World Environment Day – #BeatAirPollution Roundtable Brief

According the World Health Organization, 7 million people die prematurely every year as a direct or indirect result of air pollution. In addition, 93% of children live in areas where the air pollution levels are above the recommended standards of the World Health Organization.

We are intricately linked by the air we breathe- and thus the pollution emitted has the potential to harm not only our health and environment but also our sustainable development. Our vulnerability to climate change is also increased.

As small-island developing states, this presents a grave concern for islands of the Caribbean who are already greatly vulnerable to issues relating to Climate Change. Additionally, approximately 13,600 die prematurely every year as a result of air pollution in the Caribbean, according to UN Environment’s Air Quality in the Caribbean report. The leading cause of these premature deaths and related health issues, is often indoor air pollution.

The recently celebrated World Environment Day issued a call for the coordinated efforts of governments, citizens and the private sector to Beat Air Pollution. It is in this respect that the UN Environment Caribbean Sub-Regional Office in collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for the Caribbean will host an online roundtable to highlight the following:

• The problem, effects, impacts on health, climate and industries as well as related concerns surrounding air pollution in the Caribbean  
• The importance of cross- sectoral approaches to addressing the issue of air pollution in the Caribbean- and what is currently being done.
• A sectoral approach- Successful approaches in sectors such as transportation.
• Practical steps governments, NGO’s and private sector entities can take in efforts to curb air pollution in the Caribbean.

THEME: BEAT AIR POLLUTION: A CARIBBEAN PERSPECTIVE

Though Air Pollution is a global issue, the roundtable aims to zoom into how air pollution affects the Caribbean directly, what are the major sources and what Small Island Developing States- like the Caribbean are doing and can do to reduce their vulnerability to issues relating to Air Pollution.

PANELLISTS/SPEAKERS

1. Dr. Ruth Potopsingh, Associate Vice President-Sustainable Energy & Head, Caribbean Sustainable Energy and Innovation Institute (CSEII) University of Technology, Jamaica
2. Mr Anthony Headley, Director (Ag), Environmental Protection Department, Ministry of Environment and National Beautification- Barbados
3. Dr. Azad Mohammed, Department of Life Sciences, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies, St Augustine
4. Dr Greenaway, Representative, Jamaica Environment Trust
5. Moderator: Mr. Vincent Sweeney, Head, Caribbean Sub-regional Office, United Nations Environment Programme

DATE, TIME & CONNECTION DETAILS

July 17, 2019

10:00 -11:15 AM (JAMAICA TIME); 11:00-12:15 (BARBADOS/TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TIME)

PANELISTS

Mr. Anthony Headley

Mr. Anthony S. Headley is currently the acting Director, Environmental Protection Department of the Ministry of Environment and National Beautification of Barbados. Prior to that he was the Deputy Director in the same department after having worked as an environmental inspector and technical officer in the environmental engineering division of the ministry responsible for environment. Mr. Headley has a B.Sc. Chemical Engineering (Hon) from the University of the West Indies and an M.Sc. Environmental Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK.  As Director (ag) of the Environmental Protection Department, Mr. Headley has responsibility for the management of environmental pollution control, environmental research, complaints investigation, supervision of fifty (50) technical and administrative staff, and the conversion of environmental data into information for strategic policy decisions

Dr. Ruth Potopsingh

Dr Ruth Potopsingh is Associate Vice President – Sustainable Energy, at the  University   of Technology, Jamaica where she heads the Caribbean Sustainable  Energy and   Innovation Institute. She is also an independent consultant in  energy and environmental   management.  A Commonwealth scholar, she holds  a PhD in Sustainable Development,   an MBA and a MSc. in Urban Development  Planning.  She has led several key national   energy initiatives. She recently  concluded the management of a United Nations   Environment supported project  on behalf of the GOJ (MEGJC) the Global Fuel Economy   Initiative which aims  at improving transport fuel efficiency by 50% in light weight duty   vehicles by  2050 simultaneously reducing carbon dioxide and other harmful emissions.   The  project is a first in the Caribbean Region. Dr. Potopsingh continues to be an  invited speaker at several local, regional and international fora on energy and the  environment. Her mission is to empower the next generation to be on the cutting edge of innovation and entrepreneurship.  Her entrepreneurial endeavours include the conceptualization of the Master of Science degree in Sustainable Energy and Climate Change, which is offered under the Faculty of the Built Environment at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

Dr. Anthony Greenaway, OD.

Dr. Greenaway is currently Managing Director of Greenaway and Associates,   a  consulting company that offers laboratory (Chemistry) management   training,  laboratory auditing and environmental and industrial data interpretation services.  He presently offers services to the Jamaica Environment Trust (JET) on data  interpretation and contributed to JET’s recent review of the legal and policy  framework for Air and Water Quality in the Island of Jamaica. Laboratory training  focusses on technical aspects of laboratory accreditation to ISO 17025. He is a  retired Senior Lecturer in Chemistry at the University of the West Indies, Mona  campus where his focus was on environmental and industrial chemistry,  particularly on issues of the alumina industry and water quality, including data quality.

Mr. Vincent Sweeney (Moderator)

Mr. Vincent Sweeney is the Head of the United Nations Environment Programme  (UNEP), Caribbean Sub-Regional Office based in Kingston Jamaica. He holds  both a Bachelor's Degree and a Master’s Degree in Civil Engineering, from the  Technical University of Nova Scotia. He was admitted to the Association of  Professional Engineers of Nova Scotia (APENS) as a full Member in 1989. Prior  to his current position, Mr. Sweeney was based in Nairobi, Kenya for 4 years as  the Coordinator of the Global Progamme of Action for the Protection of the  Marine Environment from Land-based Activities (or GPA), located within the  United Nations Environment Programme’s headquarters. The GPA addresses  the priority pollutant sources of wastewater, marine litter and nutrients and is the  host for the Global Wastewater Initiative, the Global Partnership on Nutrients  Management and the Global Partnership on Marine Litter. He served for 10  years as Executive Director of the Caribbean Environmental Health Institute and  has worked with water utilities in the Caribbean and in private consulting firms

Dr. Azad Mohammed

Dr. Azad Mohammed is a senior lecturer in the department of life sciences at the  University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus. His areas of specialization  include environmental toxicology, environmental chemistry. He has over 30  publication related to toxicology, metal contamination and trace organic  contaminants in the environment. He is currently involved in research on the  effects of pesticides on local freshwater crabs and mercury contamination in  consumable fish species. Much of his current research is focused on the impacts  on environmental and human health. In 2004 the Stockholm convention on  Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) became legally binding, and which  requires signatory countries to develop a National Implementation Policy on  POPs. He has contributed to the first reports of POPS in Trinidad and Tobago.