The April 15th-16th meeting is hosted by US Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu and will take place at the headquarters of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Organization of American States (OAS). US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to address the forum.
The meeting was called by the US Department of Energy following the announcement by US President Barack Obama of a proposed Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), at the Fifth Summit of the Americas held in Trinidad and Tobago in April 2009.
The ECPA brings countries across the Western Hemisphere together to facilitate the acceleration of clean energy development and deployment, advance energy security, and reduce energy poverty by sharing best practices, encouraging investment, and cooperating on technology research, development and deployment. ECPA is shaped by the desire for energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner fossil fuels, infrastructure, and energy poverty.
Minister Blackmoore will present aspects of Dominica’s Renewable Energy Programme focusing on the attributes, existing and planned uses of the country’s renewable resources, activities being taken to articulate Dominica’s energy policy and the legislative framework for renewable energy resource exploration and exploitation.
Hon. Blackmoore will share Dominica’s experiences with the meeting and will speak on the challenges, constraints, and difficulties confronting Dominica in moving to reduce the cost of energy and electricity and in participating as a responsible member of a “Low Carbon Community”.
The Ministerial meeting will be preceded by a half day preparatory meeting on Caribbean Sustainable Energy led and organized by the OAS.
That meeting will address the issues of key challenges and the concept and the opportunities for a regional approach to sustainable energy in the Caribbean, and the role of the US in contributing to a regional solution to achieving sustainable energy.
According to a statement from the US Department of Energy, leaders of the Western Hemisphere recognize that “energy is fundamental to sustainable development and they are committed to expanding cooperation to address the urgent and intertwined challenges of energy security and climate change”.
Joining ECPA is voluntary, and allows governments, Inter-American organizations, private industry, and civil society to lead or participate in initiatives that reflect their priorities. Governments may work jointly or on their own to lead initiatives, finance activities, and/or create welcoming policy environments that encourage low carbon development. Countries will be encouraged to identify areas where they can contribute or where they need assistance, or to collaborate and share on the OAS -ECPA information clearinghouse website.
The U.S. Trade and Development Agency has proposed a Clean Energy Exchange Programme inviting nearly 50 Latin American and Caribbean energy officials on six reverse trade missions.
