Bermuda 2008: Sustainable Development
Date Posted: Monday, January 14, 2008Author: Kimberley McKeown
Bermuda 2008, Sustainable Development & Environment
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In the year 2008, sustainable development will enjoy a significantly higher profile as the Government will publish the final Sustainable Development Strategy and Implementation Plan. This milestone, Bermuda’s first ever Strategy and Implementation Plan will provide salient information regarding the status of sustainable development and will hopefully illuminate for the public the growing impact and integration of sustainable development principles within Bermuda.
This upcoming year will see the Sustainable Development Unit headed by a new Director, and supported by additional staff. This will allow the Unit to better achieve the aspects of its mandate that relate to education and outreach within the community, and the development of local knowledge regarding international trends in sustainable development.
Topical sustainable development issues to be addressed in 2008 include housing, land development, environmental protection, energy and efficient consumption. The Government has been working to implement the actions of the Draft Plan, and while each one is salient and valuable to the larger process of sustainable development, a number of key initiatives will be completed and will provide examples to the public of how sustainable development is working for them and their community.
Housing is a major national issue for Bermuda and is one of six priorities for action under sustainable development. Ensuring that housing is affordable and adequate helps to address many of the social issues facing Bermuda. Several affordable housing initiatives, especially those that have been a result of public private partnerships will be completed and a number of Bermudians will receive keys to their very first homes. The first phase of the Loughlands project, as well as a number of homes for Bermuda’s seniors through the Bermuda Housing Trust will be ready for occupants in January 2008.
More Bermudians with lower incomes will have the opportunity to save to become homeowners through the Bermuda Housing Corporations “Rent-Geared-to-Income” initiative, where tenants without arrears pay 25% of their incomes towards rent, and contribute another 10% of their incomes towards savings plans that can then be used towards future home purchases.
A major undertaking that will underpin sustainable development will be the release and implementation of the New Bermuda Plan by the Department of Planning. The New Bermuda Plan is guided by sustainable development principles and there exists a synergy which makes them complementary documents. Embodied in the New Bermuda Development Plan are a number of sustainable development actions that will be completed as a result. Some of these include better protection of open space, additional policies to encourage the planting of native and endemic species and more appropriate shoreline protection and development.
In response to Bermuda’s increasing demand for fossil fuel based energy, the Government will establish an Energy Unit. A key component of Government’s new approach to energy will be a greater focus on the take up of renewable energy. While Government already supports diverse approaches, there is a need for a comprehensive policy to guide the future development of sustainable energy in Bermuda.
The plan also focuses on the development of more sustainable consumption patterns. In the upcoming year, the Government will continue to develop policies that will help Bermudians and other residents to be better and more efficient consumers. Some key examples include helping Bermudians build more sustainably, the take-up of more green technologies, less duty on goods imported in kit form, the encouragement of school buses and more carpooling, as well as the introduction of a water efficiency programme, among other initiatives.
The upcoming year is an opportunity for more success for sustainable development, and it will be all the more fruitful with the participation and support of members of the public.
Next week: Lynne Winfield, President of Citizens Uprooting Racism in Bermuda writes about race issues.