The Honourable Minister of Agriculture, Trade, Lands, Housing and the Environment, David Osborne attended a two-day environment meeting in the Isle of Man aimed at discussing the future of the environment in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.
Minister Osborne joined other Ministers and senior officials from the UK Overseas Territories (OTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) in Douglas for the February 6th to 7th meeting.The agenda for the meeting focused on sustainability in the terrestrial and marine environment, climate change, the impact of natural disasters on communities, environmental resilience and the Isle of Man’s designation as the first entire nation UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.The discussion also focused on common opportunities and challenges as it relates to issues such as the role of the environment in growing the economy, energy efficiency, sympathetic development, enforcement and the impact of plastics.The meeting was hosted jointly by the Isle of Man’s Minister for Environment, Food and Agriculture, Geoffrey Boot MHK and Gibraltar’s Minister for Education, Heritage, Environment, Energy and Climate Change Professor John Cortés. The meeting was co-ordinated by the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum (UKOTCF), a non-governmental organisation.This was the third Council of Environment Ministers of UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. Previous meetings took place in Gibraltar in 2015 and continued in Alderney in 2017.
Photo Credit: Department of the Environment and Climate Change, HM Government of Gibraltar