FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – April 16, 2019

 

 

30th Pacific Islands Environment Conference to Focus on ‘Greening Growth’

Stakeholders to Address Urgency of Building a Green Economy due to Global Climate Change

 

 

Hagåtña, Guam – Governor Lou Leon Guerrero announced today that the 30th Pacific Islands Environmental Conference (PIEC) will be held on June 23-28, 2019, at the Hyatt Regency Guam, Tumon. The theme of this year’s conference is “Greening Growth in the Pacific.” The conference agenda will focus on the urgency for creating green growth and building a green economy on Guam and the Pacific region.

 

This bi-annual conference comes seven years after the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development or Rio +20, where nations gathered, including the small island developing states, to reaffirm their commitment to safeguarding the environment for future generations.

 

Locally and globally we face a daily wave of difficult news: climate change speeding up, back-to-back typhoons, fires blazing up and down mountainsides, and other natural disasters, along with the growing challenges surrounding managing waste through our landfills.

 

It is clear that our stewardship of our islands is not just a responsibility for the future; we have to act immediately to protect our way of life,” says Lieutenant Governor Joshua Tenorio.

 

Governor Lou Leon Guerrero underscored this point by saying, “The islands in the Pacific are on the very front lines of this global crisis. Here on Guam we need to work on developing a Green Economy and create new strategies to address the challenges of climate change.

 

A key focus of the conference will be learning more about zero waste principles and strategies. Zero waste is one of the quickest, most cost-effective short-term climate change solutions. Communities large and small around the world are investing in Zero Waste as an urgent climate action.

 

The conference is expected to draw hundreds of delegates from the environmental protection professions, including managers, field representatives, environmental governance officials, international, and national leaders, as well as diplomats, concerned business owners, a visionary NASA scientist, and indigenous global activist, and non-profit groups from around the world.  

 

Throughout this six-day event, the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA) will host a training and pre-conference workshops. Professional certifications will be available on managing composting systems, managing integrated solid waste management systems, radon measurements, and zero waste systems and principles.

 

Learning about these waste management disciplines in collaboration with SWANA, are both practical, and relevant to Guam and other small island developing states in the Pacific. In addition, informal exchange and knowledge transfers will be conducted on building green infrastructure, as it relates to stormwater, wastewater, drinking water, and non-point source systems.  

 

A Coral Reef Symposium will also be held on “Coral reef conservation and resilience strategies” in concert with Governor Leon Guerrero’s Executive Order 2019 – 09, providing for the implementation in the next few weeks of a new Coral Reef Resiliency Strategy.

 

The conference is being organized by a multisectoral partnership comprised of the Office of the Governor, the Guam Environmental Protection Agency, and the Guam Bureau of Statistics and Plans, with funding from the NOAA Coral Reef Conservation Program, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Nature Conservancy, and members of the Guam business community.  

 

Online registration is available now on www.piec.com and will close on Wednesday, May 1, 2019.  For more information contact Conchita SN Taitano at 300-4751. For sponsorship opportunities, contact Bob Perron at rperron@ite.net. To register for the conference, please visit www.piec2019.com

PDF:PR PIEC GREEN GROWTH

 

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