Basseterre, St. Kitts (SKNIS): Citizens and residents of St. Kitts and Nevis are strongly encouraged to continue supporting the government’s vision to transform the twin-island Federation into a Sustainable Island State (SIS).
The vision embraces the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which advocate for critical steps to achieve various goals. Those associated with the environment include Goal 6: Clean Water and Sanitation; Goal 7: Affordable and Clean Energy; Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities; Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, Goal 13: Climate Action; Goal 14: Life Below Water, and Goal 15: Life on Land.
On the November 08, 2023, edition of Infocus, Derionne Edmeade, Director in the Department of Environment, noted that “a lot of us are already doing the little things that are contributing to the SIS.” However, he said that more people need to get on board to protect the environment.
“We have to teach our people to avoid wasting water, so we want to move to an environment where people understand life on land is important which involves planting trees to help protect the environment,” Mr. Edmeade stated. “Being a SIS means putting measures in place that will encourage us to move away from single-use plastics. This is why the Department of Environment has taken up that mandate and we are moving towards that agenda.”
The department also launched a recycling initiative for papers and plastics with a specifically designed project to encourage primary school children to recycle plastic bottles. Incentives are also offered to the public to encourage renewable energy use.