A regional programme aimed at improving the management and disposal of harmful chemicals is being extended by two years, as representatives from 12 countries meet in Tobago to discuss its implementation. TTT reported that the Project Steering Committee of the Implementing Sustainable Low and Non-Chemical Development Programme in Small Island Developing States gathered to consider the way forward. The programme is coordinated through the Global Environment Facility and the Basel Convention Regional Centre. Anthony Headley, chair of the National Working Committee for the GEF Islands Project, said the initiative had spent the past five years working to equip Caribbean governments with tools to manage harmful chemicals and their disposal. He described weaknesses in existing systems and said the project was helping establish governance arrangements and recommend improvements to outdated legislation. The intended approach, he explained, places greater emphasis on science in chemicals management. Headley said the region\u2019s role as a consumer of harmful chemicals made the work necessary, even where countries did not produce them. He warned that small residual quantities could still damage ecosystems if disposed of in the wrong place. Implementation has faced challenges. Headley identified a shortage of expertise across both the public and private sectors, while noting that the project was addressing several problems simultaneously. GEF environmental specialist Jewel Batchasingh said an additional two years had been allocated because substantial implementation work remained. She said tangible results were beginning to emerge and the extension would allow the project to pursue its outstanding outputs. Despite the setbacks, Batchasingh reported that participating countries had begun reviewing legislation, changing policies and using results from pilot projects. She also pointed to information sharing through a digital learning hub and efforts to communicate the work to the public. In Trinidad and Tobago, TTT identified the Waste Management Rules 2021, the Eliminating Hazardous Chemicals From Supply Chain Programme and the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Act among the measures cited in connection with the recommendations. The Tobago discussions place the focus on completing implementation as the regional programme enters its extended timetable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Twelve countries confront the challenge of managing harmful chemicals<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6305,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[62],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trinidad-and-tobago"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6305"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tringlobe.news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}