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- Date submitted: 1 Nov 2011
- Stakeholder type: Member State
- Name: Grenada
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Full SubmissionExecutive Summary This report reflects engagements with key stakeholders complemented by a desk-top documentary review, interpreting existing conditions and issues important to Grenada?s contribution to the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD, Rio, 2012). As initial step in the UNCSD process this reporting records a stock-taking exercise on experiences, successes, challenges, risks and current perspectives of a wide range of stakeholders, within the public and private sector and regarding sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication. The process involved focused engagements with key persons from thematic areas related to development with respect to: Agriculture, Energy, Communications, Trade/Commerce, Water, Land, Physical Development, Spatial Planning Transportation, Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Law/Constitution/Administration, together with newer specific ones such as Tourism and Services such as Health and Recreation. Some of these engagements were through consultations at work places, some by questionnaires while other information was taken from documented records that already existed. During the stakeholder engagement process, demonstrations of policy-based programmes and initiatives, served as means to interpret sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication with specific reference to livelihoods. Opportunity was provided to show that the ongoing UN initiated discussions on Sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication were negotiated ones following upon the UNCED and Agenda 21. It was also shown that there was the expectation that by a process of elaboration, redefinition and re-negotiation at the upcoming Conference in June 2012, opportunity would be provided for generating more effective delivery systems resulting in more appropriate economic, social and environmental developments befitting small Island Developing States (SIDS) such as Grenada. Within the stakeholder engagement process, key issues related to (i) interpretation and application of the sustainable development paradigm; (ii) questions concerning green economy as a perspective on sustainable development; and (iii) the link between sustainable development/green economy and poverty eradication, through generation of livelihoods opportunities. The most powerful comments by stakeholders related to concerns over interpretation of the Objectives and Themes of the Conference and the relevance to goals and aspirations of Agenda 21 and the Rio Principles. Stakeholders cautioned that green economy should be adaptive to the small island, exposed economy and that the emphasis should be on sustainable development in the context of poverty eradication. Moreover, there was a strong desire that Grenada should interpret green economy from the perspective of sustainable development priorities that were adaptive to local practices, knowledge and ecology. Draft National Report As an initial phase of the preparation process for Grenada?s participation in the UNCSD, R10 +20 (2012), this report is as much process as product. The current task was to conduct a stock-taking exercise using interviews/questionnaires and consultations with a wide range of national stakeholders. The purpose being to examine and review documentation of national strategies, action plans, policies, capacity assessments and experiences with regard to progress made by Grenada on Sustainable Development, Green Economy and Poverty Eradication as led through the UNCSD process. And in preparation for R10 +20 (2012) a workshop consultation was convened to provide a forum for various stakeholders to consult and discuss focal issues on sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication initiatives, both those that were planned and those ongoing, in the context of examples of success/lessons learned,challenges and gaps, emerging trends and recommendations for future responses. The two-day consultation exercise involving national stakeholders in an interactive engagement on day #1 was followed by an engagement with policy-makers on day #2. This provided opportunity for the group on the first day to generate comments and then for the group on the second day to review the comments and discuss issues. The Workshop Process and Product A two-day workshop involving senior public sector personnel, civil society, private sector, students, teachers, media, donor community together with representatives of regional institutions followed-on from engagements with a range of similar stakeholder representatives at their workplaces, using interviews questionnaires and consultations. The workshop exercises were expected to examine the record of initiatives (ongoing and planned) and to provide stakeholder interaction, inputs, comments etc. regarding the UNCSD process and Grenada?s participation in it. Essential records of the workshop/consultation sessions are annexed. Synthesis/Assessment: Engagement with Stakeholder Community Consultations were convened with the purpose of enlightening the stakeholder community on the UNCSD process and road map; interpreting sustainable development/green economy and poverty eradication in the context of current and planned development initiatives; and making recommendations. The following observations might be made with respect to stakeholders? contributions: 1) NGOs/CBOs acknowledge that Government is currently more willing and able to accord them relevance on the relevant issues. 2) There was definite acknowledgement/recognition by stakeholders that there was recession in the local and international economies and that Grenada was very exposed. 3) There is evidence of a lack of sufficient understanding of the role and function of existing Government institutions and delivery systems for current translation of International Conventions and Protocols into local law and local action plans and for actual coordination and implementation of multilateral agreements. 4) There is need for fuller understanding of the drivers and responders with respect to how infrastructural developments are selected and where they are geographically sited (tensions re land use and absence of a policy) 5) There is the lingering perspective of development as mostly economic rather than, as well, social and environmental; even as CBOs/NGOs are highly focused on social development and livelihood issues they seldom recognize social investments and initiatives as social development. 6) There was a significant evidence of understanding of green economy and its transition as having costs and benefits associated with it and that those benefits might be demonstrated in livelihood opportunities from the use of ecosystems and biodiversity-based goods and services. 7) There was also evidence of stakeholders? discovery of the broader and current applications of sustainable development and green economy and how these might connect with poverty alleviation and eradication; and how Government might better make responses to multilateral environmental agreements and other International agreements such as the MDGs 8) The need to create awareness within the local Community (CBO/NGO) concerning how International Conventions and Protocols (MEA and other development-based agreements) as soft law might be translated into local law and policy-based mandates and implemented through Government institutions at Ministries or through statutory bodies or projects as joint (public/private) ventures. 9) The CBOs/NGOs, although showing considerable acceptance of green economy, raised concerns and questions of interpretation in the Grenada context. 10) There is the lingering recognition that there is relatively limited indigenous opportunity for green economy, technology and innovation in the face of economies where market-driven imperatives make SIDS disadvantaged and exposed. 11) Policy makers, sought to clarify the relationship between sustainable development, green economy on the one hand and strategies and initiatives regarding health, preventive medicine, poverty eradication and subsistence livelihoods from public resources, such as Forestry and Fisheries. Policy makers also raised questions concerning institutionalization of the green agenda, comprehensive education on the R10 + 20 process, institutional arrangements and capacity strengthening for implementation of current and eminent initiatives and with adaptive monitoring and evaluation measures. Desk Review For Stock Taking A variety of published and unpublished documents were reviewed as a stock taking exercise to complement information gathered from consultations and questionnaire-based interviews on the subject of sustainable development, green economy, poverty eradication and institutional framework at national, regional and international levels.. 1. SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GREEN ECONOMY AND POVERTY ERADICATION IN THE GRENADA CONTEXT The perspective on sustainable development Even as development, to be seen as investments through economic, social and environmental initiatives and programmes, might have been recognizable prior to Rio 1992, over time and especially within the last 10 or so years consensus led by the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) process has powerfully shaped both interpretation and assessment of development and policy-based strategies, programmes and practices in the Grenada context. As a small island developing state having an open-ended economy, Grenada is constrained to always respond to external drivers embodied in various elements of sustainable development goals and objectives. We illustrate existing conditions and future prospects regarding sustainable development as we enumerate economic, social and environmental initiatives adopted, existing enabling conditions (legal, institutional and financial) and the political commitment for sustainable development. We recognize that, at the local level and based on perception, interpretation of sustainable development is heavily environment-focused and therefore a strong challenge to overcome. And furthermore with the newer interpretations of green economy coupling with poverty eradication yet another strong challenge is presented. At the same time however, the green economy elaboration of sustainable development provides opportunity for operationalizing development in the Grenada context as integrated development that has economic, social and environmental dimensions. To this end, two integrated projects are cited as examples: ?Building a Green Economy to Induce Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development: A Micro-Pilot Demonstration in Carriacou, Grenada?. The primary objective of this project is to design an integrated strategy for the transformation of the traditional economy of a small community in a Caribbean island of Carriacou into a green economy. The activity will result in the overall formulation of a ?green economy road map? for the transition towards sustainable development that will include four major building blocks: (1) A water-energy-waste integrated system; (2) An educational center of excellence specifically designed for capacity building in low-carbon technologies and natural resource management; (3) An eco-friendly tourism development infrastructure; and (4) A low-carbon transport system for the community. and:?Integrating Climate Change into National Sustainable Development Strategies and Plans in Latin America