THE ROAD TO SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH COOPERATIVE
ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE:
REGIONAL RECYCLING IN
CONCHITA SAN NICOLAS TAITANO, MSEM,
DAVID LOUIS BELL,
1) Topic:
Equity, Development, Environment and Health
2) Preference - Platform
3) Title
4) Authors and Affiliations
5) Presenting Author
6) Post Office Box 22439, Barrigada,
ABSTRACT
As a result of growing westernization and the continued
importation of non-traditional commodities, considerable volumes of recyclable
materials are improperly disposed or stored indefinitely in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) and Territories in the
Pacific. Without a sustainable and
consistent means of removal, these materials become a threat to human health
and the unique common features[1]
of island ecosystems.
The
interest of a sustainable regional recycling program has been taken to new
heights of awareness and action. In the
past, the advancement of recycling in
The Pacific Islands Regional
Recycling Initiative Committee (PIRRIC) was created by H.E. Tommy Remengesau,
President of the
PIRRIC
is an example of Cooperative Environmental Governance, one of the emerging
forces of environmental governance which is a constructivist approach to
developing and implementing sustainable environmental policy. It is a solution which fosters regional
collaboration with the integration of multi-sectoral partnerships and the
ability of each stakeholder to locally determine the purpose and accessibility
of environmental solutions.
Agreements created through Cooperative Environmental Governance
focus on two primary elements: local representation in the negotiation and implementation
of environmental regulation, and the adoption of public-private partnerships as
forms of negotiation between investors, regional policy makers and the
community. [2]
Multi-sectoral
partnerships contribute to the progressive evolution of PIRRIC. For example, NGOs, such as Green Island
Alliance (GIA), have provided additional strategic collaboration with the Office of Guam Congresswoman Bordallo and the United States
Department of Interiors’ Office of Insular Affairs, and the development
of a communications portal (www.greenislandalliance.org),
through funding from the United States Environmental Protection Agency.