Isle of Man Budget 2019: Time for a new definition of 'Sustainability'?

The Treasury Minister, Mr Cannan, used the term ‘sustainable’ eight times in his 2019 Budget speech to Tynwald.

However, Mr Cannan used the term ‘climate change’ only once, in reference to a designation of £3.3 million out of a budget of £1 billion, for design and construction works for climate change mitigation strategies. Climate change has been described as the single greatest threat to sustainable development by the United Nations Secretary General. Given the acceptance of the impact of climate change, the paradox of the omission to fund the implementation of urgent proactive strategies to reduce the Island’s greenhouse gas emissions in line with the Kyoto Protocol (as extended to the Isle of Man) was summed up by the Chief Minister, adopting the adage of Tony Benn that “the Jam we thought was for tomorrow, we’ve already eaten”.

If Mr Cannan truly believes his call to arms that “We should all think for the long term”, the Isle of Man Green Party calls upon the Council of Ministers to expressly adopt in the implementation of the Programme for Government, and the strategies of all Government Departments, the United Nations definition of sustainability as endorsed in Chapter 3 in the Isle of Man’s 2016 Strategic Plan:

“development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

Oslo, Norway. United Nations General Assembly, 1987.

To such an end, the Isle of Man Green Party implores the Isle of Man Government to conform to its Biosphere promises and to UNESCO’s views of “rational and sustainable use and conservation of the resources of the biosphere”.

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