and the Caribbean? . The focus of this project is on : Management of water resources in Northern Grenada Community-based coastal ecosystem restoration Renewable energy sources for medical and community centres immediately after natural disasters Early warning systems of flooding and droughts 1.1 Existing Conditions and Sustainable Development 1.1.1 Economic Policies The Government of Grenada has emphasized an over-arching strategy of economic transformation in response to inescapable external and internal drivers impacting on the economy. The Grenadian economy has evolved in recent decades from a high dependency on agricultural production to a high dependency on services. Within such an economic environment Grenada?s sustainable development policy over the last decade has been articulated chiefly through a set of medium term economic strategy papers (MTESP). The MTESP of 1998-2000 and 2000-2002 selected objectives such as: sustained and robust economic growth, rehabilitation and improved disaster preparedness, reduced unemployment, improved access to health care, human resource development, a modernized state machinery and improved environmental management. These were followed on by a MTESP (2003-2005) that highlighted a diversified service-oriented and knowledge-based economy, strengthening the operations of central Government and poverty reduction and alleviation. The 2004-2009 period was characterized by a significant reconstruction and rehabilitation in response to two devastating hurricanes of 2004 and 2005. The period 2007 to the present 2011 again describes an overall strategy of economic transformation by designating five transformational sectors as: Health, Education and wellness; Tourism and Hospitality services; Agro-business; Energy development and Information Communication Technology (ICT). Following on from an ongoing strategy for growth and poverty reduction, Grenada was faced with the impacts of the world food crises of 2007/2008 and the world economic recession of 2008/09 which have severely stymied the economic growth and development potential. Grenada as an open-end economy is considered especially exposed to contraction in demand for export commodities and tourism services and therefore faced significant unemployment and other related challenges , since 2007/2008. 1.1.2 Social Policies Grenada had to adopt direct short-term and deliberate policies as response for addressing the implications of fiscal imbalances, increasing unemployment caused by the food crisis (2007) and the world economic recession (2008) and the necessity for special social spending. There was a shift in emphasis from certain planned investments toward initiatives that were geared to address social contingencies related to health, employment, education and adaptive training. The 2008 Country Poverty Assessment (CPA) showed 37.7% of the Grenada population living below the poverty line and an estimated 2.4% as indigent, or unable to afford food that would yield the minimum daily caloric intake for health and sustenance. The CPA showed serious imbalances in income distribution where the most affluent 10% of the population accounting for 29.8% of consumption whilst the poorest 10% account for just over 2.9% of consumption. The Government of Grenada sees access to education and adaptive skills training as key to overcoming the incidence of poverty within the national economy. Growth through economic transformation and poverty reduction/eradication having been selected as over-aching strategy, adopted operational strategies through programmes such as Basic Trust Fund initiative; Grenada Rural Enterprise Project (GREP), a National Food Security programme; Grenada Disaster Emergency Management Project, a National Infectious Disease Programme and Preventative Health. Many of these social projects and programmes were implemented as virtual joint ventures in collaboration with a variety of Government institutions and seen as response to commitments to Millennium development goals and involving international agencies such as UNDP, UNEP, CIDA, ROC, IFAD, CDB, World Bank and EU among others. A number of special social initiatives were strongly emphasized during the 2005-2009 period of reconstruction and rehabilitation in response to hurricanes Ivan (2006) and Emily (2007). Of special note were a number of safety-net initiatives involving work opportunity for the more vulnerable people (aged and economically challenged). The Food Security (distribution) initiatives in response to the food crisis and hurricane impacts were notable. 1.1.3 Environmental Policies The Government demonstrated commitments to environmental management and conservation through policy initiatives such as a Forest Policy and Action Plan (2000); a Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (2000); a National Environmental Management Strategy; a National Communication on Climate Change (2000); a National Physical Development Plan (2003) among others. Each of these policy documents were commissioned with the policy direction that they were to be consultative in their planning state and participatory in their implementation and involving the widest array of vested interests; education and awareness was another criteria to be incorporated in all cases. 2. LOCAL FOCAL AREA SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES While policies and programmes were implemented through existing institutions (as mainstreamed initiatives) or as project-based delivery systems, yet each key initiative demonstrating the three focal dimensions or pillars of sustainable development could be categorized as either economic, social or environmental depending on emphasis. Some of the initiatives may be policy-oriented, some as heavily economic investments, some social investments while others as environmental investments; cross-cutting elements would be recognizable in all cases. 2.1 ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE 2.1.1 Economic Initiatives as Economic Investments Within the last decade a number of programmes and initiatives could be characterized as economic developments, while having social and environmental dimensions. Distinctly economic initiatives include a Tourism Master Plan initiated in 1996 and enhanced in 2011. Another is a strategy to mainstream sustainable land management; one of the outcomes expected was the adoption of a Land Management Authority or Agency that would rationalize operations for efficient land management. In 2011 Government commissioned a study to develop a Land and Marine Management strategy seeking to make Land Management more consistent and compatible with coastal / marine management in the small island context. A First national communication on climate change as a framework for mainstreaming various responses to climate change at various sectors including housing and services, was undertaken. Elaboration of a Draft Energy policy (2002) continues and is manifested in a current policy for rational responsiveness to short-term changes in the CIF prices for petroleum fuel; imported fuel having so much of a direct influence on the cost and delivery of goods and services. A Low Carbon Development Strategy 2010 to 2020 has as its ultimate milestone, a minimum of 20% renewable energy for electrification and transportation. A comprehensive Physical Planning Development Control Act, PPDCA (2002) was enhanced by the adoption of a Physical Development Plan (2003) and with a Building code was adopted along with it. Further enhancement to the PPDCA Act of 2002 is planned in the form of a Bill to create subsidiary legislation for enhancement of control on physical economic developments. A National Hazard Mitigation Policy with a strong adaptation focus was adopted during the period and recently, in 2011. This policy was further enabled by the Grenada component of a Regional Vulnerability/Hazard Resilience Response Initiative. A Fisheries-based adaptation initiative was reinforced and consolidated during the period. This involved an intervention by the Fishery Authority to provide for alternative fishing opportunity for a community of fishers targeting shelf fish for to supply to an export market. The shelf stock was depleting while the market share in the export market was decreasing also. Fishers in response were introduced to alternative gear and method; oceanic long-line fishing through skills training. Uptake of the alternative fishing opportunity was immediate and as a result this new oceanic long-line fishing community is now responsible for the bulk of national higher value-added fish production. This newly expanded long-line fishery is shown to be productive and sustainable in that, with the current scale of operations and with its compliance with ICCAT standards, no overexploitation of the stock or economic waste is envisaged in the near future. Both the level of production and biological indicators of prudent species-stock exploitation is being monitored and recorded. A policy of public consultation and participatory management is demonstrated by the establishment of a number of standing advisory committees with respect to climate change, biodiversity, the economy, poverty alleviation / eradication and the environment among others. The consultative approach appears to be institutionalized as shown by the annual district and national consultations in the budget process toward building the public sector estimates of Revenue and Expenditure. 2.12 Social Initiatives As Social Investments Within the last few years Government has designated the portfolio of social services as Social Development. The Government Information Services not only promotes outreach to the public on performance of Government programmes but also provides a forum for a variety of community vested interests to outreach to their target audience. Establishment and maintenance of a Sustainable development council offers unrestricted opportunity for the public to discuss most of Governments key economic, social and environmental initiatives at their planning, implementation and evaluation stages. A National Disaster Plan of 1985, revised in 1995 and enhanced with significant improvements since the passage of Hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Emily (2005) have among other applications emphasized not only community-based disaster response and readiness plans but also household and commercial facilities plans. The National Poverty Reduction Strategy initiated more than a decade ago continues in an enhanced form as a Poverty Eradication Strategy, operationalized and incorporating initiatives such as the Basic Needs Trust Fund and a National Food Security Program, social components of a Grenada Emergency Disaster Management Project in response to the disastrous hurricanes of 2004/05 and were significant in the 2005-2008 period. Various initiatives at skills training and job opportunity were implemented within the last 10 years. Significant emphasis was given to various Safety-net programmes serving the purpose of providing cash incomes to vulnerable aged persons on the one hand and work opportunity as ?pay-for-work? schemes for youth and working people. A Water (distribution) Expansion Program was implemented within the last 10 years with a high percentage of the population now having access to potable water on a consistent basis. 