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Home > National Documents > The Barbados Sustainable Development Policy

The Barbados Sustainable Development Policy

January 2004
Document Type: 
Sustainable Development Plan
Government Entity: 
National Commission on Sustainable Development (NCSD)

The over-arching goal of the Barbados Sustainable Development Policy is to ensure the optimisation of the quality of life for every person by ensuring that economic growth and development does not occur to the detriment of our ecological capital.

This policy examines the core concepts of Sustainable Development upon which the national definition was built and in light of which specific policy statements are made. The main  objectives of this policy are:
  • To formulate (or provide) a national definition of Sustainable Development and identify national principles for the pursuit of Sustainable Development;
  • To provide a national framework for decision-making based on our principles of Sustainable Development;
  • To promote principles of Sustainable Development and encourage all persons in Barbados to adopt and apply these principles in every aspect of decision-making; and
  • To sensitise and educate all persons in Barbados about key issues and conflicts between development and environment and the need to make wise consumption and production choices.
It is anticipated that these objectives will be achieved by ensuring that:
  • "Quality of life" is endorsed as the overarching goal and that this is composed of a variety of economic, social, cultural and personal factors and is not based on income earnings or accumulated wealth alone.
  • Bio-physical "limits to growth" are taken into consideration when decisions are made with regards to resource use. These limits include the: finite supply of some resources; natural carrying capacity of ecosystems; fragility and vulnerability of some ecosystems; finite resilience of ecosystems to resist and recover from man's impacts; limited waste assimilation capacity of the natural environment. Natural resources are not to be exploited to the extent that it inhibits the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In this regard it will be necessary to invoke the Precautionary Principle and to insist on the application of Safe Minimum Standards in respect of resource use, recognising the existence and aesthetic values of some natural assets over and above a utilitarian and/or monetary value that mandate their protection and preservation.
  • Economic tools and methodologies, such as monetary valuation of natural and environmental resources, cost-benefit analysis and internalisation of external environmental costs play an increasingly important role in the decision-making process with regards to natural and environmental resource use, notwithstanding considerations of physical sustainability constraints.
  • All sectors of society as well as future generations are provided with an equitable opportunity to ensure that their quality of life is maintained at a level not lower than that of current generations. This is to be achieved in part by ensuring that the core concepts of Sustainable Development are upheld with regards to natural and environmental resource use and social development plans.
  • That all major stakeholders in civil society are involved in the decision making process at every level from project development and implementation to national and international policy development for every sector and/or issue.

 

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Language: 
English
Key search terms: 
sustainable livelihoods approaches, action plan, implementation, renewable energies, sustainable development, resource conservation, economic efficiency