Press Releases

Port of Spain (March 8, 2011) – The Secretary General of the Association of Caribbean States (ACS), Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla, made an official visit to the Headquarters of the United Nations (UN) in New York, United States of America, during which he met with the Secretary General of the UN, Ban Ki-moon. Ambassador Andrade was accompanied by the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, the Honourable Donville Inniss, the Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Nicole Parris, the Consul of the Embassy of Barbados in Washington DC, Her Excellency Jane E. Brathwaite and the Professor of Marine Affairs and Director of the Centre for Environmental Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES) Dr. Robin Mahón. In addition, Ambassador Andrade held thirty (30) bilateral meetings with representatives of potential donor countries and with representatives of specialised agencies belonging to the United Nations.

Secretary General Ban Ki-moon reiterated his support for the efforts undertaken toward implementing the Caribbean Sea Commission (CSC) and its structure of Governance, drawing reference to what was established by the latest United Nations Resolution on the matter. Similarly, he made mention of the Caribbean Sea being declared a special area in the context of Sustainable Development for present and future generations. Ambassador Andrade reiterated the vulnerability, fragility and high dependency existing in the Caribbean Sea region in relation to the marine resources and its biodiversity.

To the left, the Secretary General of the ACS, Ambassador Luis Fernando Andrade Falla accompanied by the Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados, the Honourable Donville Inniss, the Foreign Service Officer, Ms. Nicole Parris, the Consul of the Embassy of Barbados in Washington DC, Her Excellency Jane E. Brathwaite and the Professor of Marine Affairs and Director of the Centre for Environmental Resource Management and Environmental Studies (CERMES), Dr. Robin Mahón. To the right, the Secretary General of the UN, His Excellency Ban Ki-moon in the company of other delegates. .

His Excellency Ban ki-moon acknowledged and appointed the Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability (GSP), which enjoys participation from the Prime Minister of Barbados, His Excellency Freundel Stuart and the President of the Republic of Finland, Her Excellency Tarja Halonen, among others. Said Panel was inaugurated by Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in August 2010. The group comprises 22 senior international figures, whom he called upon to “reflect on and formulate a new vision for sustainable development and prosperity, together with the mechanisms necessary for accomplishing that". Its final report will be published at the end of 2011 and will be used in the relevant intergovernmental debates, such as the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Río 2012).

The GSP will create a space for the issue of the CSC, giving it the opportunity to be taken to a level of global discussion, since a report from this Panel is expected to be presented to the Rio +20 Summit on Sustainable Development carded for 2012 in Río de Janeiro, with the focus being the “green economy” and the eradication of poverty, where the ACS could have a leading voice on this issue.

In addition, based on the UN Resolution on the CSC, Ambassador Andrade also met with theSecretary General of the Organisation of American States, His Excellency José Miguel Insulza and with the President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Environment Facility, Ms. Monique Barbut, with both leaders expressing interest in advancing work in this regard.

The ACS and its counterparts have been working on the Caribbean Sea Initiative since 1998, by promoting the UN Resolution entitled ‘Toward the Sustainable Development of the Caribbean Sea for Present and Future Generations’ in the very General Assembly of the UN. One product of this process was the creation of the Caribbean Sea Commission in 2008, as an entity whose purpose is to promote and oversee the sustainable use of the Caribbean Sea. Since its installation, the CSC has been working toward the development of appropriate structures and agreements for its task.

ACS Secretary General Meets with Secretary General of the Organization of American States on March 10th 2011 .