Cayman Islands To Implement New Environmental Law
The British government appears to be placing increasing significance on the environment within its overseas territories and said in the communiqué released after this week’s Joint Ministerial Council that it wants to see environmental considerations at the heart of policy and decision-making.
The fact that the environment is listed second in the priority issues that the UK government and the territory leaders agreed indicates that the Cayman government may be able to push ahead with the issue of the National Conservation Law. The leaders have agreed that wherever natural resources are used commercially it is done so responsibly through the use of environmental impact assessments and evidence-based management plans.
The communiqué and the comments made by Dr Peter Hayes, the new overseas territories director, when he was in Cayman last week, indicate that government may soon pass environmental laws.
In the agreement the UK says it recognises that the territories are home to many species and environments found nowhere else in the world and that sustainable economic growth and livelihoods within the territories depend on the responsible stewardship of these natural resources. Given the importance that the British government is now placing on the environment, it is offering support and assistance to the territories to help them better manage natural resources.