2.1.3 Environmental Initiatives As Investments In Conservation And Management A Forest policy and Action Plan developed during the 1990s in a highly consultative process was adopted by Government in 2000. This action plan accommodates a management plan for private forested areas and for subsistence use of forest products on public lands among other provisions. A Bio-diversity Strategy and Action Plan (2000) followed by an enabling activity initiative 2003-2006 sought to interpret and appreciate the biodiversity as ecosystems assets to be utilized and conserved. A St. George?s (OECS) Declaration on environmental and other issues was adopted in 2001. A National Waste Management Strategy (2003) was operationalized mainly in a Grenada Solid Waste Management Authority that now reports a greater than 95% waste collection coverage island-wide at both community and individual resident?s level. The strategy contemplates the use of technologies to sort waste for collection and recycling the future. A pledge was made to the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) Plan of Action, to protect at least 25% of the biodiversity by 2020 (The Caribbean Initiative). Grenada was successful in phasing out the consumption of Chloro-floro-carbons (CFC) as refrigerants ahead of the Montreal Protocol Schedule of 2010. A popularized Debushing programme (of roadsides and agricultural lands) under the Government?s Safety-net initiative as part of the poverty reduction strategy, appears to have the additional outcome of environmental enhancement. 2.1.4 Financial Enablings For Sustainable Development A set of fiscal incentive packages, administered by the Grenada Industrial Development Corporation is used as part of government?s strategy at animating commercial and Industrial investments. As business promotions unit through technical assistance and small a small loans facility is another instrument for boosting investments. A concessions regime applied for a range of sector is an ongoing program. Of special note were initiatives regarding promotions with respect to alternative energy e.g Solar water heaters. 2.1.5 Legal Enablings For Sustainable Development Enabling legislation for a number of provisions to encourage private sector investment exist. The Grenada Industrial Development Corporation laws, and incentives regime administer a number key legislation facilitating development. The Physical Planning Development Control Act is significant for structural and land development. 3. POLITICAL COMMITMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 3.1 ONGOING AND PLANNED INTIATIVES The political commitment to sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication could be objectivity demonstrated through the set of broad policies and especially those initiatives and/or programmes that show both institutional and developmental activities over the years. The following area few examples with respect to both local and international initiatives and programmes of which Grenada is a part. Under a process of Constitutional Reform within a draft clause provisions are being made for addressing policy issues that reflect judicious use of natural resources and guarantees to every citizen a clean, healthy environment and that is based on ecological integrity (section 28). Section 29 imposes a duty on every citizen to protect, preserve and improve the environment. Another signal initiative was the adoption of a National Physical Plan (2003), enabled by a Physical Planning and Development Control Act (2002); provisions made for the use of the Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) as instruments of management. A Natural Parks and Protected Areas Act (1990) accommodates CBD provisions. In 2009 an initiative was made to design a comprehensive Protected Areas (systems) Plan to include Land and Marine Protected areas and addressing most issues provided for in MEA such as the CBD, FCCC, Convention on Desertification/Drought etc. A special mechanism in the form of an Environmental Levy Act, 1997 provides for guaranteed financial support for the Grenada Solid Waste Management Program. Other policy-based initiatives include the National Environmental Policy and Management Strategy, the Policy and Strategy on Energy, the Forestry Policy and Action Plan (2000) , the Poverty eradication / alleviation strategy as well as support for initiatives maintained throughout the period. Legislative policy and institutional reviews with the purpose of enhancing capacity to implement sustainable development are ongoing and being facilitated by agencies such as OECS and CARICOM. Such reviews are attempts to harmonize Grenada?s Environmental laws with those of the OECS, CARICOM and beyond. Government?s response to the devastating hurricanes of 2004/05 with a National Emergency Disaster Management Project was designed as having physical rehabilitation and reconstruction, social and environmental dimensions. The leadership of Grenada in the Caribbean Hazard Mitigation and Capacity-Building Programme (CHAMP) is demonstrated with a pilot project in-country. Enhancements to a National Energy Policy, Protected areas, water (distribution) enhancements reflecting integrated management and with various initiatives on climate change responses. The government even repealed legislation which threatened the conservation of the endemic Grenada Dave, provided support for resource managers to participate in regional and international meetings and workshops and provided support for environmental awareness programmes. The actions introduced and found to be successful in support of sustainable development include: the establishment and maintenance of the Sustainable development council, the preparation of a sustainable development report to support implementation of the Barbados Plan Of Action (BPoA), establishment of a sustainable land management unit to mange land degradation issues in Grenada and a focus on education and awareness programmes in support of sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication. The Ozone Unit of the Energy Division has been able to lead in the process of phase-out of use of CFCS ahead of the Montreal Protocol schedule of 2011. Enhancing Grenada?s adaptive capacity to respond to climate change is the overarching priority for the next decade in terms of governance and capacity building. Since climate change responses are cross-cutting by nature and involving a variety of sectors, there is need to highlight key areas for action in the future that would include: a regulatory framework, institutional strengthening and Capacity-building, technology transfer, public awareness and enhancement of skills for facilitation of new responses to changes in technology. Special focus is needed for education and training for both technical resource persons and policy-makers. This must include clear articulation of how adaptable policy instruments must be selected and applied in the small island context. The risks identified with the task for policy-makers relate to their understanding of linkages that must be made between the three pillars of sustainable development when initiating any programmes or initiatives. The perception remains where environmental issues are allowed to define sustainable development and as a result economic development is often considered to be at odds with environmental values, and social development is often not considered as development. Deliberate interpretation of sustainable development as tripartite with sustainable as adjective, could reduce the risks that stem from the misunderstanding. 4. ADDRESSING GAPS AND OBSTACLES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT INITIATIVES. Grenada is challenged to present a coherent picture of progress with regard to indices of economic, social an environmental development over the period of review and would rather explain the drivers and responses of the current state of development. One of the strongest determinants of development in the Grenada Island context within the period, is the heavy dependence on Direct Foreign Investments; another is the significant contraction in the agricultural economy coupled with a compensating dependence on Tourism and services to provide income; in turn the significant exposure of Tourism to economic performance in the metropolitan tourism markets now experiencing recession, have seriously constrained planned developments in the local economy. Even though local institutions might be resilient enough and show institutional continuance, the current economic conditions provide strong challenges for continuance of long-term planned development . Some specific areas of economic activity are notable. There were a number of significant planned projects dependent on foreign direct investments and at time of planning and initiation, promised considerable expectation of economic stimulus and with considerable social acceptance. However with the advent of the world economic recession of 2008 many of these projects stalled or contracted; these externalities resulted in serious gaps in economic and social performance in terms of development. Another gap identified for progress in sustainable development relates to a failure, on the local level to clarify the connection between sustainable development, as development, on the one hand and sustainable development as integrated economic, social and environmental development. As a result, an unnecessary tension existed between an environmentally and socially focused community and an economically focused community. Only a dialogue that deliberately interprets sustainable development as development that is economically, socially and environmentally optimizing would overcome the gap in understanding. On the other hand the Global Environmental Facility, for example, as a financial mechanism for SIDS among other developing economies, to enable implementation of Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) is heavily constrained as a delivery system. Its conditions for access to enabling resources are seen as highly onerous and might need to be renegotiated at MEA/CoPS in order to overcome this impediment; the responsibility of recipients versus the expectation of donors may be a key issue for negotiation. Yet another gap stems from the lack of consensus on local interpretation and response to sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication and relating to the perceptions on livelihoods and how economic developments that utilize ecosystems goods and services can generate various categories of livelihood and decent jobs; not only those for the economically challenged and those within the subsistence economy. More specific gaps in the greening agenda would be indentified with the absence of a liquid waste management system in Grenada. There appears to be a weakness in the interpretation of monitoring and evaluation of sustainable development, green economy and poverty alleviation. There appears also to be a strong need to create a user-friendly reporting system for measuring progress; a system that would generate a time series of data on social, economic, environmental other indices and directly link them with outcome indicators. The obstacles to adequate reporting on indices of progress have to do with the absence of user-friendly and adaptive measuring instruments that must need the collaboration and cooperation of various key sectors, whether public or private; sectors are not now geared to monitor for progress; they are focused as implementers of operations tasks or for delivery of services. The small size of the economy constrains the application of strategic management equipped with data collection, collation and analysis in support of such management. As a result insufficient priory is given to strategic management support systems that could enhance sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication. 