BRIDGETOWN, Barbados--Prime Minister William Marlin attended the two-day European Union (EU)-Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference held in Bridgetown, Barbados, October 10-11.
Key outcomes of the conference were the signing of the “Joint Declaration on Sustainable Energy between the European Union, European Investment Bank and Cariforum on reinforced cooperation in the field of sustainable energy.”
Five support programmes in the renewable energy sector for the region, totalling 54 million euros, were also signed at the conference. These agreements are evidence of the European Union’s commitment to supporting Caribbean countries in meeting their obligations stipulated in the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
The conference was focused primarily on Caricom/Cariforum and EU relations. EU countries Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and the French Overseas Regions (ORs) were invited to the conference. The inclusion of all groupings in the region was to emphasise that energy supply vulnerability and fossil fuel dependence are problems not only of the Cariforum countries, but of the entire Caribbean.
In the first day of the conference, in the capacity of Regional Authorising Officer (RAO) for the Caribbean Overseas Countries and Territories’ (OCTs) 11th European Development Fund (EDF) Regional Programme, Marlin participated as a special guest in a ministerial panel discussion centred on the latest policy developments that support increased investments in renewable energy and energy efficiency.
In that forum, Marlin emphasised that Caribbean countries possess a great potential for alternative energy production and when unified as a bloc they could benefit from a true comparative advantage. He also discouraged allowing outside investors the advantage of pitting countries against each other for their own profitable gains, drawing from examples the region had experienced with the cruise industry.
Marlin suggested that all Caribbean countries should make a concerted effort to find ways to overcome the energy challenges in the region by tapping into the wealth of specifically geothermal energy resources. He proposed the creation of financial mechanisms to construct the infrastructure necessary to feasibly supply the entire region and beyond.
Support of Marlin's proposal was resonated by other sitting and past prime ministers as well as energy/infrastructure ministers in following session.
The 11th EDF Caribbean Regional Programme will also aim to dedicate a significant portion of the 40-million-euro envelope to Sustainable Energy increase in the Caribbean OCTs.
Sustainable energy companies from around the world also attended this event as speakers and participants, but also with exhibits in a parallel Business Opportunities Forum.
Marlin was accompanied to the conference by Head of the Department of Foreign Relations Khalilah Peters and Policy Advisor for Donor Coordination in the Department of Interior and Kingdom Relations Olivia Lake.
