Caribbean Sustainability Awards

Published on January 27, 2015

Decoupling economic development from environmental degradation is a critical step towards sustainable development for small island states, and, climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Sustainability Awards engage a business; irrespective of size or type in measuring the impact the business has on the environment. These results are then applied into tangible points of change and the changes recognized through Sustainability Awards. The Awards can be used for marketing purposes to communicate sustainability to prospective visitors.

The Caribbean region faces a challenge engaging private sector in more sustainable business practice and thereby creating economic resiliency. Further, there is a rapidly growing trend that shows tourists are looking for green certified products or services. In order to stay competitive and resilient, private sector needs to adopt business and marketing principles that allow businesses to market destinations and service providers in a way that meets this changing demand i.e. communicating how a business has taken action in a sustainable capacity. Through a series of rigorous metrics businesses can measure their impact on the environment and create solutions to minimize this impact. The focus areas are in: Biodiversity, Energy, Social Governance, Water and Waste. Businesses are recognized for best practice with Sustainability Awards that measure progress over time. Industry data is collated and gathered by country then shared with public sector enabling Government to better understand the 'take up' ratio of sustainable business solutions and the challenges to adoption by private sector. Decreased use of fossil fuel for energy. Decrease in waste water and water consumption, increase in grey water harvesting. Changes in purchasing policies. Create economic resiliency in 10 islands across 600 service providers. Looking for regional partners from public sector to support private sector and NGO financial support. Jessica C. Bensley, 10 a Pavilion Court, Hastings, Christ Church, Barbados, BB15156. T. 1 246 4343434 E. jessica@skyviews.com