5. NEW AND EMERGING CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES 5.1 Main-streaming and interpreting the newer theme of green economy and poverty eradication versus the traditional theme of sustainable development and poverty alleviation, with policy makers needing to make institutional adaptations for facilitating integrated economic, social and environmental development. (Institutional framework and sustainable development green economy and poverty alleviation) 5.2 Localizing the United Nation environmental Programmes (UNEP) Green economy initiative (GEI) (2008) that has both process (transitioning) and product (material consequences) implications. The challenge being to interpret green economy as sustainable economic, social and environmental development on the one hand and to link sustainable development to poverty alleviation and eradication on the other. (The green economy and sustainable development) 5.3 The challenge of determining and demonstrating the processing costs and benefits of the greening of the local economy, while relating to various key vested interest within the local economy. (Institutional framework and sustainable development) 5.4 The challenge of adopting applications of the heavy-duty locally adaptive green technologies that might be initially less expensive versus adoption of applications of cutting-edge economically developed green technologies, in the context of the small island developing state. (Green technologies and clean and efficient technology) 5.5 The challenge of incentivizing and accommodating the utilization of ecosystem and biodiversity-based goods and services for generating a variety of livelihood opportunities. Examples of local ecosystem goods being: mangrove-fringed, sea weather protected bays closely adjoining deep channels among sand and fringing reefs; such mangrove bays providing ideal conditions for generating services such as anchorage for yacht, berthing and mooring (on the seaside) and adjoining living accommodation and ship repairs/refilling facilities etc (on the land side), as well as marine life habitats for example. Job or livelihoods opportunity from such investments are of several categories, from manual workers to highly specialized workers. (Green technologies and poverty eradication.) 5.6 The challenge of implementing institutional adjustment that seek to improve efficiency and revenues and with respect to the administration of issues such as land use and land tenure driven locally by change-of-use of land and sea spaces. An example of locally driven change-of-use of land include agricultural land-use converted to commercial use and coastal leases of land for berthing and with moorings at the near-shore spaces. The eminent Land Development Authority/Agency that could coalesce the services of various land management service units of government into one integrated unit ,is example. (Sustainable development and institutional arrangements) 5.7 The challenges of managing outflows of scarce financial resources to purchase green cutting-edge technologies and allied services in the context of a new tariff regime in place due to potential or existing globalization. Outflows if they are cost effective in reducing life cycle cost, still result in competition for scarce capital resources. On the other hand, being constrained in the management of inflows of ?expensive? green cutting-edge technologies and services; again caused by lack of local restrictions due to globalization. (Green economy as clean and efficient technology 5.8 The difficulty to more fully implement a regime for outing of free-entry / open-access to marine stocks, habitat and sea-zone and at sea and forest protected areas on land. Expansion of a marine protected area network is ongoing while a forestry policy and action plan enables for restrictions on the utilization of forest and wild life. A framework for a forestry and fisheries protected area is prepared and documented. Implementation of a further outing of the free-entry and open-access required for land and marine, is constrained by the significant dependence by segments of the population on subsistence livelihoods. (Sustainable development, green economy and poverty eradication) 5.9 The future challenges for agriculture relating to a greater dependence on hybrids for seasonal replenishment of seed stock and with a loss of un-hybridized seed stock having special resilience?s that hybrids might not possess. (Sustainable development, green economy and environmental non-degradation.) 5.10. The challenge to food security for Grenada when local food production is decreasing, food preferences with respect to imported products increasing cost of food and with decreasing capacity of the local economy to generate finance to pay for increasing imported food . (Sustainable development and ecosystem and biodiversity-based goods and services) 5.11. The challenges posed by the high cost of responding the threat of and actual occurrences to natural disasters affecting small island states such as Grenada. (Sustainable development and ecologically-friendly construction, retrofitting for adaptation and mitigation.) 5.12. The limited capacity of the energy deficient small island state to manage externally generated shocks due to volatility in energy forces even as the OECS recently agreed on a harmonized policy in response to import of fossil fuel. (Sustainable development, green economy and clean and efficient technology) 5.13. In the context of the small island developing state with limited opportunity for economy of scale for waste material recycling, the challenges of making use of never technologies such as sorting waste disposal site to one geographical space, and recycling applications. In the case of Grenada, the expansion of the national solid waste dumpsite unto an area designated as one of the national bird sanctuaries is another challenge with opportunity cost implications. (Sustainable development, conservation of the biodiversity, ecosystems and biodiversity-based product and services and the green economy) 5.14 . The challenge of taking responsibility for the shared management of the ocean zone with respect to fisheries stocks, habitat and sea-space, for example, acceding to the Straddling Stocks Convention and protocols such as the Code of Conduct for responsible fishing. (Sustainable development and ecosystem and biodiversity-based foods and services) 5.15. The challenge of designing public-private sector joint ventures and investments for utilization of ecosystems and biodiversity-based goods and services, e.g. Geo-thermal and wind energy. The Government?s concession of private sector monopoly prospecting for production and/or distribution of energy as compensation for investment made by the private sector for renewable energy options. A Partnership arrangements in the implementation of a programme of work under the CBD and consistent with the Caribbean Challenge. (Green economy, sustainable development, clean and efficient technology, renewable energy and ecosystem and biodiversity-based goods and services) 6. RESPONSES TO NEW AND EMERGING CHALLENGES. There have been some notable but modest successes shown while responding to the challenges of meeting the goals and objectives of sustainable development, green economy and poverty alleviation and eradication. Successes are identified with: 1. An agriculture programme that generates honey income for persons while maintaining and enhancing the populations of honey-bees that pollinate a variety of economic and subsistence crops. 2. An organic farming initiative, 2011. 3. A legal and institutional framework for infrastructural and land development in the physical plan and physical planning and development control act. 4. Explorations in tools for land/ marine management in the form of contingency valuation methods. 5. The use of de-bushing of roadsides as a work opportunity for the economically challenged persons but also serving as an instrument to create an eco-friendly environment. 6. A new and unique roadside drainage system adopted for each of the newer roadways being built. 7. A willingness for public and private sector to elaborate in ventures that are applications of green technologies and clean and efficient sources of energy. 8. The systematic waste disposal system adopted to depend on competitive private sector contractors. 7. GREEN ECONOMY IN THE CONTEXT OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION. There is need for much more engagements among stakeholders at all levels and across all sectors on the sustainable development paradigm and the objectives and themes of the Conference. The UNCSD newsletter in reporting on the proposals and concerns of the Stakeholders Forum (18 October, 2011) identifies 15 principles they wish to assure of, going forward in the future. Local in-country consultations indicate that there is the need to elaborate sustainable development and interpret its goals, purposes and agenda. There is also the need to elaborate green economy and clarify its goals, purposes and agenda as a perspective on sustainable development and to then be able to establish linkage of sustainable development to poverty alleviation and eradication. The consultations with stakeholders clearly manifested strong concerns about the application of green economy as a perspective on sustainable development. Stakeholders wished to interpret green economy from the SIDS context where economies are open-ended and exposed to developed economies. There is the acknowledgement that green economy is a negotiated definition with wide acceptance but would welcome a renegotiation under the guiding principles expressed by the Stakeholders Forum (20th October 2011) and stakeholders appear to desire that these guiding principles be supported by our representatives at the UNCSD, 2012. Five focal areas of green economy are currently considered for purposes of this Report: clean and efficient technology, renewable energy ecospecies and biodiversity-based products and services, chemical and waste management together with eco-friendly buildings through mitigation and adaptation initiatives seemed to show some resonance with stakeholders. Stakeholders identification of successes in sustainable development initiatives demonstrate that green economy is not altogether a new perspective but could have useful applications locally The call for recognition of the local applications and resources to scale up in the future was noted. The interpretation of green economy as utilization and management of eco-systems and biodiversity based foods and services was useful since some stakeholders were able to connect satisfaction of human livelihood needs with the natural resource base. Stakeholders acknowledge the limitations that SIDS would have in applying green economy because of exposure to developed countries? applications of the green economy and technology but also recognized the resource endowments of SIDS in the form of ecosystem and biodiversity based endowments. Grenada?s Green Economy, Recommendations for Up-Scaling - Rio+20, June 2012 and beyond Grenada is determined to enhance, improve and consolidate existing initiatives, strategies and plans which integrate the three pillars of sustainable development and which will eventually lead to poverty eradication within the context of the Grenadian reality. Grenada?s resource endowment will determine the specific strategies of Grenada green economy. Grenada?s varied landscapes and natural sites, mountainous terrain with crater lakes, waterfalls, beaches, the extremely ridged and rough coastlines, endemic biodiversity, rich flora and fauna, medicinal herbs and