CARICOM Heads of Government sign Agreement establishing Energy Institution
Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Heads of Government on Thursday signed the Agreement Establishing the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE). The signing was done at the Thirty Eighth Regular Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of CARICOM in St. George’s, Grenada.
The signing of the Agreement by ten countries – Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname – represents the clearing of the penultimate hurdle to the legal establishment of the Centre. The last step is the ratification of the Agreement by at least five signatories. As the only CARICOM institution with an exclusive energy mandate, the Barbados-based CCREEE is intended to function as the implementation hub for the CARICOM Energy Policy, as well as the Caribbean Sustainable Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS). When it is fully operational, the Centre is expected to improve the quantity and quality of programmes and projects in sustainable energy within the Region. Energy plays a critical part in supporting the sustainable development of Caribbean countries and the CCREEE, an action-oriented institution, can lead to improvements in sustainable energy production, delivery and use, through increased renewable energy applications and energy efficiency measures.
Jamaica Signs Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Agreement. pic.twitter.com/cZbuKxVtlR — Andrew Holness (@AndrewHolnessJM) July 6, 2017
Through a proactive implementing framework, the Centre can encourage the investment flow that is necessary for successful projects. This can be done by directly addressing a key challenge – the limited technical capacity in public institutions with energy mandates in some countries – by functioning as a regional resource of knowledge and skills on sustainable energy matters in countries.
The actions of the Centre will target the identification of opportunities for CARICOM Member States to reduce fuel consumption. This will lead to improved energy security, lessened dependence on imported fuels, reduction in electricity prices, promotion of clean economic growth, and improvement in the quality of life for Community nationals.
The CCREEE was established through a partnership among the CARICOM Secretariat, the Small Island Developing States’ Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Initiative (SIDS DOCK), the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) and the Austrian Government as part of a wider Global initiative which aims at the creation of a Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Pacific, Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Africa.
Contact: Dr. Devon Gardner, devon.gardner@caricom.org