Alva Browne, Permanent Secretary within Grenada’s Ministry of Infrastructure, Public Utilities, Civil Aviation and Transportation, has called for urgent action to close the water security gap across the Caribbean, highlighting the real-time challenges faced by Caribbean Small Island Developing States (SIDS), including his country.
Browne made the call as he delivered a keynote address on behalf of Grenada and the wider Caribbean at the Regional Water Week 2025, Session 2: “Closing the Implementation Gap for Water Security in Latin America and the Caribbean,” hosted by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), in Chile. “We are living through what I call hydro-climatic extremes — shifting from drought to flooding, from too little water to too much, all within the same year,” explained Browne as he referenced Grenada’s 2024 national water crisis and subsequent flooding months later.
While long-term solutions involving infrastructure improvements, better water management practices, and increased conservation efforts are crucial in mitigating the impacts and preventing future water crises, Browne believes that significant progress was made in Grenada.
He suggested undertakings such as the G-CREWS Project, which includes infrastructure modernisation, institutional reform, and the establishment of a new Water Resource Management Unit as best models for strengthening water resilience and the Cabinet approval of the National Adaptation Plan 2025–2030. Browne also highlighted the regional momentum of Caribbean SIDS like Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St Lucia, and Guyana for their efforts to integrate water management into climate adaptation and sustainable development strategies.
In his remarks, emphasis was also placed on the need to move from “plans to progress” by focusing on 3 key pillars — what he called the “three I’s” — integration, investment and inclusion along with the value of regional cooperation, commending organisations such as GWP-Caribbean, CDEMA, CARPHA, the Caribbean Water and Wastewater Association, and the NAP Global Network for supporting knowledge exchange and readiness.
His keynote at the Regional Water Week 2025, in Chile, organised by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), together with multiple regional and international partners, with support from the Global Water Partnership Central America, Global Water Partnership South America, and the Global Water Partnership-Caribbean. It concluded with an appeal for delivery and action as, “The Caribbean stands ready to work with our Latin American partners, the European Union, and the global community to ensure that the coming decade is one of delivery — not diagnosis.”
Ministry of Infrastructure, Public Utilities, Civil Aviation and Transportation