spices, rich cultural heritage, strong community ties and outstanding historic architecture, are but a few of the treasures which Grenada will build upon in pursuing a Green Economy to eradicate poverty and join the global campaign for sustainable development. Grenada?s Health Tourism potential is enormous. Grenada is known as the ?Isle of Spice? and is heavily dependent on Tourism which contributes significantly to national revenues. Through the ?green economy? Grenada is proposing to augment the current tourism product with ?health-tourism? drawing on the natural resource endowment, thereby generating increased earnings from tourism to satisfy the current unsustainable societal demands placed on the national treasury. Some identified Gaps which pose immense challenge and which Grenada will hope to address under the new financing arrangements derived from the Rio+20 negotiations will include: ? Policy development: The green economy requires phasing out of harmful subsidies, reforming policies and incentives, strengthening market infrastructure, introducing new market-based mechanisms, redirecting public investment, zoning and land use/ land tenure policies; as well as greening public procurement. ? Private sector development: responding to these policy reforms and incentives through increased financing and investment, as well as building skills and innovation capacities to take advantage of opportunities arising from a green economy: Research and Product Development ? especially of indigenous Herbs and Spices ? Support for exploitation of all renewable energy sources ? Enhancements to the Tourism product: Transitioning from over burdened coastal development to Ecotourism thus lessening pressures on coastal ecosystems such as the near-shore and coral reefs. Pursuing alternate forms of Tourism such as community, health, geo, heritage and agri-tourism. ? Agricultural Food Production and Food Security campaigns/programmes : Alternative approaches : Climate-smart agriculture :Aquaponics; hydroponics; sustainable fisheries, agro-forestry, green house production; composting; sustainable irrigation methods e.g. rain water harvesting etc. ? Institutional Support to Civil Society Organisations for Community Livelihoods Programmes: Entrepreneurial programmes in communities; Community Mapping and Documentation; Revival and strengthening of cultural practices and local knowledge: ? e.g. the ?Maroon traditions? of community shared labour; ?sou-sou? system of pooling resources and local savings ; communal agriculture ; community self help and volunteerism; Skills Training/ Demonstration/Pilot Projects in communities ; Exchange Programmes and Ecotourism which involves communities and promotes minimal impacts to ecosystems. ? Biodiversity conservation and restoration - mangroves and other endangered species ? Integrated Water and Coastal Resource Management ? Public Awareness Campaigns: to address sustainable production and consumption patterns for all aspects of society is imperative- for decision-makers to learn how to screen projects based on their impacts on the environment; , school children and youth to ensure the message is being carried to the next generation, building capacity for the future, and for NGOs and CBOs - important partners in governance reform. 8. INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK FOR SUSTANABLE DEVELOPMENT (NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL) 8.1 NATIONAL INSTITUTIONS: In the Grenada context the public sector administers governance for economic, social and environmental management and development through ministries, each with a package of portfolios led by a Minister of the Government mandated through the Cabinet. Each of the sectors highlighted with respect to their relevance to sustainable development, green economy and poverty alleviation/eradication falls into a ministerial mandate and administered by a delivery system, that is law-based. The private sector investment and development is also controlled by relevant competent (legal) authorities, mainly agencies within the ministry of finance and planning. Hence the Ministry of Finance maintains responsibility for sustainable development strategically and sometimes operationally; line ministries and agencies administer sustainable development initiatives and programmes with enabling support from the Ministry of Finance coupled with enabling legislation. The Cabinet Government would also mandate special committees and Boards of management based on competence. There is therefore a net-working system that should enable sustainable development. Even as ministerial portfolios may be shuffled among ministers of government, when such portfolios are moved, the institutional support and legal mandates move in similar fashion. Admittedly some shifts in portfolio, in cases, create limitations on sustainability of specific initiatives and programmes planned or ongoing. 8.2 INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTIONS The specialized agencies of the United Nations such as UNFAO, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNEP, UNDP etc within the mandate of the United Nations system act as mechanism for delivery of technical and social and economic and environmental enabling with respect to the MEA and their implementation. There is the periodic Conference of Parties for each that adapts the agreement to meet current needs by soft renegotiation. 9. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE UNCSD PROCESS 9.1 POLITICAL COMMITENTS The local government needs to accord greater importance to generating objective indices of progress in sustainable development within the existing strategic management framework led by the ministry of Finance. A user-friendly system with links to key line ministries is recommended. 9.2 ADDRESSING GAPS AND OBSTACLES. Facilitate an understanding within the local community regarding interpretation of sustainable development, green economy and the link with poverty eradication. This lack of sufficient interpretation is recognized in categories of persons from policy-makers, private sector, technical persons, civil society and others. This lack of sufficient interpretation facilitates unwanted tensions between parties promoting economic development on the one hand and parties with strong environmental preservation values, or those unable to appreciate social services as a form of development. The newer manifestation of sustainable development as green economy could add to the tension if green economy is not elaborated appropriately or is fashioned in the future, as placing SIDS at a disadvantage from the perspective of all 3 pillars of sustainable development. 9.3 NEW AND EMERGING CHALLENGES AND SUCCESSES. Emerging trends coupled with token successes expected by SIDS could have mixed outcomes in terms of gains and losses as noted by stakeholders locally and by the stakeholders forum. (2011) ;they recommend that our negotiators representing Grenada?s interests must be aware of the serious implications that the green economy perspective could have for SIDS with their exposure to technologies and energy. On the other hand negotiators must be aware of favorable outcomes possible for SIDS with the green economy perspective, seeing that there is a trend of growing appreciation for utilization and conservation of ecosystems and biodiversity-based goods and services. 9.4 GREEN ECONOMY, SUSTSINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND POVERTY ERADICATION. Negotiators for SIDS must consider the perspective of green economy as opportunity to attract assistance in development of eco-systems assets in the context of sustainable development and to advertize such assets as vehicle for generation of livelihoods for local people. 9.5 INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTS. The SIDS must seek to adapt their administrations so as to be better able to make use of facilities such as GEF and other financial facilities. They must create a culture of learning in the public service s so that they may adapt to newer technologies and adaptive delivery systems that are less bureaucratic. ANNEX�1� National Consultation on ?Green Economy in Context of Poverty Eradication and Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development? held at the National Stadium October 20 and 21 , 2011 Day 1: The Consultation began at approximately 9.38 a.m. 1.0 Participation: Over thirty (30) persons attended day one of the Consultation which included representatives from Government ministries and departments, private sector entities, community based organizations (CBOs), non-governmental organizations (NGOS), media, donor community and academia institutions. A copy of the list of participants is attached. 2.0 Invocation: Prayer was led by Mr. Kuoy King of the Presentation Brothers College (PBC). 3.0 Welcome and Brief Remarks, Mr. Mervin Haynes: Mr. Mervin Haynes, Director, Department of Economic and Technical Cooperation, Ministry of Finance welcomed all participants to the Consultation. Special welcome was extended to Mr. Terrence Craig, OAS Representative in Grenada; Mr. Cosmos Joseph, Representative from IICA, Mr. James Finlay, Consultant and members of academia organizations. He informed participants that the consultation is a key milestone in the preparatory process for the global conference on sustainable development to be held in Brazil next June, 2012. The Consultation he stated, affords participants an opportunity to express their ideas and concerns on the emerging green economy debate which is being used as a pathway to sustainable development and poverty reduction. The Consultation he explained, also underscores the importance of partnership, networking and coherence in the process leading up to the global conference. Mrs. Faye Thompson joined with participants to recognize Mr. Joseph Antoine, Ministry of the Environment, for his contribution over the years in the area of sustainable development through his organization, ?Friends of the Earth?. 4.0 RIO + 20 Process - Road Map: Mrs. Faye Thompson, Rio + 20 Focal Point and UNDP Programme Coordinator gave the background on the Rio process and the roadmap towards the Rio Conference to be held in Brazil. (Annex 2) 5.0 Presentation by Mr. James Finlay, Consultant: Mr. James Finlay, Consultant gave a report on the stock taking mission and desk reviews. Attached is a copy of the presentation. 