Thursday 30th July, 2009: St. George’s University proudly hosted the 2 day Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) Regional Workshop as part of the week of activities of the United Nations Framework Convention for Climate Change 48th Executive Board Meeting.
The forum began with Dr. Dennis Paul, Vice Provost for Institutional Advancement at St. George’s University welcoming participants on behalf of Chancellor, Dr. Charles Modica and Provost, Dr. Allen Pensick. The involvement of St. George’s University in facilitating these talks of tremendous global importance said Dr. Paul belies an age old interest in sustainable development. Appreciation of the subject matter over the week bears even more significance particularly because the Department of Public Health at St. George’s Universityplans to establish a centre for research on the impact of climate change on public health.
Also addressing the gathering was Mr. Daniele Violetti, Manager of the CDM Process Management Unit and Secretary to the Executive Board who expressed gratitude to the Government of Grenada, in particular the Prime Minister and the Minister of Finance. Mr. Violetti also thanked the Designated National Authority’s (DNA’s) participants and the team from St. George’s University and Dr. Hugh Sealy, Associate Professor at University for making the event happen.
Mr. Violetti maintains that with little CDM projects registered in the Caribbean there is a lot of work to be done including raising awareness of CDM and the opportunities it presents if it is to be successful in the region.
Hon. Nazim Burke, Minister of Finance, Planning, Economy, Energy, Foreign Trade and Cooperatives gave the feature address in which he raised issues such as the reasons for the delay in embracing CDM in the region. He also pointed out the need to make CDM more accessible particularly as this would have a direct impact on increased awareness. Minister Burke discussed at length the potential of CDM in the region using Grenada to point to possibilities that exist. These included the current development a national sustainable energy policy, which will have aggressive but achievable renewable energy and energy efficiency targets with the intention to transition Grenada’s economy “from one reliant upon imported diesel and gasoline, to a low carbon or green economy.” He also pointed to the potential for the development of geothermal energy citing the Geo-Caraibe project between Dominica, Martinique and Guadeloupe as one worthy of emulation; Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion as currently being discussed by Cuba and the Bahamas; Seawater air conditioning and use of thin film technology in solar photovoltaics.
Should these possibilities be approached on a regional basis, Minister Burke pointed to the advantages of sharing costs, risks and combination funding from the CDM as well as other traditional sources. Participants were exhorted to have a productive workshop that will result in further improvements to the CDM process and the registering of many more projects in our region.
St. George’s University is pleased and honored to have had the opportunity to collaborate in hosting this event and to be part of a process which fuels innovative thinking with the potential to shape the future of our world.
