Greater Georgetown, Guyana – The Caribbean Forum of African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States (CARIFORUM) and the European Commission, recently signed a Financing Agreement totalling US$ 2.45 million to support the Caribbean Region in the Sustainable Management of its Energy Resources. As part of this total, CARICOM is contributing US$ 200,000. The signing took place at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana.
The purpose of the project is to increase the contribution from renewable energy sources to the overall energy consumption of CARIFORUM countries, thereby placing the Community on track towards a cleaner, more secure and more competitive energy future, while also making a contribution to the global reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and pollution.
This Energy Agreement, which has its origins in a larger programme co-ordinated by the International Development Partners, is valued at more than US$38 million. It targets Member States of CARIFORUM, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) including the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) Region, the Pacific ACP states and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region. Its objective is to contribute to the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals by reducing poverty through improved Regional co-operation and targeted action for the poor (mainly rural and peri-urban populations) in the energy sector. The European Commission is contributing more than US$10 million to this overall programme.
The common strategy selected to achieve this objective is to support capacity building and institutional strengthening in these four Regions in energy policy making and programme delivery. Acknowledging the varying challenges between Regions, differentiated Region-specific activities and expected results have been defined. For the Caribbean Region, this implies that activities being developed are consistent with the Caribbean Regional Energy Policy (CREP), which seeks to reduce the Region’s dependence on fossil fuels. It also aims to improve energy access through the removal of barriers to renewable energy use, thereby fostering its commercialisation and development.
Specifically, the project seeks to strengthen institutional capacity in the Region to support renewable energy and to address the existing barriers to its deployment by supporting CARICOM Secretariat Energy Desk’s legal and regulatory capability, training stakeholders, facilitating the participation of Haiti and the Dominican Republic and designing and implementing public awareness campaigns. The project also seeks to increase investment in various renewable energy projects, develop national industries and create jobs by making use of existing international risk guarantee mechanisms and exploiting CO2 emission trading opportunities and processes for projects.
