Air Pollution: Join the UN Caribbean Roundtable Discussion on July 17

The roundtable will be streamed on Facebook Live hosted by United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean

According the World Health Organization, 7 million people die prematurely every year as a direct or indirect result of air pollution. In addition, 93% of children live in areas where the air pollution levels are above the recommended standards of the World Health Organization.

We are intricately linked by the air we breathe- and thus the pollution emitted has the potential to harm not only our health and environment but also our sustainable development. Our vulnerability to climate change is also increased. As small-island developing states, this presents a grave concern for islands of the Caribbean who are already greatly vulnerable to issues relating to Climate Change.

Additionally, approximately 13,600 die prematurely every year as a result of air pollution in the Caribbean, according to UN Environment’s Air Quality in the Caribbean report. The leading cause of these premature deaths and related health issues, is often indoor air pollution.

The recently celebrated World Environment Day issued a call for the coordinated efforts of governments, citizens and the private sector to Beat Air Pollution.

It is in this respect that the UN Environment Caribbean Sub-Regional Office in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean will host an online roundtable to highlight the following:

  • The problem, effects, impacts on health, climate and industries as well as related concerns surrounding air pollution in the Caribbean.  
  • The importance of cross- sectoral approaches to addressing the issue of air pollution in the Caribbean- and what is currently being done.
  • A sectoral approach- Successful approaches in sectors such as transportation.
  • Practical steps governments, NGO’s and private sector entities can take in efforts to curb air pollution in the Caribbean.

THEME: BEAT AIR POLLUTION: A CARIBBEAN PERSPECTIVE

Though Air Pollution is a global issue, the roundtable aims to zoom into how air pollution affects the Caribbean directly, what are the major sources and what Small Island Developing States- like the Caribbean are doing and can do to reduce their vulnerability to issues relating to Air Pollution.

PANELLISTS/SPEAKERS

  1. Dr. Ruth Potopsingh, Associate Vice President-Sustainable Energy & Head, Caribbean Sustainable Energy and Innovation Institute (CSEII) University of Technology, Jamaica
  2. Mr Anthony Headley, Director (Ag), Environmental Protection Department, Ministry of Environment and National Beautification- Barbados
  3. Dr. Azad Mohammed, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine
  4. Dr Greenaway, Representative, Jamaica Environment Trust
  5. Moderator: Mr. Vincent Sweeney, Head, Caribbean Sub-regional Office, United Nations Environment Programme

DATE, TIME & CONNECTION DETAILS

July 17, 2019

10:00 -11:15 AM (JAMAICA TIME); 11:00-12:15 (BARBADOS/TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TIME)

facebook.com/CaribbeanUN

SCHEDULE OF ACTIVITIES

Time

Topic

Speaker

10:00 10:05 am

Setting the Agenda (Opening Remarks)

Mr. Vincent Sweeney

10:05-10:20 am

Importance of coordinated approaches- what is being done from government perspective [Barbados]/ What is role of government?

Mr. Anthony Headley

10:20- 10:35 am

A sectoral Approach: Successful approaches in Transportation sector

Dr. Ruth Potopsingh

10:35-10:50 am

Impact of air pollution on environmental and human health and country compliance to related global agreements

Dr. Azad Mohammed

 

10:50 -11:00

Engagement with government in tackling air pollution; tips for the general public in addressing air pollution.

Dr. Greenaway

10:00-11:10 am

Question and Answer

 

11:10-11:15 am

Closing Remarks

Mr. Vincent Sweeney

 

 

 

 

OECS Communications Unit

Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States

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The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is an International Organisation dedicated to economic harmonisation and integration, protection of human and legal rights, and the encouragement of good governance among independent and non-independent countries in the Eastern Caribbean. The OECS came into being on June 18th 1981, when seven Eastern Caribbean countries signed a treaty agreeing to cooperate with each other while promoting unity and solidarity among its Members. The Treaty became known as the Treaty of Basseterre, so named in honour of the capital city of St. Kitts and Nevis where it was signed. The OECS today, currently has eleven members, spread across the Eastern Caribbean comprising Antigua and Barbuda, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St Vincent and The Grenadines, British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, Martinique and Guadeloupe. 

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