Some of the participants in the 4th meeting of the UKOT/CD Environment Ministers' Council
Some of the participants in the 4th meeting of the UKOT/CD Environment Ministers' Council

4th UKOT/CD Environment Ministers' Council meeting

Ministers and senior officials from UK Overseas Territories (UKOTs) and Crown Dependencies (CDs) met online in April 2021 to discuss the future of the environment in their jurisdictions. This was the fourth meeting of the Council of Environment Ministers (or equivalents) of UK Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies and took place on the Zoom platform of their secretariat, the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum on 28th & 29th April. Previous meetings took place in Gibraltar in 2015, Alderney in 2017 and the Isle of Man in February 2018.

The meeting was chaired by Hon. Professor John Cortés, Gibraltar’s Minister for Education, Heritage, Environment, Energy and Climate Change, and coordinated by the UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum (UKOTCF), a non-governmental organisation.

At the meeting were representatives from Alderney, Anguilla, Bermuda, (British) Virgin Islands, Falkland Islands, Gibraltar, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Jersey, Montserrat, St Helena, Sark, Tristan da Cunha, and the Turks and Caicos Islands.

Apologies and best wishes for the meeting were received from Hon Wayne Panton, Premier and Minister of Sustainability and Climate Change, Cayman, where ministerial portfolios were being settled only the same week.

Although very different in character, finances and their relationships with UK, the islands all boast beautiful environments that are important to economies and way of life. In terms of biodiversity, the UK Overseas Territories hold over 90% of the world biodiversity for which UK is responsible. Many of these species, such as the Montserrat oriole and St Helena wirebird, occur nowhere else in the world.  UK Overseas Territories support more penguins than does any other nation.

An agreed statement was issued and can be seen here.

A video of about an hour of clips of parts of the meeting is also available here.

        Zoom group photo of lead delegates (from left to right, then top to bottom):

  • Secretariat: Dr Mike Pienkowski, Chairman, UK Overseas Territories Conservation Forum
  • Gibraltar: Hon. Prof. John Cortés, Minister for Education, Heritage, Environment, Energy and Climate Change
  • Anguilla: Ms Chanelle Petty Barrett, Permanent Secretary (Economic Development), representing Hon Kyle Hodge, Minister of Economic Development, Commerce, Information Technology & Natural Resources*
  • Jersey: Deputy John Young, Minister for the Environment
  • Isle of Man: Hon Geoffrey Boot MHK, Minister for Environment Food and Agriculture
  • Turks & Caicos Islands: Ms Tracy Knight, Representative and Head of London Office, on behalf of Hon. Josephine O. Connolly, Minister of Tourism, Environment, Heritage, Maritime, Gaming and Disaster Management
  • Falkland Islands: Hon Teslyn Barkman MLA, Deputy Portfolio Holder for the Environment, on behalf of Hon Leona Roberts MLA, Portfolio Holder for the Environment
  • Bermuda: Hon. Walter H Roban, JP, MP, Deputy Premier and Minister of Home Affairs
  • Montserrat: Ms Janice Panton, UK Representative, on behalf of Hon. Cranston Buffonge MLA, Minister of Agriculture, Lands, Housing & Environment
  • Alderney: States Member Annie Burgess, Chair of Economic Development Committee
  • Tristan da Cunha: Mr Chris Carnegy, UK representative, on behalf of Councillor James Glass, Chief Islander and Director of Fisheries
  • St Helena: The team from Environment, Natural Resources and Planning Portfolio (ENRPP), supporting Councillor Cruyff G. Buckley, Chair, Environment & Natural Resources Committee
  • Sark: Ms Shakira Christodoulou, on behalf of Conseiller Helen Plummer (Chairman, Agriculture and Environment Committee of the Chief Pleas of Sark)
  • (British) Virgin Islands: Dr Marcia Potter, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration, on behalf of Hon. Vincent O Wheatley, Minister for Natural Resources, Labour and Immigration*
  • Isle of Man: Hon. Ray Harmer MHK, Minister for Policy and Reform
  • Guernsey: Deputy Lindsay de Sausmarez, President of the Committee for the Environment & Infrastructure

*Portfolio-holders who had to be away from the meeting when the group image was taken

(Cayman Islands: Apologies and best wishes for the meeting were received from Hon Wayne Panton, Premier and Minister of Sustainability and Climate Change, Cayman, where ministerial portfolios were being settled only the same week.)