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 17^th -18^th, 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

Regional Meeting Series for the Project “Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Management Mechanism for POPs in the Caribbean”

As part of project execution for the regional Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded project, ‘Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Management Mechanism for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Caribbean’ (GEF #5558), the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean Region (BCRC-Caribbean) hosted a Regional Meeting Series for the project at the Department of Environment’s Conference Room, St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda. The Regional Meeting Series comprised the following meetings:

· Train-the-Trainer Workshop - Inventory and Disposal - May 28, 2018;

· Third Annual Project Steering Committee Meeting - May 29, 2018;

· National Implementation Plan (NIP) Validation Workshop -May 30,2018; and

· Regional Legal Stakeholders Workshop: Towards a Model Legal Framework for Chemicals Management - May 31, 2018

In attendance (physically or virtually) at the Meetings were the Chairpersons of the Project Working Committees (PWCs), National Project Coordinators (NPCs), or a designated country representative, as well as legal officers, solid waste management technicians, and representatives of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the BCRC-Caribbean.

The Train-the-Trainer Workshop was geared towards waste management technicians around the region, and there was national representation from the Trinidad and Tobago Solid Waste Management Authority (SWMCOL) and the Environmental Management Authority (EMA). The three (3) other meetings were attended by the EMA and the Ministry of Planning and Development’s Waste Management Specialist, Ms. Keima Gardiner, who also serves as the Chair of the PWC for Trinidad and Tobago.

The Third Annual Project Steering Committee Meeting had as an objective, the review of the project status for Years 1 and 2, as well as the upcoming work programmes for Year 3. The NIP Validation Workshop was designed to validate and endorse the draft final NIPs, as well as to outline the strategies for the endorsement of the NIPs at the national levels. The First Regional Legal Stakeholders Workshop aimed to present the overall findings and recommendations for a Draft Regional Chemicals Regulatory Framework for the participating countries. Collectively, these meetings sought to help fulfill the objectives of the project which is to reduce and/or eliminate the threat of POPs within the context and realities of the eight (8) Caribbean countries, including Trinidad and Tobago.

Bids For the Design and Development of a Live-Action Video Documentary and Infographic Materials

THE BCRC-CARIBBEAN INVITES BIDS FOR THE DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A LIVE-ACTION VIDEO DOCUMENTARY AND INFOGRAPHIC MATERIALS TO ENHANCE INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND KNOWLEDGE GENERATION FOR MERCURY MANAGEMENT

The BCRC-Caribbean is seeking to recruit a suitably qualified and experienced Communications Consultant(s) (individual, team, firm, agency or company) (s) to provide the services for the design and development of an appropriate awareness raising live-action video and infographic materials to aid in the dissemination of the outcomes of national MIA reports in each of the four (4) participating countries: Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago.

The Terms of Reference (TOR) can be accessed via the following link: http://bit.ly/2AlU2QE

Further information is available at the BCRC-Caribbean’s website: http://www.bcrc-caribbean.org/what-we-do/invitations-to-bid/

Deadline for Applications is December 15,2017. 

Inception Meeting on the Sustainable Management Mechanism for POPs in the Caribbean Project

The Project Inception Technical Meeting for the Global Environment Facility (GEF) funded full-sized project 'Development and Implementation of a Sustainable Management Mechanism for Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) in the Caribbean' took place from the 15th to 17th September, 2015 at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

It was hosted by the regional project executing agency, the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer (BCRC-Caribbean) in collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), the GEF Project Implementing Agency.

Representatives from the 8 participating project countries across the region were in attendance alongside local attendees from key government ministries and agencies. Ms. Keima Gardiner, Environmental Engineering Specialist represented the Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development at the meeting. There was also representation and presentations from the CARICOM Secretariat, the African, Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) Group of States/Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEA) Unit as well as the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Secretariat and the GEF.

At the Project Inception Technical Meeting, the critical elements of the project were discussed, inclusive of project component elements, execution schedules, the proposed organisational structure, division of finances, implementation timelines, monitoring, evaluation, auditing and the other facets of the project management system. The key actors in the project were also identified.

