Wednesday 12 December 2018

Global Environment Facility (GEF 7) Project Development for Chemicals and Waste Management in the Caribbean Region


Cognisant of the challenges faced with environmentally sound waste management in the Caribbean region, and as a mechanism to augment and streamline the ongoing activities in this area, the Basel Convention Regional Centre for the Caribbean (BCRC-Caribbean), in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) initiated the preliminary phases of development of a project under the Global Environment Facility seventh allocation (GEF 7), for Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

In this regard, a meeting to develop project ideas for the Caribbean for onward submission to the GEF was held on July 17th -18th, 2018 at the Hyatt Hotel, Port of Spain.  An overview was provided on the GEF 7 replenishment and on the proposed GEF ISLANDs (Implementing Sustainable, Low and Non-chemicals Development in Small Island Developing States) Programme. The latter is being developed in the Caribbean and Pacific regions through the GEF-7 Chemical and Waste focal area, and aims to prevent the build-up of materials and chemicals in the environment that contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs), mercury and other harmful chemicals in SIDS, and to manage and dispose of existing harmful chemicals and materials in SIDS.

On the first day, presentations were delivered by the representatives from a range of regional entities including the Caribbean Regional Organisation for Standards and Quality (CROSQ), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the UN Environment Caribbean Sub-Regional Office. The country representatives from the various delegations around the region also provided a synopsis of the chemicals and waste profiles in their respective territories, inclusive of relevant legislation, policies and projects, as well as the priority areas on a national level. Ms. Keima Gardiner, Waste Management Specialist, presented on Trinidad and Tobago’s priorities. 

The second day of meetings commenced with a panel discussion consisting of technicians engaged in chemicals and waste management throughout the region. This was followed by break-out group discussions amongst the countries on the possible interventions to achieve the programme’s goals, based on commonalities of national priorities and waste streams, targets with respect to modernisation and identification and filling of existing gaps. The outcomes of this meeting were used as the basis for development of the Project Framework Document for the Caribbean region for the GEF ISLANDS Programme.

Participants at the Meeting




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