conference magazine - Caribbean Environmental Health Institute

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Background
The Fifth Biennial Caribbean Environmental Forum and Exhibition (CEF-5) scheduled for June 21 st – 25 th , 2010 in
Montego Bay, Jamaica, has as its theme: “Coping with Copenhagen: Water, Waste, Energy, Health...”. It recognises
the policy and political issues emanating from the Copenhagen Accord and the consequences of these on some of the
key environmental and sustainable development challenges facing the region. Among these, one can add Biodiversity in
recognition of 2010 being designated the International Year of Biodiversity by the United Nations.
The CEF-5 is organized by the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute (CEHI) together with the Ministry of Water and
Housing of Jamaica and a number of key national, regional and international agencies, and is hosted by the Government
of Jamaica. In 2010, CEF-5 is partnering with Clean Islands International, which will organize within the CEF-5, the 15 th
Annual ReCaribe Wider Caribbean Waste Management Conference. The Second Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum
(CSEF-2), organised by the Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Programme (CREDP) and supported by the
GTZ, CARICOM and the Austrian Development Corporation will also take place. Other CEF-5 partners are the GEFfunded
Project on Integrating Watershed and Coastal Areas Management for Caribbean SIDS (IWCAM) which is holding
its annual Partnership Forum, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Organisation of American
States. For the first time, CEF-5 will have the involvement of youth through the Youth Environmental Forum (YEF), in
recognition of the importance of young people in making a change.
In 2002 CEHI convened the First Caribbean Environmental Forum (CEF) and Exhibition at Pigeon Island, Saint Lucia. In
keeping with the theme of the Forum, “Partnering for the Environment”, CEF-1 was organized in conjunction with the
11 th Annual Conference of the Caribbean Water and Waste Water Association (CWWA), Environment West Indies (EWI),
the Water and Sewerage Company, the Solid Waste Management Authority of St. Lucia, and the Organisation of American
States (OAS). The Forum also received support from the British High Commission and French Embassy in St. Lucia;
the Embassy of the Netherlands in Trinidad and Tobago; the Government of Nova Scotia, Canada; the Global Water
Partnership in Stockholm and the Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council, based in Geneva.
In 2004, CEF-2 was convened in Trinidad in partnership with the Government of Trinidad and Tobago, under the theme
“Energising Caribbean Sustainability”. CEF-2 saw the start of important initiatives such as Cleaner Production and
Eco-efficiency for Small, Medium and Micro-enterprises (SMMEs). Other major fora included the Health & Environment
Ministers of the Americas Partnership meeting and the Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) project
meeting to update participants on progress in these major regional programmes.
CEF-3 held in Antigua & Barbuda in 2006 recognized that there was an on-going need to bring together diverse and disparate
interests in sustainable development and environment to discuss areas of common concern to the Caribbean.
Emerging global issues such as trade, technology and communications, sectors such as agriculture, tourism and industry,
climate, health, water, hazardous waste, energy, transportation, and transboundary issues dictated that a more coherent,
intersectoral approach be taken in terms of development and the way forward for the region. The theme for CEF-
3 was “Investing in the Environment - Protecting the Future” and sought to highlight the inextricable link between
economic development and the environment, and the need to carefully consider sustainability in the context of wise use
of the natural resource base across all sectors of development.
CEF-4 convened in Grenada, focused on the theme of "Climate Change, Water and Sanitation: A Shared Responsibility".
For the first time, the Caribbean Renewable Energy Development Programme (CREDP), funded by the GTZ and
partners, organised the First Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum (CSEF), which brought a major focus to energy issues
facing the region at a time when oil prices on the world market were at record levels and were having a huge impact
on the region’s economies.
It is our hope that CEF-5 would bring together stakeholders from various backgrounds and levels to discuss key “cutting
edge” issues and share experiences in environment and development. In fact, much needs to be done to achieve the
cross-fertilization of ideas and to engender networking to address the sustainable development goals of the region.
FIFTH BIENNIAL CARIBBEAN ENVIRONMENTAL FORUM AND EXHIBITION