| Date: Wed 27-Apr-1994 Paper Page: 4 Publication: Midweek Nation SusTech '94 Barbados "Earth Matters" APRIL 28 - MAY 2 Terminal 2 Grantley Adams International Airport Barbados A Message from the Minister of the Environment, Housing and Lands, Senator Harcourt Lewis, welcoming the effort by the private sector to showcase appropriate technologies. IN MY CAPACITY as Minister of the Environment, Housing and Lands, I welcome this opportunity to thank the Barbados Manufacturers' Association (BMA) for agreeing to host SusTech '94. The Earth Summit, which was convened in Rio de Janiero in 1992, focused the world's attention on the most critical issues which we face as a global community. Emerging therefrom was a global plan of action to address those issues. Agenda 21, a blueprint on how to make development socially, economically and environmentally sustainable, was one of the pillars of documents which held up the platform on which the Rio Conference was built. Agenda 21 recognised that to develop sustainably, all countries need among other things, access to and the capacity to use technology that preserves resources and protects the environment for future generations. The Government of Barbados, desirous of enhancing opportunities for participants in the 1994 Global Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States to interact and share ideas, decided that a sustainable technology exhibition should be staged to run parallel to the formal conference activities. It was considered that such an exhibition would provide participants in the conference and others with practical exposure to the technologies which are directly relevant to the sustainable development of small island developing states, thereby setting the stage for the achievement of one of the goals as set out in Agenda 21. When the idea for this exhibition was first mooted, the Barbados Manufacturers' Association readily accepted the challenge and immediately put systems in place to facilitate its staging. The importance of new and efficient technologies in the achievement of sustainable developing countries cannot be overstated. Such technology is required to allow these countries to participate as partners in the global economy, protection of the environment and the alleviation of poverty and human suffering. This is needed in these countries to upgrade some current technologies and replace others with environmentally sound substitutes. Environmentally sound technologies include not only the hardware but the know-how services, equipment, organisational and managerial skills to make them work. Exposure to these technologies affords countries the opportunity to make informed choices based on their compatibility with social, cultural, economic and environmental priorities. In some cases, it might even be possible for imported technologies to be combined with local innovations to evolve new technologies. The lack of access to and the inappropriate application of technologies can pose problems for sustainable development in small island developing states. For example, it has been found to be the major cause of land-based sources of marine pollution, degradation of nearshore coastal and marine environment, contamination of the potable water supply and depletion of arable land resources. Further, the absence of adequate technologies restricts the extent to which marine and energy resources can be fully exploited. With emphasis being placed on the display of technologies relating to issues such as disaster preparedness, clean water, alternate forms of energy, waste management, pollution control and environmentally friendly consumer products among others, SusTech '94 as a parallel event of the Global Conference will address many issues which will be engaging the attention of the conference. SusTech '94's objective of showcasing and marketing environmental and affordable technologies and services which can assist small island developing states achieve more sustainable patterns of development, is expected to be achieved through the application of its principal themes -- joint ventures and technology transfer. It gives me great pleasure to congratulate the organisers of SusTech '94 and to wish them every success in their presentation of this important adjunct to the Global Conference. |