 Today, the 5th of June, Senutia joins the global community in organizing and observing the 50th World Environment Day, an opportunity to encourage awareness and action to protect our natural world. Nature gives us an invaluable wealth of services that are difficult to measure in dollars and cents. Natural species help to clean our air, purify our water, produce food and medicine, and reduce chemical and noise pollution. These processes, which we know as ecosystem services, are foundational support for our economies, industries, communities, our health and well-being, our very existence. Threatening our environment, our very existence, our survival, is a triple crisis of planetary proportion, climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. All three are interconnected and fueled by unsustainable production and consumption. The years-long persistent lament of how mankind has offended the environment for greenhouse gas emissions, urban expansion, deforestation and improper waste disposal cannot be overstated. However, we must now more than ever direct our energies towards action to restore depleted areas, conserve and protect the environment, and become more intentional about living in harmony with nature. This is why I was heartened by this year's action-oriented theme for World Environment Day, beat plastic pollution. It is a renewed challenge to initiate solutions towards addressing this global issue of plastic pollution, one of the more visible environmental threats. Well ahead of the historic resolution by the United Nations Environment Assembly to end plastic pollution and develop an international legally binding agreement, St. Lucia successfully prohibited the importation, use, manufacturing, sale and distribution of all styrofoam and selected single-use plastic food service containers through the Styrofoam and Plastic Food Service Containers Prohibition Act of 2019. Additionally, the Act provides concessions of 0% import duties on biodegradable food service containers to encourage the use of these alternatives instead of plastics. Rollout of the marine litter management action plan supported by our partners is also underway in St. Lucia to address marine litter and waste management. These and future successes in beating plastic pollution requires governments, cities, offices, communities, civil society organizations, businesses, investors and all citizens to make sustainable decisions that result in reduced use of plastic. I encourage you all to join the World Environment Day campaign by committing to reducing your plastic consumption, recycling where you can, and if you can't reuse it, refuse it. Tell the world and inspire others by how you are making a positive change in our island nation. Use the campaign hashtag and slogan in your social media posts. Hashtag beat plastic pollution. On behalf of the Ministry of Education, sustainable development, innovation, science, technology and vocational training, I wish you all a conscious and enjoyable World Environment Day.