss of biodiversity, drought, land degradation, waste management and other threats to the environment.

Over the next three days the Region’s attention will be focused on a review of the capacity building needs related to MEAs in the Caribbean, with a view to preparing the overall work programme and costed work plan for implementation, prepared with detailed prioritised actions. It is my sincere wish that the outcomes of this symposium will be distilled into practical actions to address the urgent needs of our Member States.

I wish you fruitful deliberations.

CONTACT: piu@caricom.org