4.1 Questions, Comments, Suggestions: The following questions, comments and suggestion emanated from the presentation: - The need to reexamine the Marinas with respect to the Mangroves - Environmental pollution was seen as a major concern - Economic Viability - concern about the leasing of the Lagoon area - The roadside debushing programme seen also as an eco-friendly initiative - Lessons of adaptation by Fishermen from Petite Martinique teach us about response to depleted resources - The role as Technicians in the process of sustainable development - Government?s role in the sustainable development process - Grenada?s representation at the Rio Meeting - (inclusion of NGOs/CBOs) 6.0 Group Work: Participants were divided into three (3) groups. The following are the results /plenary discussion by the various groups: Group 1: Green Economy: (Success stories; Challenges / Gaps; Emerging Trends; Concrete Recommendations for Rio + 20): Questions, Comments, Suggestions and Recommendations: Group 2: Sustainable Development & Poverty Eradication: (Success stories; Challenges / Gaps; Emerging Trends; Concrete Recommendations for Rio + 20): Group 3: Institutional Arrangements: Nationally, Regionally & Internationally: (Success stories; Challenges / Gaps; Emerging Trends; Concrete Recommendations for Rio + 20): The following reflects the sum of issues raised in groups as well as plenary discussions: - Establishment and operation of a local Chocolate Factory providing market for local agricultural production i.e., cocoa; providing local value-added stimulating livelihood opportunity and localizing a cocoa economy. - A Prison Education programme - rehabilitation, and human resource development - A national school books programme. - Benefits from the operations of Fishermen?s Co-operatives. - Conclusion of the Poverty (assessment) Reports. - Increasing relevance and contributions to development initiatives by NGO and CBO. - Support for Farmers and co-operatives. - The use of organic fertilizers - Demonstrations by case studies of hotels, adopting deliberate environmental protection programmes on their properties. - There is a need for update on funding and funding availability on Government websites: There is a disconnect between the community and information on possible funding sources - There should be cataloging of upcoming initiatives supported by Donors - Concern was raised with regard to health issues related to recycling of plastics - The need for shredding, compacting and crushing machinery which will assist in waste reduction - The need to look at the health effect as it relates to burning of bush and how it affects members of the community with respiratory illnesses - National Energy policy - encouraged the undertaking of projects such as Wind energy in Carriacou and geothermal energy initiatives in Grenada reducing energy costs - Vat exemption on the importation of energy efficient appliances and materials - The use of traditional practices by farmers - Incentives to households that produce renewable energy; sell excess to Grenlec Institutional Arrangements: - Sustainable development council - a success story coming out of the Rio process, should be made more useful in vetting environmental development plans - Indigenization of the Green Economy - Suggested adopting a way of translating ideas into economics, e.g. the creation of jobs and livelihoods - Recommended that the agreements coming out of Rio + 20 discussions should not focus on enabling reports but investments for the national good - CARICOM based initiative for reduction of plastics and recycled products - Grenada?s international leadership in sustainable development conferences should be translated to similar successes at home - The importance of public and institutional education on maintaining a green economy - National Environmental Management (NEMS) Policy - MDG National committee for the localization of the targets and indicators - Millennium acceleration plan that integrates all sectors - Ratification of some of the international conventios - National Energy policy (Draft approved by Cabinet) Challenges / Gaps: - Salaries and food prices - High cost of energy - Limited capacity to adequately address sustainable development needs - Larger allocation of stimulus funds for green initiatives - Link the green economy to the various multilateral agreement signed by Government - Indigenization of the Green Economy - Use of waste products in the production of new materials - Lack of available financial resources for sustainable enterprise - National policies to facilitate sustainable development - Whether or not the country is prepared and ready to undertake the social, economic and political implications of a green economy - High cost of sustainable development initiatives ( e.g products and environmentally friendly) more efficient air condition systems - The high cost of doing economic assessments or feasibility studies when considering sustainable development projects - Getting stakeholder buy-in for sustainable development initiatives - Consideration should be given to biodiversity as a link .to sustainable development - Male insecurities need to be addressed (conflict management / life style skills) - Socio economic problems of men and boys should be addressed - Emphasis on education and training for women and youth - Sustainable Development Policy (Government) - The need for a Land Use and land tenure Policy - The need to reduce foreign exchange leakage and have greater local food production and consumption - Greater emphasis on community tourism that enables community participation and ownership - There should be greater emphasis on the community empowerment - The need for specific medium for implementation of policies to identify, quantify and research local assets for livelihoods - There is a need for asset mapping of local resources - Infrastructural development should be look at in terms of relocating from the coastline Concrete Recommendations: - The need for appropriate representation at international forum - The need to look at the numerous agreements and protocols with different reporting formats, deadlines and requirements in the preparation of reports on diverse MEAs - There is a need for a central functional unit for coordinating or sharing information which will guide the policy makers - The need for cooperation among agencies and ministries; utilizing available information and briefing to all concerned parties with overlapping responsibilities across ministries and departments of Government - The need for functional MEAs protocol committees - Get sustainable development / green economy on the agenda of CARICOM to adequately address issues which can have diverse effects on regional sustainable development - Implement more software systems within institutions which will reduce the use of excessive paper - Better recycling approach and proper disposal of old computers - There is a need for easy access to / shared information among ministries and agencies (Mention made of the difficulty in accessing GIS information at the Ministry of Agriculture) - The need to develop dynamic methods for information sharing and collaboration of efforts to depersonalize information - No policy in place with regard to information sharing and the need for standards to be set with respect to information sharing/data accessing ; Government has a responsibility to keep the citizenry informed - The need for public service reform; fragmentation and hoarding information is a deterrent to reater efficiency. - The need for a good communication strategy including a website that follows the Rio process - Lack of proper use of Consultants as resources at the local level - The need for buy-in of Department Heads so that the process can be taken forward - There is a need for a new mind set that will make things work (attitudinal changes) - Removal of the monopoly energy production - Curriculum review for primary and secondary schools to include components of green economy and sustainable development - The need to establish technical training institutions to prepare nationals to adapt to sustainable development - Implement public awareness and educational initiatives to promote the institutional arrangements - The need to organize science fair to encourage students to alternative energy creation projects - Resources to be made available to academia institutions to undertake research and development projects that are economically feasible - A systematic approach to the promotion of a sustainable development initiatives resulting in renewable energy sources to be adopted - Policy to mandate/encourage electronic data storage - Develop a functional approach to integrate the various protocols and conventions at different ministries thereby reducing duplication of efforts and improving efficiency - Creation of a sustainable Development policy and legislative framework initiative regarding green economy to cover all aspects - Need to do institutional strengthening as we move to a green economy since we may not have enough capacity to successfully undertake the required transformation 6.0 The Way Forward / Next Step: The way forwarded was highlighted by Mrs. Faye Thompson, Rio Focal Point / UNDP Programme Coordinator. (See Annex 2) The Consultation ended at approximately 4.02 p.m. Day 2: Session with Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Department 1.0 Participation: Approximately Fifteen (15) persons attended the Consultation which constituted the Minister for Health, Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments. 2.0 Invocation: Prayer was led by Ms. Yolande Newton of the Department of Economic and Technical Cooperation, Ministry of Finance. 3.0 Rio + 20 Process - Road Map: The Rio + 20 process was highlighted by Mrs. Faye Thompson, Rio + 20 Focal Point / UNDP Programme Coordinator. 4.0 Report on Stocktaking Mission and Desk Review, Mr. James Finlay, Consultant: Mr. James Finlay, Consultant presented the report on the stocktaking and desk review. 5.0 Questions, Comments, Recommendations: The following are the comments, questions and recommendations which emanated from the presentation and discussion: The Minister for Health made a special plea for the issue of preventative health care to be considered as one of the main focuses of the green economy. She explained that no research has been done with regard to the various herbs and spices which we have in abundance in Grenada. Special mention was made of Dr. Guido Marcelle, Bio-chemist and former employee of the Produce Chemist Laboratory who has a wealth of information and who can be of service in this regard. It was suggested that the opportunity should be embraced to have research done in the area of herbs and spices as part of the eradication of poverty. It was also noted that some of the issues are not only health related but also trade and environmental issues which should be looked at by the relevant ministries and departments, collectively, thus highlighting the need for integration. - The meeting noted that men and fathers are ?missing in action? - The question was asked ?Why can?t we export plastics?. - The sorting of garbage was highlighted and it was suggested that incentives should be given to householders for sorting the garbage. - Concern was raised with respect to the importation of a large quantity of plastic bottles by a Bottling Company with the Grenada Flag printed on those Bottles. - Concern was expressed that the large importers and sellers of pesticides in Grenada, though invited to the Consultation but did not attend. The meeting recommended an approach through the multi-national suppliers may result in local sellers/companies being more inclined to participate - Participants felt that the people who will be representing Grenada at the Rio Conference should be a part of the RIO process for more effective representation - With regard to the use of electronic technology vs. use of paper, it was noted that careful attention should be paid to the issue of the disposal of computers due to potential hazards being highlighted. - Participants noted that one of the responses to low self-esteem by men and boys was through violence. Example was given of the Boys Scout Movement, where boys are moving out while the girls are moving into the organization - Concern about recycling and the potential adverse effects on human health. - Participants recognized that an element of comprehensive education campaign was missing from the Rio + 20 process - Policies that help to create a culture of greening from a Government?s perspective - Climate change response should be in incorporated in all aspects of national development thereby creating more sustainable project ideas - The need to enforce existing legislation - The need for education and awareness. - The need to develop a framework that goes beyond mere economics. Sustainable development impacts society - human health being a notable example - The need to escalate the debate to a regional level. Countries should be going to Rio with OECS and/or CARICOM positions - Greater involvement of all actors in the development process - The issue of decent jobs - The need for greater networking among all stakeholders. - Implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects should be seen as very important 7.0 The Way Forward: Mrs. Faye Thompson gave a synopsis of the way forward which includes the preparation of the National Report to be followed by a regional draft document. The Consultation ended at approximately 12.15 pm � ANNEX 2 INFORMATION ON RIO+20 by Mrs. Faye Thompson - Rio+20 Focal Point UN GA decision (64/236) agreeed that a Conference on Sustainable Development be held. The Objectives : 1)To secure renewed political commitment to sustainable development; 2) To review progress and assess the gaps in implementation of the agreed commitments; 3) Address new and emerging challenges. Themes: Green Economy in the context of Poverty Eradication; and Institutional Framework for Sustainable Development. The Rio Process & Roadmap: Understanding that it takes more than Governments to build sustainable development, the UN System is collaborating with Member States, Major Group and stakeholder communities to partner in the process of shaping the Agenda for UNCSD. The UN CSD is a high-level stocktaking exercise being held in 2012 to review implementation of previous Sustainable Development agreements (such as landmark Rio Conventions - UNFCCC, UNCBD and UNCCD to which Grenada is a signatory).