Business View Caribbean | August 2019

7 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN AUGUST 2019 OPENING L INES OECS TO ESTABLISH GREEN-BLUE ECONOMY STRATEGY AND ACTION PLANWITH CANARI T he Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) green-blue economy strategy and action plan, the first of its kind in the Caribbean and globally to combine green and blue economy strategies for sustainable development, will be advanced under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed in June 2019 between the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) and the OECS Commission. CANARI will work with the OECS to develop and implement the strategy and action plan, which will keep the OECS at the forefront of global dialogues on sustainable development in a small island context. A green economy is one which minimizes ecosystem degradation and is low carbon, resource-efficient, and socially equitable. Within this, a blue economy focuses specifically on coastal and marine resources. In an OECS green-blue economy, growth in employment and income levels is driven by investment into economic activities, assets, and natural infrastructure which conserve biodiversity and ecosystem services that are critical to OECS countries and territories. Director-General of the OECS Commission, Dr Didacus Jules, noted, “With limited financial, environmental and human resources, and with the devastating impacts of climate change already being felt in the Eastern Caribbean, now more than ever, the OECS needs to focus on future solutions that enable economic growth while preserving invaluable biodiversity and improving the region’s resilience to natural disasters and climate change.” Development of the OECS green-blue economy strategy and action plan was mandated by the OECS Council of Ministers for Environmental Sustainability to build on the 2018 diagnostic study by CANARI entitled “Exploring Opportunities OECS needs to focus on future solutions that enable economic growth while preserving invaluable biodiversity