Coordination key to pushing sustainable energy agenda – CARICOM SG

CARICOM Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque said co-ordination was the key to moving the sustainable energy agenda forward in the Region.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Caribbean Energy Security Summit in Washington DC, USA, on Monday afternoon, Secretary-General LaRocque pointed to the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE) as an example of the Community acting to improve co-ordination in the sector.

The Centre, already approved by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) is expected to be formalised by CARICOM Energy Ministers next week.  It will be, among other things, the coordinating hub for project implementation in the renewable energy sector in the Community.

[su_box title=”Energy in CARICOM Strategic Plan” style=”soft” box_color=”#54c0f0″]Energy is a cross-cutting factor for the 11 high priority areas selected for focused attention in the CARICOM Strategic Plan, 2015-2019. See Plan on www.caricom.org[/su_box]

Co-ordination of regulations at the Regional level, the Secretary General said, would help to provide a base for an integrated sector. The integration of the energy sector is something new to us, Ambassador LaRocque said but there was a common vision articulated under the CARICOM Energy Policy. He said having recognized the importance of energy, the CARICOM Secretariat had established an energy programme  more than a decade ago.

For us energy is a economic issue,” he said. It would aid the Region’s competitiveness, he added.

The Secretary-General also alluded to the opportunities for public-private partnerships to take advantage of the resource endowments in the Community with respect to renewable energy. Each country, he said, would determine the right mix of financing which would be determined by its mix of renewables and fossil fuel for its energy needs.