���It is also a forum for presenting on the world stage, Grenada?s Sustainable Development initiatives. The UNCSD affords us an opportunity to upgrade our key sectors and industries- water, tourism, agriculture to name a few by opting for a ?greener economy? - Grenada style. The UNCSD is significant in that space is provided for member states to better align their development goals, build capacity and access funding and technical expertise to undertake sustainable development investments. The Rio Process requires all stakeholders to actively contribute to the discussion on the Sustainable Development objectives and themes. High-level symposia, Preparatory Committee meetings and informal discussions are encouraged. An official website provides a platform for contributions to the global discussion. This National Consultation is being supported by UNDP and UN DESA and is designed to sharpen the debate on the objectives and themes, through our National Report, thus shaping the UNCSD Agenda for June 2012. The deadline for submitting ?National Reports? to the UN DESA is November 1 2011?.(in a matter of days). The various National Reports will be complied into a ?Regional Synthesis Report? by the end of November. Thereafter a ?Zero Draft? will be prepared by early January and posted on the website. Further refinement will be done during the mandated meetings between January and May 2012. The final output will be discussed at RIO+20 in June 2012. It is our hope that this national discourse which is geared towards capturing the popular sentiments of YOU - the stakeholders will be fruitful. Today offers us an opportunity to share experiences, receive valuable feedback on best practices, successes, failures, gaps in implementation and to devise appropriate recommendations to be incorporated at Rio+20. This forum is therefore our opportunity to shape the debate and we should seize the moment. In the time we will spend together, let us consider how we can creatively incorporate the traditional wisdom which abounds. Think about how we can seek to up-scale those initiatives which we sometimes take for granted or overlook. Today is also an opportunity to literally ?speak truth to power? at all levels?..nationally to our Government; regionally via CARICOM, and SIDS; and ultimately the UN System and the wider international community who provide the resources which will assist us in the implementation of the existing MEAs as well as those to be decided upon in Rio in June 2012. Let us therefore use the time we have wisely. This is our chance to widen and deepen the international debate by first agreeing on ?what for us, is the Grenada Green Economy??. and how can it help us to ?eradicate poverty?. Let us also focus on the governance arrangements best suited to attaining Sustainable Development. Taken directly from the Rio+20 website: ?Sustainable development emphasizes a holistic, equitable and far-sighted approach to decision-making at all levels. It emphasizes not just strong economic performance but intra-generational and inter-generational equity. ??.It rests on integration and a balanced consideration of social, economic and environmental goals and objectives in both public and private decision-making?.. The concept of green economy focuses primarily on the intersection between environment and economy.? The Rio de Janeiro ?Earth Summit? of June 1992 -UNCED gave birth to Agenda 21. Agenda 21 is still relevant!!. It brings together the economic, environmental and social agendas. It also brings together countries; various sectors such as governments, civil society, business, trade unions and scientists on critical areas of climate change, biodiversity, desertification, corporate responsibility, information, disclosure, governance etc. by adopting fundamental principles while establishing supportive institutions. Ten years after, the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation built upon Agenda 21 and agreed to undertake concrete steps to translate vision into action. Twenty years after, this upcoming global conference UNCSD, takes place against the backdrop of new and emerging challenges: We are confronted with Environmental threats ,Social distress, Economic shocks, and a Global Financial architecture which is under immense scrutiny. As Small Island Developing States, we are anxious about our very survival. Energy and Food insecurity threatens Political and Economic stability, as does Climate Change. At UNCSD the Green Economy concept is being introduced for consideration as an integral part of the Sustainable Development framework of UNCED, the Rio Principles and Agenda 21. Green Economy is considered as a path to Poverty Eradication and Sustainable Development. And while there is no agreed upon definition of Green Economy, there are some things that we can all agree upon: - Green Economy must not detract from the sustainable development agenda. - Instead, Green Economy must be integrated into the Environmental, Economic and Social aspects of Sustainable Development - Green Economy must address avenues for poverty eradication, sustainable livelihoods, decent jobs and equity. - Green Economy must be mainstreamed into existing principles and agreements: e.g. Rio Principles; Millennium Development Goals; Human Rights; Equality; Gender balance; Good Governance The Global Debate rages on and Grenada cannot afford to be left behind.!! Some of the topics/issues being ventilated at various international fora include: 1. Integration of the 3 pillars of Sustainable Development 2. Dynamic Interaction/Coherence: (Bottom Up versus Top Down / Global versus Local) 3. Implementation of the Agreements (MEAs) 4. Innovation and affordability of green technologies 5. Up-scaling traditional practices especially among developing countries 6. SIDS Vulnerability - Oceans governance 7. Sustainable Production & Sustainable Consumption 8. Nexus between Food, Energy, Water and Security 9. Governance Structures: Institutional arrangements at ALL levels Let us now add our collective voices to the debate.


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Our Sitting and Running Rabbit bring along a wooden Carrot and Beet and are eager to jump out of the box to be played with or rest on your Spring Nature Table. Sitting Rabbit is 2 1/2 inches tall, Running Rabbit is almost 3 inches long. We've packaged the set in a lavender organza bag. Handmade in Northern California from recycled Organic Orchard wood.
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The Delaware Law Enforcement for Special Olympics will host a Dodgeball Madness tournament March 23 to benefit the athletes of Special Olympics.
Check-in will begin at 8 a.m. with the competition beginning at 8:30 a.m. at Caesar Rodney High School, 239 Old N. Road, Camden. The minimum age to participate is 16 years old. Teams must consist of six players and may have two alternate players. Teams can consist of all male, female, or co-ed members; food and refreshments will be available to purchase on site.
The entry fee for each team member is $50. All team members will receive a T-Shirt; deadline to register is March 14. For more information or to register, call (302) 831-3482 or visit sode.org.
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"Prana," a 5000-year-old Sanskrit word for breath, life, and vitality of the spirit, is the inspiration behind the stylish, eco-friendly clothing brand. Founded in a home garage in 1992, prAna was innovative and sustainable from the start, shipping clothing to customers in surplus fruit boxes and building hangtangs out of ground newspapers. Their forward designs and dedication to quality attracted the best climbers and yogis around.
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|By Maureen O'Gara
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|September 28, 2010 04:00 AM EDT
Having been kicked in the teeth by both iPhone and Android smartphones this year, Research In Motion unveiled its rumored iPad copycat Monday in an attempt to stop both Apple and Google from leaching more of its revenues.
The thing is called the Blackberry PlayBook, a clear appeal to the company's largely male installed base of Crackberry heads.
The tablet is positioned as a multitasking "enterprise-ready professional tablet" "perfect for either large organizations or an 'army of one.'" However, it may have a split personality. Beside corporate power games, it's also supposed to be good at playing traditional games.
Unlike Apple, the PlayBook is "Flash-loving." It supports the Apple-scorned Adobe Flash Player 10.1 and Adobe Mobile AIR as well as the Apple-doted- on HTML 5 so RIM can brag that PlayBook will deliver "the real, full web experience to mobile users."
Otherwise it's smaller, thinner and lighter than the iPad measuring less than half an inch thick (5.1"x7.6"x0.4") and weighing 14 ounces with a seven- inch 1024 x 600 touchscreen display.
Initially the PlayBook won't be able to connect to the Internet directly, which is actually a plus in enterprise terms.
It's fitted with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi and in the absence of Wi-Fi it piggybacks on the Blackberry via Bluetooth to access the Internet (no separate service plan). That means that the smartphone's content is viewable on the tablet, but actually stays on the phone and is only temporarily cached on the tablet (subject to IT policy controls). It disappears once the connection is broken so there's theoretically less of a security risk and less of a manageability issue.
Eventually RIM is supposed to come up with 3G and 4G versions of the tablet.
The thing is powered by an unidentified 1GHz dual-core processor running on the Unix-like symmetric multiprocessing QNX Neutrino kernel that RIM acquired when it bought QNX earlier this year. For purposes of the PlayBook the operating system is called the BlackBerry Tablet OS and is reputed to offer a highly responsive and fluid touchscreen experience for apps and content services.
