CATEGORY:BUDGET CONSULTATION ------------------------------------ BACKGROUND: ----------------- GRENADA does not have a comprehensive sustainable development strategy. However, many sectoral strategies and action plans have been developed over the years. These include: • National Environmental Management Strategy and Policy • Draft Poverty Eradication Strategy • Hazard Mitigation Policy • Forestry Policy • Tourism Master Plan • Education Strategy • Agricultural Rehabilitation and Reconstruction • National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan • Climate Change Policy (ongoing) • National Physical Development Plan • Youth and Gender Policies Within the context of national reconstruction, following the devastating effects of Hurricanes Ivan and Emily, the ARD has been charged with defining a programme for national development which must of necessity take into consideration the issues of sustainable development. Sustainable Development must include considerations on the economic, social, cultural, ecological and environmental realities of the country. Grenada has signed on to the major UN Conventions dealing with sustainable development. The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity and the UN Convention to Combat Desertification and Drought are the key UN Conventions relevant to sustainable development. In addition the Government of Grenada subscribes to the mandates of the Barbados Plan of Action, the Mauritius Mandate, the World Summit on Sustainable Development and the Johannesburg Plan of Action and the St. George’s Declaration of Principles for Environmental Sustainability. Major Issues: The major issues on the national level include the following: • National capacity for sustainable development • Mainstreaming sustainable development issues in national development • Enabling infrastructure and frameworks for sustainable development • Financial resources • Technical resources • Public awareness • Education • Integrated watershed and coastal zone management • Unsustainable human activities