"Trini woman elected as UN’s Stockholm Convention President:
she's the first Caribbean national to receive the honour"

Huge congrats Keima Gardiner and good luck!

Hello ISLANDS Community!

We are excited to share a report for the Sustainable Financing for Waste Management webinar, held by PacWastePlus and ISLANDS on Thursday July 28.

Thank you to all presenters for their valuable time and knowledge sharing and to the many participants that were able to join us for this informative webinar!

Please find the report and the recording below

Women are central in advancing SIDS’ clean energy development

Women are a driving force for SIDS’ clean energy development and for building islands’ resilience to climate change. However, in many SIDS, they face barriers in becoming active participants in climate action. For example, rural women are largely responsible for managing household energy, and can play a major role in the adoption of clean household solutions. And are therefore, a key component of the sector's sustainability and must be fully integrated in the decisions and solutions related to the clean energy sector.

Read the article to find out more about why more women are not taking a leading role in the energy sector – and what needs to be done to address the imbalance.

As we know, the transition to renewables will not come without an environmental cost. Batteries, EV, solar panels and many other products require rare metals - many of which are to be fund in the Ocean.

Companies keen to scrape the ocean floor 5,000 to 6,000 metres below sea level stand to earn billions harvesting manganese, cobalt, copper and nickel. Currently, about 20 research institutes or companies hold exploration contracts in the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

However, mining - wherever it happens - often comes with very high social and environmental impacts. Some Pacific countries have expressed their concern at the UN Ocean Conference. Palau and Fiji - backed by Samoa, Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands - have initiated an uphill battle against the deep-sea mining of unattached, fist-sized rocks rich in rare earth metals.

To many's surprise, French president Macron seemed in favour of a total ban on deep-sea mining.

I had a chance to participate in the BRS COP last month and learn about the success story on tackling the illegal use of lead-acid batteries in Trinidad and Tobago and how the country responded to the situation by enhancing national legislation as called for in the Basel Convention, to minimize their generation and ensure their environmentally sound management.
New legal instruments were developed, which later also contributed to preparing a regional development strategy for Central America and the Caribbean to support the sound management of used lead-acid batteries.

Please read the full story here: