(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government recently began a search for consultants to help PACT set out a policy around the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The Ministry of Sustainability and Climate Resiliency is looking for experts to conduct a twelve-week project to facilitate discussions around sustainability both in individual ministries and across the entire government.

The successful applicants will make recommendations to Cabinet about targets under those goals that should be considered as the priority areas of focus for the remainder of this administration, which ends in May 2025.

While sustainability has been pushed by the government as PACT’s overarching theme, almost two years into the administration what that actually means has not been defined.

In an address to a business audience at the Chamber of Commerce annual general meeting last week, Premier Wayne Panton, who has responsibility for the SCR ministry, admitted that the goal to grow the economy in a sustainable way and ensure Caymanians are not left behind was a delicate balance, and the government isn’t always getting that balance right.

He said the government is formulating a comprehensive Cayman Sustainability Agenda that will make the islands a place for Caymanians to “live and thrive while ensuring that it is a welcoming place for newcomers who wish to become part of our diverse social fabric”.

But over the first 22 months of this government, development has largely continued unchecked while the population has soared to unprecedented levels, putting pressure on infrastructure and the natural world. The significant amount of roads under construction and the development of luxury condos continues, while projects relating to sustainability seem elusive.

The long-anticipated climate change policy, which was expected last September, has still not been unveiled. The proposed development plan remains under wraps. The landfill project remains stalled, with the recycling project set back recently after Dart announced it would no longer recycle glass for use in construction.

No plans have been rolled out for reducing car imports or introducing a new transport system, and ideas floated some ten months ago about the government taking ownership of renewable energy projects have not been fleshed out. The problems of both beach access and beach erosion have yet to be tackled, and the proposal for a true line in the sand on development too close to the sea on Seven Mile Beach also hasn’t materialised.

The Cayman Islands Airports Authority’s long-term plans don’t appear to be taking climate change into consideration. And news of a new cargo port in George Town that will involve dredging or building an entirely new dock in an untouched part of the island to accommodate evermore imports suggest that the political promise of sustainability is a long way from being met.

And while the National Conservation Council is still acquiring land for preserving critical habitat and has enhanced protections for local flora and fauna from alien species, no other government entity appears to have made any notable headway or created new policies relating to sustainability, though the Health Service Authority has installed solar panels on the hospital roof.

The tender process for consultants to conduct this review appears to be about a broader look at the concept of sustainability and engaging with the senior civil servants as well as ministers across all 22 ministries and portfolios.

According to the request for proposals, the selected consultants will be expected to facilitate discussions and focus groups in the civil service framed around the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and to familiarise each entity with the framework those goals are based on.

The aim is to create an inventory of completed and ongoing work and explore where it can be mapped to the goals and to any planned works for 2023 and future budget periods. The report will also look at other priorities that align with the goals that are recognised in the 2022-23 Strategic Policy Statement.

The consultants will identify local and global trends and issues related to individual entities, explore and unpack the areas of the work relating to the goals that can be included in the 2022 Annual Report, and prioritise five to seven goals for the next two years.

An overall summary of the findings from the discussions, with the recommendations and a final report of the overall conclusions, will be delivered by the end of May.

See the RFP on the government’s procurement site here.