Weekly Column

“Climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity at the start of the 21st Century. Failure to meet that challenge raises the spectre of unprecedented reversals in human development.” – UNDP Human Development Report 2007/2008

Warmest congratulations are in order for Liz Thompson who was named as one of seven Champions of the Earth for 2008 by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Liz will join HSH Prince Albert of Monaco, the Rt. Hon Helen Clarke, Prime Minister of New Zealand, Dr. Balgis Osman-Elasha of Sudan, Dr. Atiq Rahman from Bangladesh, Timothy E. Wirth of the USA and H.E. Abdul-Qader Ba-Jammal former Prime Minister of Yemen in Singapore in April for the presentation of one of the world’s most prestigious environmental awards.

“One doesn’t dream about international recognition when you are going about your day to day business of implementing policy,” Liz said on learning of her award. “It is a humbling experience to be recognized by your peers. Most of all this award keeps the name of Barbados up there as a nation that recognizes its global responsibility to protect the Earth and ensure social justice in the process. I am grateful to Owen Arthur for having reposed confidence in me for eleven years and I can only hope that the baton will not be dropped by the incoming Administration,” Liz added.

According to UNEP “Ms. Thompson has become one of the recognized leaders on environmental issues of the Small Island Developing States.

During her time as Minister of Energy and the Environment of Barbados, she enacted a range of progressive policies for sustainable development and environmental protection. She also became a key voice to raise awareness of global warming in Barbados - a country where the challenges of climate change and conservation are of particular relevance.

Ms. Thompson has also played a role in environmental awareness and protection across the Caribbean region. She has encouraged small island states to diversify their economies, undertake sustainability assessments, and promote community-based programmes that have positive environmental impacts.”

The Barbados Labour Party (BLP) in its quest to move Barbados to full development status embraced the Green Economy as one of the planks to take us to that higher level. It is a strategy that seeks to marry ecology with the economy to provide a sustainable environment and a better quality of life. It promotes a community centred way of life that replaces accumulation and waste with regeneration and creativity. And it will be essential in determining Barbados’ viability as a country. It is as important to our development as micro and macroeconomics. It is for these reasons that we devoted full four pages of our Manifesto to the Green Economy. It is noteworthy that far larger nations than ours are still grappling with implementing strategies in this area. We shall therefore press the Government to continue and expand upon our policy initiatives in this regard so as to secure the future of generations yet unborn.

We have reason to be concerned that the present Democratic Labour Party Government has little interest or understanding of the importance of the environment within the economic framework. Quite apart from marooning The Environment within a Ministry where there are no natural synergies, the DLP’s pathway to environmental progress is not only far from inadequate but also embarrassingly deficient. In fact it hinges on a single policy statement - “Give maximum support to all organizations committed to environmental preservation”. We will therefore watch with keen interest how Dr. Byer-Suckoo fashions an environmental policy from her Party’s Manifesto.