Panos Caribbean

Pollution is a constant to the Caribbean Sea as is the daily tide, but it doesn’t have to be so – not if the private sector gets involved say key stakeholders involved in a recent meeting held by the United Nations Environment Programme.

The Grupo Punta Cana (GPC), which owns and operates the Punta Cana Airport, three hotels and various residential properties in the Dominican Republic, demonstrates this well.

The group engages in and encourages ecological and sustainable development practices in the provision of all services, from electricity to water, water treatment, and waste management. And by considering the local community one of its key stakeholders, interacts with them carefully. Its sub-companies must conform to local environmental licenses and permits, high standards having been introduced in the groups early days, even before the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment was established. Continue reading →