Create Lasting Impact Through Environmental Sustainability
The impact of climate change, habitat degradation and pollution is visible everywhere we look — from prolonged periods of drought and heightened activity during hurricane season, to rising sea levels, the scourge of sargassum, and the bleaching of our coral reefs. Meanwhile, our continued reliance on single-use plastics and Styrofoam, coupled with a lack of large-scale recycling options within the region, have resulted in overflowing landfill sites, and a plethora of waste materials entering our oceans, adversely impacting our ecosystems.
Thanks to persons like David Attenborough with his 'Blue Planet' television series and, Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate activist, the public has once again become very concerned with environmental matters.
In 2020, the Rotary Foundation Trustees and Rotary International Board of Directors both unanimously approved adding a new area of focus: Protecting The Environment! This became Rotary's seventh Area of Focus, which are categories of service activities supported by global grants. It joins peacebuilding and conflict prevention; disease prevention and treatment; water, sanitation, and hygiene; maternal and child health; basic education and literacy; and community economic development.
But what is environmental sustainability?
A brief definition is that it requires that the demands placed on the environment today can be met without reducing the environment’s capacity to allow all people to live well, both now and in the future.
As one of its Areas of Focus, Rotary International provided guidelines detailing the kinds of projects related to Protecting The Environment that cover an array of fields:
- Protecting and restoring land, coastal, marine, and freshwater resources
- Enhancing the capacity of communities and local governments to support natural resource management and conservation
- Supporting agroecology and sustainable agriculture, fishing, and aquaculture practices to improve ecological health
- Addressing the causes of climate change and climate disruption and supporting solutions to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases
- Strengthening the resilience of ecosystems and communities affected by climate change and climate disruption
- Supporting education to promote behaviors that protect the environment
- Advocating for the sustainable consumption of products and the environmentally sound management of byproducts to build a more resource-efficient economy
- Addressing environmental justice issues and environmental public health concerns
With these guidelines in mind, several Rotary districts around the world introduced suggested environmentally sustainable policies for clubs to adopt, if they wish, to demonstrate their commitment and objectives to protecting the environment.
Environmental Sustainability in District 7030
Rotary District 7030 joined many other districts and regions around the world by establishing its Environmental Sustainability Program (ESP) which has the express purpose of raising the profile of environmental issues within the Caribbean and encouraging members and clubs to take action to address environmental sustainability.
The District 7030 Environmental Sustainability Program and its committee are consequently tasked with assessing current efforts taking place within the region, supporting clubs in the introduction of initiatives designed to protect our environment, and coordinating activities to raise the awareness of environmental concerns.
During this 2026-2027 Rotary year, the ESP will provide clubs in District 7030 with several options for environmental sustainability initiatives within the framework of clubs collaborating with each other and working together in clusters within each of our member countries and territories.
Additional details on these initiatives will be communicated to clubs and clusters via respective Assistant Governors who shall be properly oriented to the ESP by its committee and who shall also be responsible for monitoring and managing the promotion, adoption and implementation of initiatives across clubs and clusters.
As District ESP Chair, I will maintain contact with Assistant Governors to monitor the roll-out and promotion of these program initiatives, while the District ESP committee will be available to support clusters and clubs in their respective implementation of project initiatives.
Once they are officially launched, more information, guidelines and resources on the various ESP initiatives and next steps will be available via our district website and on the ESP Hub
https://go.rotarydistrict7030.org/ESP-Hub
https://go.rotarydistrict7030.org/ESP-Hub
For questions or assistance, please email Crystal