Guyana’s delegation at the 18th Meeting of Latin America and Caribbean Environmental Ministers, in Quito, Ecuador from January 31 to February 3, has been engaged in intense discussions, focusing particularly on crafting a joint Latin American and Caribbean vision for the upcoming Rio+20 follow-up conference scheduled for June 2012.
The Government Information Agency (GINA) said that one of the major outputs of the meeting has been the adoption of a number of decisions related to important environmental issues facing the region, including Atmospheric Pollution, Environmental Education for Sustainable Development, Sustainable Consumption and Production, and Environmental Indicators, to name a few.
Representatives and Environmental Ministers from over 30 countries of Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) participated in the forum.
The Guyana delegation, which was led by Minster of Natural Resources and the Environment, Robert Persaud, and included Damian Fernandes from the Ministry of Natural resources and the Environment, was among a number of Caribbean States which crafted two decisions on the particular vulnerabilities of Central American and Caribbean Countries, and of Small Island Developing States.
The decision on Small Island Developing States in particular, calls for new and emerging issues to be taken into account in Rio+20 discussions, especially those pertaining to Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+), the release noted.
This key decision was also crafted to reiterate previous calls on the international community to support the implementation of Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy.
Meanwhile, Minister Persaud also engaged in multilateral talks with the member countries of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), and bi-lateral talks with Izabella Teixeira, Minister of the Environment from Brazil, Marcela Vellejo, and Minister of the Environment from Ecuador, and Ginmardo Kromosoeto, Minister of Labor, Environment & Technological Development from Suriname.
These bi-lateral talks focused on options for increasing regional cooperation and integration on issues related to the natural resources and environmental sector.
It was expected that the meeting will conclude with a Quito Declaration, which will set out a joint position and vision for sustainable development of the region’s 33 countries. This Declaration will serve as the basis for negations on LAC priorities at the Rio+20 conference, the release concluded.
