The Ministers, will convene for their Environmental Policy Committee (EPC) meeting, which was postponed earlier this year, due to the imminence of Hurricane Emily.

The highpoint of the one day meeting will be two separate open sessions where Ministers will for the first time discuss the nexus between the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and environmental management as well as disaster response and risk reduction in small states. During deliberations regarding the CSME, the OECSEPC is expected to seek answers to a number of questions, including, whether the CSME can provide the basis for the prescribed development path that will produce high rates of economic growth while restoring and enhancing the environment. In this regard, the EPC will reflect on how the environmental imperatives on the CSME could further inform the policy direction for environmental management in the OECS.

The topic of natural disaster mitigation is expected to create much debate among the ministers in light of the devastating impacts of Hurricane Ivan and Emily on Grenada and especially as the OECS region continues to experience more active hurricane seasons.

These discussions are expected to take place within the framework of the revised Treaty of Basseterre (the treaty which formed the OECS).

In addition to their discussions on current environmental challenges, the Ministers will as usual, review the progress of the work undertaken by the OECS’s Environmental and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU) in the past year and endorse the Unit’s work-progamme for 2005/2006.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Minister of Agriculture Lands, Marine Resources, and Agro Industries Hon. Charlesworth Samuel, is the current chairman of the OECS Environment Policy Committee.

Contacts:
Peter Murray OECS Environment and Sustainable Development Unit (ESDU)
Kendol Morgan Senior Communications Officer OECS Secretariat This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Raymond O’Keiffe Comm.Officer OECS Secretariat email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it