The Eclipse-supporting Neutrino, which runs on the PowerPC, x86, Mips, SH-4 and ARM chips, is supposed to be one of the most reliable, robust and secure (Common Criteria EAL 4+) real-time operating system architectures in the world. It supports mission-critical applications in everything from planes, trains and automobiles to medical equipment and the largest core routers that run the Internet not to mention, as Bloomberg does, the control systems in nuclear power plants and the US Army's unmanned Crusher tanks. (Top that for reliability.)
The OS is POSIX-compliant so C-based code is portable. It supports Open GL for graphics-intensive 2D and 3D applications like gaming, and will run applications built in Mobile AIR as well as the new BlackBerry WebWorks app platform so apps (like Java apps) written for BlackBerry 6-based smartphones will also run on PlayBook.
The widget includes dual 3 MP front-facing, 5 MP rear-facing HD cameras for video capture and video conferencing that can both record HD video at the same time, and an HDMI-out port for presenting one's creations on external displays. It has 1GB of RAM.
The dingus won't be in retail store in the United States until early 2011 with rollouts in overseas to follow in Q2. However, developers and some corporate customers will get the widget in October for development and early testing. An SDK is supposed to be out in the next few weeks and developers can register for early access at www.blackberry.com/developers/ tabletos. The thing is supposed to use industry standard APIs.
There's no price yet although Reuters says it should come in at the "lower range of prices for consumer tablets already in the suddenly congested market.
"delaPlex is a software development company. We do team-based outsourcing development," explained Mark Rivers, COO and Co-founder of delaPlex Software, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at 18th Cloud Expo, held June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Jun. 28, 2016 07:30 PM EDT Reads: 427
IoT is rapidly changing the way enterprises are using data to improve business decision-making. In order to derive business value, organizations must unlock insights from the data gathered and then act on these. In their session at @ThingsExpo, Eric Hoffman, Vice President at EastBanc Technologies, and Peter Shashkin, Head of Development Department at EastBanc Technologies, discussed how one organization leveraged IoT, cloud technology and data analysis to improve customer experiences and effi...
Jun. 28, 2016 07:15 PM EDT Reads: 398
The IoT is changing the way enterprises conduct business. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Eric Hoffman, Vice President at EastBanc Technologies, discussed how businesses can gain an edge over competitors by empowering consumers to take control through IoT. He cited examples such as a Washington, D.C.-based sports club that leveraged IoT and the cloud to develop a comprehensive booking system. He also highlighted how IoT can revitalize and restore outdated business models, making them profitable ...
Jun. 28, 2016 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 382
There are several IoTs: the Industrial Internet, Consumer Wearables, Wearables and Healthcare, Supply Chains, and the movement toward Smart Grids, Cities, Regions, and Nations. There are competing communications standards every step of the way, a bewildering array of sensors and devices, and an entire world of competing data analytics platforms. To some this appears to be chaos. In this power panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, Bradley Holt, Developer Advocate a...
Jun. 28, 2016 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 913
Machine Learning helps make complex systems more efficient. By applying advanced Machine Learning techniques such as Cognitive Fingerprinting, wind project operators can utilize these tools to learn from collected data, detect regular patterns, and optimize their own operations. In his session at 18th Cloud Expo, Stuart Gillen, Director of Business Development at SparkCognition, discussed how research has demonstrated the value of Machine Learning in delivering next generation analytics to imp...
Jun. 28, 2016 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 841
The cloud market growth today is largely in public clouds. While there is a lot of spend in IT departments in virtualization, these aren't yet translating into a true "cloud" experience within the enterprise. What is stopping the growth of the "private cloud" market? In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Nara Rajagopalan, CEO of Accelerite, explored the challenges in deploying, managing, and getting adoption for a private cloud within an enterprise. What are the key differences between wh...
Jun. 28, 2016 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 978
Connected devices and the industrial internet are growing exponentially every year with Cisco expecting 50 billion devices to be in operation by 2020. In this period of growth, location-based insights are becoming invaluable to many businesses as they adopt new connected technologies. Knowing when and where these devices connect from is critical for a number of scenarios in supply chain management, disaster management, emergency response, M2M, location marketing and more. In his session at @Th...
Jun. 28, 2016 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,196
Basho Technologies has announced the latest release of Basho Riak TS, version 1.3. Riak TS is an enterprise-grade NoSQL database optimized for Internet of Things (IoT). The open source version enables developers to download the software for free and use it in production as well as make contributions to the code and develop applications around Riak TS. Enhancements to Riak TS make it quick, easy and cost-effective to spin up an instance to test new ideas and build IoT applications. In addition to...
Jun. 28, 2016 10:30 AM EDT Reads: 551
When people aren't talking about VMs and containers, they're talking about serverless architecture. Serverless is about no maintenance. It means you are not worried about low-level infrastructural and operational details. An event-driven serverless platform is a great use case for IoT. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Animesh Singh, an STSM and Lead for IBM Cloud Platform and Infrastructure, will detail how to build a distributed serverless, polyglot, microservices framework using open source tec...
Jun. 28, 2016 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 482
Apixio Inc. has raised $19.3 million in Series D venture capital funding led by SSM Partners with participation from First Analysis, Bain Capital Ventures and Apixio's largest angel investor. Apixio will dedicate the proceeds toward advancing and scaling products powered by its cognitive computing platform, further enabling insights for optimal patient care. The Series D funding comes as Apixio experiences strong momentum and increasing demand for its HCC Profiler solution, which mines unstruc...
Jun. 28, 2016 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 441
IoT offers a value of almost $4 trillion to the manufacturing industry through platforms that can improve margins, optimize operations & drive high performance work teams. By using IoT technologies as a foundation, manufacturing customers are integrating worker safety with manufacturing systems, driving deep collaboration and utilizing analytics to exponentially increased per-unit margins. However, as Benoit Lheureux, the VP for Research at Gartner points out, "IoT project implementers often ...
Jun. 28, 2016 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 467
It is one thing to build single industrial IoT applications, but what will it take to build the Smart Cities and truly society changing applications of the future? The technology won't be the problem, it will be the number of parties that need to work together and be aligned in their motivation to succeed. In his Day 2 Keynote at @ThingsExpo, Henrik Kenani Dahlgren, Portfolio Marketing Manager at Ericsson, discussed how to plan to cooperate, partner, and form lasting all-star teams to change t...
Jun. 28, 2016 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,316
In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Lee Atchison, Principal Cloud Architect and Advocate at New Relic, discussed cloud as a 'better data center' and how it adds new capacity (faster) and improves application availability (redundancy). The cloud is a 'Dynamic Tool for Dynamic Apps' and resource allocation is an integral part of your application architecture, so use only the resources you need and allocate /de-allocate resources on the fly.
Jun. 28, 2016 08:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,251
Presidio has received the 2015 EMC Partner Services Quality Award from EMC Corporation for achieving outstanding service excellence and customer satisfaction as measured by the EMC Partner Services Quality (PSQ) program. Presidio was also honored as the 2015 EMC Americas Marketing Excellence Partner of the Year and 2015 Mid-Market East Partner of the Year. The EMC PSQ program is a project-specific survey program designed for partners with Service Partner designations to solicit customer feedbac...
Jun. 28, 2016 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 506
In his keynote at 18th Cloud Expo, Andrew Keys, Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise, provided an overview of the evolution of the Internet and the Database and the future of their combination – the Blockchain. Andrew Keys is Co-Founder of ConsenSys Enterprise. He comes to ConsenSys Enterprise with capital markets, technology and entrepreneurial experience. Previously, he worked for UBS investment bank in equities analysis. Later, he was responsible for the creation and distribution of life sett...
Jun. 28, 2016 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,373
Cloud computing is being adopted in one form or another by 94% of enterprises today. Tens of billions of new devices are being connected to The Internet of Things. And Big Data is driving this bus. An exponential increase is expected in the amount of information being processed, managed, analyzed, and acted upon by enterprise IT. This amazing is not part of some distant future - it is happening today. One report shows a 650% increase in enterprise data by 2020. Other estimates are even higher....
Jun. 26, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,362
SYS-CON Events announced today that Bsquare has been named "Silver Sponsor" of SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For more than two decades, Bsquare has helped its customers extract business value from a broad array of physical assets by making them intelligent, connecting them, and using the data they generate to optimize business processes.
Jun. 26, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,275
19th Cloud Expo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterpri...
Jun. 26, 2016 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,414
Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with 19th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the most profound change in personal and enterprise IT since the creation of the Worldwide Web more than 20 years ago. All major researchers estimate there will be tens of billions devices - comp...
Jun. 26, 2016 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,328
The 19th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. Cloud Expo, to be held November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, brings together Cloud Computing, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps, Digital Transformation, Microservices and WebRTC to one location. With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportuni...
Jun. 26, 2016 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,354