OAS LAUNCHES “GREEN WEEK” TO BOLSTER ENVIRONMENTAL AWARENESS THRUST
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Panel Discussion: Sustainable
Development in the Americas:
Accomplishments and Lessons
Learnt |
The week of September 15-19, 2008 marks the OAS’s historic first “Green Week” to promote energy conservation, use of renewable energy, and better practices of agriculture and coastal zone management in the small island developing states to adapt to climate change, and hemispheric actions to minimize carbon emissions and protect forests.
Achievements and lessons learned will be presented on strategic issues such as Sustainable Agriculture and Forests, Sustainable Cities and
Communities, Water Resources and Coastal Areas, and Energy Efficiency. OAS advancements though its 10 Steps to Commit program will demonstrate how OAS facilities have become more energy efficient, retrofitting the buildings to help reduce energy consumption and recycling with a view towards saving 20% in annual energy and recycling 70% of our waste.
Green Week at the OAS includes a tree-planting program that the Permanent Council Chairman, Belize Ambassador Nestor Mendez, said symbolizes the “greening” of the OAS—“a new beginning, a raising of consciousness that employment of practices that contribute to the protection of the environment and sustainable use of the resources are the way to go.”
Ambassador Mendez explained in an interview that because change always happens in small steps, “the entire concept behind [Green Week] is to move slowly in the direction of creating an awareness, and changing attitudes and behaviors. The OAS is well-positioned to assume its rightful role as a leader in this hemisphere on the issue of climate change.” The OAS Permanent Council Chairman had announced the initiative to Member States ambassadors and other representatives earlier this week. He said the move is part of his own country’s determination to use its three-month chairmanship of the hemispheric organization’s powerful Council to “highlight the issue of climate change; and raise the level of the political discussion on this issue, which is clearly one of the most serious threats being faced by especially the smaller countries of the Caribbean and Central America.”
OAS country offices will also be involved in activities that include media and school outreach to talk about the importance of Green Week. Mendez stressed that there “simple but very important things that can be done” to contribute to sustainable practices, among them turning off lights that are not in use; carpooling to work; dressing in appropriate, lighter clothing; and adjusting the thermostat to conserve energy. “We hope this will be institutionalized in the organization,” he added.
“These things are real and the more we can do to get more people to be conscious of this and to take action to prevent further deterioration of our environment, the better we all will be,” Mendez concluded, underlining the importance of next Monday’s launch of Green Week at the OAS.