Mauritius: At the Award Ceremony held yesterday, in Port Louis, in the context of a half-day training on Awareness Raising and Sensitisation Sessions regarding Stockholm+50 theme for Administrative and Technical Cadres of the Public Sector, the Minister of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change, Mr Kavydass Ramano, appealed to public officers to enhance their participation in environmental initiatives.
The half-day training was organised by the Civil Service College Mauritius and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment, Solid Waste Management and Climate Change.Â
Its main objectives were to update participants on key issues related to the Stockholm+50 theme; enhance awareness of the relevant environmental goals and commitments of Mauritius; highlight relevant governance issues, and inspire participants to contribute toward the achievement of the Stockholm+50 recommendations.
It is recalled that Stockholm+50 was the commemoration of 50 years since the 1972 Conference on the Human Environment. It brought together a wide diversity of stakeholders in Sweden from 2 to 3 June 2022 to reflect on ways to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and tackle the triple planetary crisis of climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss.
The Director General of the Civil Service College Mauritius, Prof. Ramesh Durbarry, the Senior Economist Officer representing the UNDP Resident Representative in Mauritius and Seychelles, Dr Tony Muhumuza, and other personalities were present at the Award Ceremony.
In his keynote address during the Ceremony, Minister Ramano stressed the necessity to change the unsustainable patterns of production and consumption as well as current ways of life so as to preserve and protect the environment.Â
He underlined that business as usual was no longer an option, recalling that the Earth Overshoot Day, that is the date when humanity had used all the biological resources that Earth regenerated during the entire year, already occurred on 28 July 2022.
The Minister pointed out that even Mauritius is affected by the triple planetary crisis, which is undermining the country’s development and weakening its capacity to achieve the SDGs.Â
He thus welcomed the organisation of the half-day training to sensitise public officers on environmental challenges, climatic change, sustainable lifestyle and the Ten key recommendations from Stockholm+50 for accelerating action towards a healthy planet for the prosperity of all. To date, some 200 public officers have taken part in the Awareness Raising and Sensitisation Sessions.
Moreover, Mr Ramano spoke of the Greening of the Public Sector project, financed by the European Union, which aimed at encouraging public organisations to adopt sustainable consumption practices in their day-to-day operations with respect to conservation of energy and water, waste minimisation and recycling, paperless work, and the application of sustainable procurement.Â
He informed that the consultation phase of the project, which kicked off on 22 November 2021, would be completed by October 2022 and would include deliverables such as the carbon footprint calculations regarding five organisations; an action plan and a Charter for the Greening of the public sector, and capacity building for public officers.
The Minister highlighted that the Greening of the Public Sector project was a major step in fulfilling the country’s ecological transition to a cleaner and greener Mauritius.
