THE Government of Saint Lucia joins over a hundred countries, civil society organisations, private sector and intergovernmental organisations in Da Nang, Vietnam, from June 27th to 29th for the Sixth Global Environment Facility (GEF) Assembly.
The GEF was founded in 1991 and to date is the largest donor of grant funding for Small Island Developing States (SIDS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs) and Countries with Economies in Transition (CEIT).
The Minister of Education, Innovation, Gender Relations and Sustainable Development, Dr. Gale T. C. Rigobert is in attendance and is accompanied by Ag. Deputy Permanent Secretary Ms Caroline Eugene and Sustainable Development and Environment Officer, Ms. Jeanel Volney, both of the Department of Sustainable Development.
Minister Rigobert addressed the Assembly with a theme focussed on the ever-thriving GEF Small Grants Programme (SGP) in Saint Lucia.
She praised the work undertaken by the programme with special mention of a young entrepreneur, Mr. Karlis, who, with funds from the SGP, developed a prototype for desalination system which will now be replicated in Nauru.
Minister Rigobert was also a Panellist on a Chemical and Waste Roundtable entitled “Preventing a Toxic Legacy- Transforming the Chemicals Industry”.
In her contribution, she spoke of the role that the political directorate can play to ensure sustainable chemical management in their countries.
These include being champions and advocates of key focal areas relating to chemical management and providing the necessary financial incentives for industries to go green.
Saint Lucia is expected to receive approximately US $4 million from the GEF to undertake projects in the focal areas of climate change, land degradation and biodiversity.