Caribbean, international energy experts to discuss initiatives

Last Updated on Saturday, 26 December 2015, 21:01 by GxMedia

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) stakeholders in the field of energy, as well as International Development Partners that are active in the regional energy sector will gather in Barbados 11 July, 2013, to discuss initiatives and activities identified as part of the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS) Phase 1 Study.

The Guyana-based Caricom headquarters says tyhe stakeholders will participate in a C-SERMS Resource Mobilisation Forum which will be hosted by the CARICOM Secretariat, with support from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Government of Germany through the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).

One of the key objectives of the Forum is to present and share, in particular, the list of priorities, projects, policies, strategies and initiatives identified under the C-SERM Phase I, with a view of engaging the interest and support of Development Partners and Funding Agencies towards implementation and further development of the C-SERMS initiative.

Senator Darcy Boyce, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados, will deliver the feature address at the opening of the Forum.

The forum will place C-SERMS in context and will feature presentations on resource mobilization. There will be round table discussions on enabling policy and governance framework for sustainable energy; capacity-building, technology transfer, research and development in sustainable energy; and sustainable energy information, awareness, education and knowledge management. In addition, a panel discussion will be held on options for sustainable energy financing and investment in CARICOM, taking into account graduation and the disappearing fiscal space.

The C-SERMS Phase I aims to provide a framework for the roadmap, while more detailed work and implementation is to be done under subsequent phases. Grant funding was received from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to support the development of the C-SERMS Phase I.