Participants at the meeting including Ms. Gardiner, Ministry of Planning and Development (front row, centre) and    Dr. Ahmad Khan, Director, BCRC-Caribbean (front row, first on the right)

Mercury Storage and Disposal in the Caribbean Project Inception Workshop

A 2 day Inception Workshop entitled "Mercury Storage and Disposal Project in the Caribbean" was hosted by the Basel Convention Regional Centre for Training and Technology Transfer for the Caribbean Region (BCRC-Caribbean) and the United Nations Environment Programme - Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (UNEP/DTIE). The Workshop was held from August 12-13, 2015 at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

The Project aims to enhance capacities and promote the environmentally sound storage and disposal of surplus mercury in 3 selected countries in the Caribbean (Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Suriname). It also serves as a catalyst in the action towards ratification of the Minamata Convention on Mercury.

In attendance at the Workshop were representatives of relevant government agencies of the 3 countries, the CARICOM Secretariat, the BCRC-Caribbean and UNEP Chemical Branch as well as an international consultant. Ms. Keima Gardiner, Environmental Engineering Specialist, Environmental Policy and Planning Division and Ms. LaToya Smith, Legal Officer represented Trinidad and Tobago at the Workshop.

Participants of the Mercury Storage and Disposal Workshop including (from L-R) Ms. Smith and Ms. Gardiner of the Ministry of Planning and Development.

The meeting served as a prime opportunity for the UNEP Chemical Branch to present and utilise the Practical Sourcebook on Mercury Waste Storage and Disposal, which will be the primary guide during the roll-out of the Project. It also provided the opportunity to establish the mechanism for decision-making processes, as well as develop a work plan which outlined the project activities, resources and requisite personnel for the 12 months of project implementation in the respective territories.

National Follow-Up Seminar on Industrial Chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention

The Basel Convention Regional Centre (BCRC-Caribbean) in collaboration with the Secretariat of the Rotterdam Convention on the Prior Informed Consent Procedure for Certain Hazardous Chemicals and Pesticides in International Trade engaged in a tri-fold programme to address the sound management  of industrial chemicals under the Rotterdam Convention. 

The 3rd phase of this programme entailed a National Follow-Up Seminar in the 3 pilot (Trinidad and Tobago, Belize and St. Vincent and the Grenadines) for which updates of their Chemical Profiles were completed in June 2015. 

The National Follow-Up Seminar was held on July 22, 2015 at the Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre, Port of Spain, Trinidad. Ms. Keima Gardiner, Environmental Specialist of the Environmental Policy and Planning Division of the Ministry of Planning and Development attended the Seminar.

Objectives  of the meeting included:

• Strengthening  or establishing the National Committee for chemicals management to address the obligations under the Rotterdam Convention
• Refining the National Framework for the management of industrial chemicals developed at the Introductory Workshop which was held in October 2014 and hosted and coordinated by the same two parties.

Also in attendance were representatives from the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Control Board, the Environmental Management Authority (EMA), the Point Lisas Industrial Port Development Cooperation Limited (PLIPDECO), along with other relevant local agencies.   

Meetings of the COP to the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm Conventions

 

The twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Basel Convention (BC COP-12), the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Rotterdam Convention (RC COP-7) and the seventh meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention (SC COP-7) were held back-to-back from 4^th to 15^th May, 2015. 

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which was represented by Ms. Keima Gardiner, Environmental Engineering Specialist, Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources participated as a Party to these three multilateral environmental agreements (MEAs), which are commonly referred to as the BRS Conventions. Trinidad and Tobago was amongst  one hundred and sixty-four (164) country Parties in attendance. 

Ms. Gardiner (far left) and Dr. Ahmad Khan; Director, Basel Regional Convention Centre for the Caribbean (far right) participating in the Contact Group on Technical  Assistance and  Financial  Resources

The theme of this year’s COP was ‘From Science to Action, Working for a Safer  Tomorrow’.  The two weeks of discussions at the 2015 Meeting of the BRS COPs focused on inter alia, proposals for the organisation of the Secretariats of the Basel, Rotterdam and  Stockholm Conventions; joint activities for the biennium 2016-2017, budget for the biennium 2016-2017, strategies to improve performance of the respective Conventions and the outcome of strategic issues within the various Conventions.

Trinidad and Tobago reiterated the Government’s commitment towards the operationalisation of the    Basel Convention Regional Centre for the Caribbean, and by extension signaled to the Caribbean region and the  international community, the level of commitment of the country towards the implementation of the Basel, Stockholm and Rotterdam Conventions.