Green Days by the EPPD: February 2016

Tuesday, 23 February 2016

Air Pollution Rules - Chamber of Industry and Commence Breakfast Meeting

The Multilateral Environmental Agreements Unit (MEAU) of the Ministry of Planning and Development to participate at Breakfast Meeting arranged by the Chamber on Friday 19th February, 2016 at the Chamber’s Westmoorings offices.

"The APR 2014 is legislation developed under the Environmental Management Act Chapter 35:05 designed to manage the levels of specific air pollutants known to cause harm to human health and the environment, thereby improving overall air quality. To this end, prescribed standards for air pollutants in Ambient Air (Schedule 1) and for the release of air pollutants at distinct points (Schedule 2) have been established. Therefore, the main objective of the meeting was to sensitise the members of the Chamber and the wider business community, of the requirements of the Air Pollution Rules, 2014." Source: http://www.ema.co.tt/new/index.php/legal/legislation/air-pollution

Among the presenters at the Meeting which included the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), was Mr. Kishan Kumarsingh, Head of the MEAU.

He presented on the Potential Role of the APR 2014 in implementing the recent Paris Agreement which came out from the twenty–first Conference of Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which occurred in December, 2015.

Monday, 22 February 2016

Blog Website Training

On Thursday 18th February, 2016 the Environmental Policy and Planning Division held two (2) back to back training sessions (9:30 - 10:30am and 10:30 - 11:30am respectively) with divisions of the Ministry of Planning and Development on setting up blogs.

Sharing the experience of the EPPD using blogs to maintain a strong presence on the internet and keep its stakeholders informed on their actions with regards to environmental management and policy, participants gained insight into the benefits of utilising the Web 2.0 tool to effectively communicate and share information with their stakeholders on the activities of their departments/units.

Additionally, attendees were also given a live and interactive tutorial on the features of and the creation a blog using the Google Blogger Platform. Participants included representatives from the Communications Unit, Town and Country Planning, Economic Development Advisory Board, European Development Fund Unit and the Technical Cooperation Unit of the Ministry.

Presentation on the EPPD's blogs (click here for presentation)

A few of the participants of the first training session including Ms. Anastasia Gordon (first from the left) and Dr. David Persaud (first from the right) from the EPPD who facilitated the training sessions.

Some participants of the second session of the blog website training session.

Thursday, 18 February 2016

LECB - Second Mission of the Project Consultant

Work continued on the Low Emission Capacity Building (LECB) Programme, Trinidad and Tobago as Dr. Axel Michaelowa (Consultant, LECB) conducted his second mission during the period January 11 - 21, 2016.

"The LECB Programme partners with governments to implement national projects that support national initiatives that address climate change and sustainable mitigation actions in both the public and industrial sectors as part of a joint collaboration between the European Union and the United Nations Development Programme."

His mission comprised of the following activities:

Bilateral meetings with the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business Renewable Energy Project Incubator and Trinity Power.
A Baseline and Co-benefits Workshop was held at the Rudranath Capildeo Learning Resource Centre (January 15, 2016).
A consultation was held at the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Company (PLIPDECO)

to discuss potential mitigation options on the estate. The Industry Technical Working Groups met on that afternoon to conduct a SWOT Analysis and Co-Benefits Assessment for Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMA) options for that sector (January 15, 2016).
Technical Working groups for Power and Transport met at the Environmental Policy and Planning Division (EPPD) offices of the Ministry of Planning and Development to conduct SWOT analyses and co-benefits assessments for NAMA options in those sectors (January 18-19, 2016).

Dr. Michaelowa (3rd from the right) with staff of the EPPD and LECB Project Team at PLIPDECO.

Dr. Michaelowa facilitating discussions at the consultation in PLIPDECO on January 15th, 2016.

MGM Innova, the firm which is delivering technical assistance for the development of guidelines for Monitoring, Reporting and Verification (MRV) also conducted a mission to Trinidad during the period February 15^th- 17^th and met with various stakeholders bilaterally in order to collect data on various systems which may exist or could be developed as it relates to MRV.

Monday, 15 February 2016

The GEF Small Grants Programme February 2016 Call for Proposals is OPEN!

The Small Grants Programme (SGP) is funded by the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). GEF SGP provides financial and technical support for projects that conserve and restore the environment while enhancing people’s well-being and livelihoods.

The programme provides grants of up to US$50,000 directly to local communities including indigenous people, community-based organizations and other non-governmental groups for projects in: