Prime Minister regrets the resignation of MP Michael Church

From the Office of the Prime Minister

ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA; MONDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2010 – Prime Minister Hon. Tillman Thomas has expressed regret over the resignation of Mr. Michael Church, as a member of his Cabinet.

“It is always a traumatic experience for a government to lose one of its members, especially at a time when all hands are needed in the rebuilding of our nation,” the Prime Minister said.

He praised the former Minister of the Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development for his leadership of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) and his contribution to the fight against global warming in the International arena.

The Prime Minister expressed his appreciation to Mr. Church for his service to the Administration.

“I thank MP Michael Church for his contribution to my administration over the past two years. We have committed to continue working together for the development of the St. John’s constituency and the country,” the Prime Minister said Monday.

He wished Mr. Church well in his future endeavors and hopes that his ministerial contribution will help to inform his contribution to the policies of the administration in Parliament.

AOSIS calls for urgent action to transform global economy

ST GEORGE’S, Grenada, November 4, 2010 - The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) believes that the prospects for a significant outcome at this month’s Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico have increased following a two-day meeting hosted by Grenada.

Foreign Affairs Minister Peter David told delegates at the closing session that the productive engagement has increased the possibility of a strong agreed outcome in Cancun on the basis of strengthened confidence, greater thrust and maximum agreement towards a positive outcome.

“The exchange of perspectives have allowed us to move closer and improved the environment and possibility of successful outcomes when we get to Cancun,” he said.

“We fully expect to continue this dialogue over the next week and leading up to Cancun. I feel confident that these discussions will enhance our decisions in Cancun as we will be building on a number of advances”.

More than 100 delegates including non-AOSIS members and partner organisations participated in the informal Ministerial meeting at the Grenada Grand Beach Resort which was co-hosted by Mexico and Grenada.

David said that the meeting also saw the urgent need to transform the global economy to low carbon to minimise the threat and impact of Climate Change.

“Our survival is dependent on transforming the global energy sector from high carbon emission to low carbon or carbon neutral,” he said.

“We are therefore absolutely delighted by the words spoken by our friends at the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and World Bank in support of our Sustainable Energy Initiative partnership – SIDS DOCK - and we ask our friends from the developed countries to also consider supporting the partnership”.

He said that based on the positive responses from the UNDP and World Bank as well as from other countries, AOSIS and its partners will embark on a path to develop and sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Cancun for the first phase of SIDS DOCK development.

“We have matured a great deal because of the lessons we would have learnt at Copenhagen and since Copenhagen. Thus, there is no value for us, the AOSIS Family, to engage in lamenting Copenhagen,” said Grenada’s Environment Minister Michael Church.

“Instead, we must embrace those lessons on the eve to Cancun by constantly bringing realism to our approaches and expectations”.

AOSIS continues to lend moral voice to the climate negotiations, especially emphasising the need to address global equity and climate divide issues, and in defining a clear vision and call to action.

Minister Church calls for coordination and assistance

TOKYO, Japan, October 26, 2010 - Grenada’s Environment Minister Michael Church is leading the Grenada delegation to the 10th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in Nagoya, Japan.

The high-level segment of the meeting takes place October 27-29, 2010.

Minister Church, who is accompanied by Dr Spencer Thomas, said that “Grenada recognises the unbreakable linkage between healthy ecosystems and the livelihoods of island people”.

He said that Grenada is proud to have been at the forefront of launching the Caribbean Challenge in 2006. “At the CBD COP8 we announced our commitment to increase the amount of habitat under protection from 10% under the CBD to 25% by the year 2020,” he said on Tuesday at an event co-hosted with the Secretary of the Department of Resources and Development of the Federated States if Micronesia.

The event included celebrating island achievements such as the recognition of the Caribbean Challenge’s Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, a US$40 million regional endowment created as part of the eight-country Caribbean Challenge and the leadership, financing and partnerships for implementation which have seen significant progress since 2006 in the Micronesia Challenge, a five-country protected areas and livelihoods commitment.

The Caribbean Challenge was officially launched at the COP9, in Bonn, Germany, in May 2008, by the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines. Antigua & Barbuda, St Kitts & Nevis and St Lucia are now active members.

There are 193 Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, which was opened for signature at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit and entered into force in December 1993.

Welcome

On behalf of the Government of Grenada and along with the Honorable Marion Henry, Secretary for the Department of Resources and Development of the Federated States of Micronesia, I would like to welcome you all to this Celebration of Island Leadership and Commitment to Conservation and Sustainable Livelihoods on Islands.

Excellences, Dignitaries, Fellow Islanders, Ladies and Gentlemen

I first would like to extend my thanks to the Government and people of Japan for their warm and kind hospitality and the excellent arrangements made for COP10.

This Island event is a celebration of the achievements of the Micronesia Challenge, the Caribbean Challenge and the Coral Triangle Initiative. We are also here to show support for new multi-country initiatives the Western Indian Ocean Partnership and a conservation challenge for West Africa.

We are glad to be here with our partners in the Global Island Partnership – GLISPA - a partnership that helps to bridge local and global island initiatives, build upon existing networks and programs and share knowledge among all islands.

As we deliberate on the revisions of the Convention it is a time of reflection on the responsibility we have to protect the biodiversity of our islands, and our oceans. The survival and long-term sustainability of our island nations relies on the actions we take now. Grenada recognizes the unbreakable linkage between healthy ecosystems and the livelihoods of island people.

This is why, island nations, despite their small size, are providing an example to the world – and we have shown and will continue to show that significant progress on achieving this conventions biodiversity targets are achievable.

While Grenada is a signatory on the CBD and supports the actions under this Convention, we have recognized that for our islands we need to do more. Grenada is proud to have been at the forefront of launching the Caribbean Challenge – in 2006. At the CBD COP8 we announced our commitment to increase the amount of habitat under protection from 10% under the CBD to 25% by the year 2020. Along with the Government of Bahamas, we then issued the Challenge to our neighbors in the Caribbean to join us in this vision.

The Caribbean Challenge was officially launched at the COP9, in Bonn, Germany, in May 2008, by the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Jamaica, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

• There are Three primary components of the Challenge:

• Expansion of near shore marine protection to a minimum of 20% by 2020;

• Development of sustainable finance mechanisms, such as Protected Area Trust Funds, tourism and conservation derived fees, and payment for environmental services to provide sustainable funding to the countries’ national systems of protected areas; and,

• Development and implementation of ecosystem-based adaptation to climate change projects

The Caribbean Challenge builds on the past 5 years of work by the participating countries to develop, endorse and implement our National Protected Area System Plans that include biological, financial, and capacity assessments, and focused strategies to fill the identified biological, financial and capacity gaps.

Grenada is proud to celebrate with you the success to date of the Caribbean Challenge – the largest biodiversity conservation initiative in the history of the Caribbean. It is the vision of The Challenge to more than double the amount of marine and coastal habitat currently under protection, safeguarding nearly 20 million acres of habitat. It will improve protected area management by helping governments establish sustainable finance mechanisms to generate long-term funding for capacity building and the on-the-ground conservation action for newly expanded Marine Protected Area networks.

Of the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund’s initial capitalization goal of US$40 million, US$31 million has already been pledged by KfW (the German Development Bank), the Nature Conservancy, and the GEF. The Challenge now includes, in addition to the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, our neighboring Eastern Caribbean islands of Antigua & Barbuda, St. Kitts & Nevis, and St. Lucia are active members.

Our Caribbean Challenge effort requires coordination and assistance from partners with regional expertise – and we are pleased that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Government of Italy has generously provided $1 million through the UNEP-Caribbean Environment Program to help advance Marine Protected Area’s networking, strengthening and regional coordination with a particular emphasis on capacity building.

This coordination was evident at the recent Wider Caribbean Governments meetings convened by UNEP in October in Jamaica. This included the Eleventh Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention of the Protection and Development of the Marine Environment of the Wider Caribbean Region.

At this meeting the Parties called on both The Nature Conservancy and the UNEP-CEP Secretariat “to examine and establish the appropriate coordination mechanisms, with the Caribbean Challenge. And we note with interest that the French delegation was also keen to highlight the very relevant work of listing of marine protected areas under the Caribbean's SPAW Protocol – and hope that the Government of France will soon join us as an official partner of the Caribbean Challenge.

In conclusion, the Caribbean is already leading the world in sustainable finance planning for our national systems of protected areas. And now the Caribbean countries, supported by our partners, continue to lead by example, moving beyond planning to implementation, via the development and establishment of the $40 million Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, 8 national Protected Area Trust Funds, and expansion of our protected areas.

Thank you very much

Grenada urges fast start to climate change financing

NEW YORK, September 27, 2010 – Grenada’s Environment Minister, Michael Church is urging developed countries to make good on their fast-start financing pledges for climate change mitigation, adaptation, technology development and transfer and capacity building.

Minister Church reiterated the position of Grenada and the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) during a meeting in New York with European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard.

“We need to put the issue of fast-start financing on the table and get rapid results,” said Minister Church while acknowledging the long and tedious negotiations.

“We need to agree in Cancun (COP-16) some sort of practical arrangement that will manage the architecture of long-term climate change financing”.

Commissioner Hedegaard said that the overall challenge is to agree on a balanced package for Cancun. “The fast-start funding is essentially important and also provides the platform for concrete projects in the lead-up to Cancun,” said Hedegaard, who hosted the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen last year on behalf of Denmark.

Both officials agreed that the COP-15 in Copenhagen was not a total failure but instead an initial step toward a binding agreement.

“It’s not fair to say it was a total failure but as lessons learnt in Copenhagen and must now look at it as an ongoing process,” said Mr. Church, who was accompanied by Permanent Secretary Sally Anne Bagwhan Logie.

Earlier this month, the Netherlands, backed by the U.N. and partner nations, launched a website, www.faststartfinance.org, to help "fast-start" the $30 billion in climate aid, pledged by richer countries in 2009.

So far, six European donors, including Denmark, Germany and Britain, have entered cash promises.

Fast-start finance will support immediate action on climate change and kick start mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing countries. It will not only enhance implementation of the Convention by developing countries between now and 2012 but also aims to help them prepare for sustained implementation beyond 2012.

Grenada will be hosting an AOSIS Ministerial Meeting in November and Minister Church is anticipating the formulation of a reasonable agenda in preparation for the Mexico meeting.

Minister Church held encouraging talks with Japan

NEW YORK, September 23, 2010 – Japan has reaffirmed its commitment to work with Grenada, in its capacity as chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) to work towards an outcome at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Mexico later this year and to seek tangible results.

This commitment was reiterated during a meeting on Thursday between Minister of Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development and a delegation from Japan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Discussions centred on the thematic area of Climate Change and specifically, a request by the Government of Grenada for the funding of five projects including Batway Sandstone Reef, Waste Management, Forestry, Marine Resource Mapping and Water.

“We are seeing progress in our discussions with Japan and I am hopeful that we will soon see the results of our negotiations with the Japanese,” said Minister Church.

The meeting was also attended by Permanent Secretary, Sally Anne Bagwhan Logie, Ambassador Dessima Williams and Dr. Al Binger, Advisor to the AOSIS Secretariat.

Meanwhile, a delegation from Grenada on behalf of AOSIS will travel to Tianjin, China from September 29 to October 9, to participate in a preparatory meeting for the UNFCCC COP-16 meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

Grenada is scheduled to host an AOSIS Ministerial meeting in November.

UNDESA to assist Grenada in Climate Change Project

NEW YORK, September 23, 2010 – Grenada is getting assistance from the United Nations Department of Economic and Sustainable Affairs (UNDESA) for the implementation of a project to integrate climate change into National Sustainable Development Strategies.

Minister of Environment, Foreign Trade and Export Development, Michael Church on Wednesday met with Dr Kathleen Abdalla and Dr. Ivan Vera of UNDESA, on the margins of the 65th Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York.

“We discussed the possibilities of solarising a number of schools as part of a pilot project to be undertaken within the broader project and the offering of a number of scholarships to locals in the area of environmental management,” said Minister Church.

He said his delegation also discussed the training of local persons in the technical management of the solar systems.

UNDESA officials conducted a training workshop in Grenada last month to prepare stakeholders in the use of a matrix to capture data relevant to the project.

Among the priority areas identified for the project are water, infrastructure and tourism.

A second workshop is scheduled for February 2011 and it will review the progress made and an assessment of critical areas.

The Minister was accompanied to the meeting by Mrs Sally Anne Bagwhan Logie, acting Permanent Secretary.

Photo: From left – Dr. Kathleen Abdalla, Minister Michael Church, Sally Anne Bagwhan Logie & Dr. Ivan Vera (CREDIT: Michael Bascombe)

International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2010

Minister’s Address

Hon. Michael Church, Minister with responsibility for the Environment

September 16 is designated the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. This Protocol, along with its predecessor, the Vienna Convention, is the international response to the problem of Ozone Depletion agreed to following inter-governmental negotiations dating as far back as 1981.

After twenty-three years of constantly refining the participation of the entire family of the United Nations in caring for the health of the Ozone Layer; the United Nations has decided to focus, more pointedly, on issues of governance as they relate to environmental protection.

It is partially for this reason that this year’s commemoration is being held under the theme: Ozone Layer Protection: Governance and Compliance at their best.

The Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer ranks as one of the great success stories of international environmental diplomacy. There is a widely held scientific view that without this Protocol, we were poised to lose about 70% of the Earth’s ozone cover by 2050.

Greater compliance with the principles and practices of ozone conservation is a guaranteed insurance for the increased longevity of the human species on this planet. Thus, notwithstanding the historically impressive performance of all the signatories to the Protocol, the call for even more aggressive pro-ozone actions must be pursued with greater vigour to compensate for the failings of other climate change related initiatives.

Grenada and other members of the Montreal Protocol community have many accomplishments to celebrate over the past year – a year in which major milestones in the history of the Protocol were achieved.

Not only has the Montreal Protocol been able to achieve universal ratification by all United Nations member states – a feat never before achieved by any other multi-lateral agreement – but the Montreal Protocol has been able to meet its final target of phasing out the production and consumption of CFCs, halons and carbon tetrachloride in 2010.

These successes achieved and lessons learnt are instructive in the context of global climate change discussions. The Ozone Depleting Substances phase-out program has already provided and is continuing to provide significant climate protection benefits.

The Montreal Protocol is in a very real sense a “Climate Protection” treaty too. Studies have shown that by phasing out Chlorofluorocarbons (CFC’s), Hydro chlorofluorocarbons (HCFC’s) and other chemicals under the Montreal Protocol more than five (5) giga tons- equivalent of carbon dioxide (CO2) have already been eliminated –representing more than 25% of the worlds Green House Gas emissions. This surpasses the Kyoto Protocol’s target of reducing Green House Gases (GHG’s) by five (5) times.

While we may be gratified by these achievements, I must hasten to add that we should not become complacent by these efforts. The next two years ahead marks a critical period for all developing countries. It is the period when Grenada and other developing countries would be involved in the preparation and initiation of phase-out management plans for another group of chemicals – hydro chlorofluorocarbon (HCFCs).

Many challenges would be encountered, particularly in the following areas:

(i) Finding suitable long-term alternatives to replace HCFC refrigerants;

(ii) The Illegal trade in ozone depleting substances;

(iii) Developing more predictable financial support mechanisms to promote and sustain the ozone-friendly policies and programs required; and,

(iv) Destruction of Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS) banks in very low volume consuming countries (VLVCs).

Notwithstanding these inherent challenges, Grenada has had many good reasons to celebrate its Montreal Protocol achievements. Not only did we meet our Montreal Protocol obligations and targets but we were also able to reap benefits in the following areas:

(i) At the 22nd Meeting of the Parties in Port Ghlaib, Egypt in November 2009, Grenada was elected President of the Bureau to the 23 Meeting of the Parties. [Grenada was represented by the Honorable Minister with responsibility for the Environment];

(ii) Grenada was also elected to a permanent seat at the Executive Committee of the Multi-lateral Fund (MLF) for the Montreal Protocol for the fiscal year 2010;

(iii) Grenada was appointed co-chair of the Workshop on Quarantine and Pre-shipment uses of methyl bromide in Port Ghalib, Egypt; and,

(iv) Grenada was invited to the Advisory Group Meeting for the Compliance Assistance Program (CAP) of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry and Energy in Paris, France in September 2010.

Grenada’s role in the global effort to safeguard the fragile stratospheric ozone layer is exemplary and commendable. At the international level, Grenada continues to attract the world’s adoration and respect for its performance in the global quest to heal the ozone layer.

In the conduct of our international service under the Montreal Protocol, we will continue to advocate for assistance for the earthquake stricken nation of Haiti. Grenada has successfully presented a proposal to the Executive Committee of the Multi-lateral Fund to approve special funding to assist Haiti in its recovery efforts.

We will continue in our efforts to meet our obligations under the Montreal Protocol. And while we may be proud of our efforts at this time, the job remains incomplete until the healing and the complete recovery of the ozone layer is realised.

Over the next few days several activities are organised by the National Ozone Unit to celebrate World Ozone Day. I encourage the entire nation to get involved and make a valuable contribution towards protecting our environment.

Remember! Whether we die or survive tomorrow depends on the kindness we extend to the ozone layer today.

It is with the greatest faith in our desire to reclaim Eden, that I now declare the activities to commemorate the International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer 2010 officially open.

Thank you.