Speakers :
David Tilus (Executive Director, Groupe d'Action Francophone pour l'Environnement, Haiti)
Adrián Martinez (Director, La Ruta Del Clima)
Fabien Monteils (Head of Office, United Nations Environment Program, Haiti) to be confirmed
Hythéard C. Jeudy (Executive Director, Fonds Haïtien pour la Biodiversité, Haiti)

Presentation #1 : Presentation of the United Nations Environment Programme report on the status of styrofoam and plastic bag bans in the wider Caribbean region, 2019

Summary:
Plastic pollution is one of the most relevant and important issues of our time. Plastic has gradually become part of our daily lives, but this is no longer tenable.
The traditional linear model of production, use and disposal of conventional plastics is ecologically unsustainable and causes negative and unacceptable environmental damage. A growing number of governments are committed to reducing and preventing plastic pollution. Policies are being put in place to regulate the production, import and use of plastic bags and polystyrene products.w
The report presents the main aspects of these policies and regulatory instruments that have been implemented in the Caribbean region. It provides lessons for policymakers seeking to regulate the use and production of disposable plastics.
The report also includes an analysis of the main impacts of pollution from polystyrene and disposable plastics, as well as an assessment of the effects of current and planned regulatory measures in the Caribbean region.

Speaker:
Taylor Clayton (Project Manager for Marine Litter, Plastics and the Circular Economy, United Nations Environment Programme, Jamaica) Moderator:
Judex Edouarzin (Environmental Governance Specialist, United Nations Environment Programme, Haiti)

Round Table #1 : Coastal pollution by foamed polystyrene

Summary:
Foamed polystyrenes are used in a wide range of applications thanks to their diverse properties.
Some of these materials are now found in the environment, particularly in the marine environment, raising the question of their impact on marine ecosystems

Speakers:
Camille Lacroix (Environmental chemist, specialist in environmental toxicology at CEDRE, France)
Mikaël Kedzierski (Senior Lecturer at Université Bretagne Sud, France)
Moderator:
Joaneson Lacour (Engineer-Agronomist, Master in Environmental Sciences, Doctor in Environmental Chemistry. Lecturer at Quisqueya University, Haiti)

Round Table #2 : Banning expanded polystyrene containers: myth or reality? Examples from Bonaire and Antigua & Barbuda

Summary:
Over the past six years, Antigua and Barbuda has passed legislation to ban plastic shopping bags and Styrofoam products for catering, as well as the Waste Control and Prevention Act. Bonaire is also on the way to banning single-use plastics.
How can we steer public policy towards a ban on single-use plastics? What role can civil society play in these change mechanisms? What alternatives are proposed and what pitfalls should be avoided?

Speaker:
Indira James-Henry (Environmental Implementation Coordinator, Antigua and Barbuda Ministry of Health, Welfare and Environment)
Carolyn Caporusso (Clean Coast Bonaire Coordinator, Bonaire)
Moderator:
Julie Baptiste (Member of Réseau Environnement Humanitaire, France)

Workshop on innovative alternatives and initiatives

Summary:
Sharing experiences and testimonials

Moderator:
David Tilus (Executive Director, Groupe d'Action Francophone pour l'Environnement, Haiti)

Feedback from workshops

Moderator:
David Tilus (Executive Director, Groupe d'Action Francophone pour l'Environnement, Haiti)

Speakers:
Ary Régis (Specialist in digital communication and pedagogical engineering, Director of LANBI éducatif, Haiti)

Round Table #3 : The oceans in agony; humanity on borrowed time. Citizen engagement to raise awareness.

Summary:
The oceans are more than just fish tanks. They play a crucial role in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions and stabilizing the Earth's climate. To protect them from human assaults, associations and citizens are mobilizing. Marine pollution has terrible short- and medium-term consequences for marine ecosystems and biodiversity, and long-term consequences for global geochemical cycles.

Speakers:
Elodie Pouet (Sea Shepherd, France)
Virginie Pochon (Groupe d’Action Francophone pour l’Environnement /Alternatiba, Haïti)
Animatrice :
Silène Parisse (Alternatiba France)

: The anthropology of leftovers, or the relationship between leftovers, waste and memory

Summary:
"Nothing is more invisible than what lies in plain sight". It's with this sentence that Don De Lillo punctuates a scene from his river novel, Outremonde. Styrofoam is ultra-present. It's everywhere. It's so everywhere that you can't see it anymore. Its omnipresence makes it invisible. How can we explain this invisibility? How can we break out of this invisibility and make these objects visible to users and public authorities? How can art help to raise awareness?

Speakers:
Octave Debary (Anthropologist, professor at Université Paris Cité and director of the Centre d'anthropologie culturelle (SHS Sorbonne) and at Université de Neuchâtel, Switzerland)
Jean-Noël Dumont (Groupe d'Action Francophone pour l'Environnement, France)

Round table #4 : Prospects for concerted regional action

Summary:
The Caribbean region is particularly vulnerable to pollution and climate change.
Concerted regional action is therefore to be encouraged in the fields of scientific research, advocacy, and the sharing of knowledge and experience.
The Treaty on Plastics led by the Break Free From Plastic collective. It's an opportunity to do the right thing. It has the potential to be one of the most important environmental agreements in history. We'll be talking about it...

Speakers:
Paulita Bennett-Martin (Acting Director of Programs for Sea of Life and Senior Policy Advisor to The 5 Gyres Institute)
Carolyn Caporusso (Clean Coast Bonaire Coordinator, Bonaire) to be confirmed
Taylor Clayton (Project Manager for Marine Litter, Plastics and the Circular Economy, United Nations Environment Programme, Jamaica) to be confirmed
María Esther Briz (Plastic Campaigner and movement strengthening officer for Break Free From Plastic Latin America and the Caribbean)
Climate Action Network Latinoamérica to be confirmed

Moderator:
Mariela Pino (Member Support Program Coordinator for GAIA Latin America and the Caribbean / GAIA & Break Free From Plastic)

Presentation #2

Summary:
While civil society organizations and citizens are mobilizing to move away from the plastic era, companies are inventing strategies to circumvent laws or replace single use plastic containers with other equally polluting single-use containers.
The key is to remain vigilant

Speaker:
Philippe Collet (Journalist, Actu-Environnement, France)

Recommendations and resolutions

Moderator:
David Tilus (Executive Director, Groupe d'Action Francophone pour l'Environnement, Haiti)