NASSAU, Bahamas (CMC) — Energy ministers from the Caribbean Community (Caricom) countries will meet here later this month to discuss the region’s transition to greater sustainable production and use.

Representatives of public and private sector entities, senior officials of national, regional and international institutions, and industry experts will join the ministers at the fifth Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum (CSEF) to be held here from January 23-25.

The conference is being organised by the Guyana-based Caricom Secretariat in collaboration with the Bahamas Government with support also from the United States, through the Organisation of American States (OAS); the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank.

“Over the three days, participants will hone in on the Caricom Energy Policy which was approved in 2013 and the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS) with a view to focusing on policy, planning and decision support mechanisms to enable game-changing investment to transform the regional energy matrix,” the Secretariat noted.

It said that the specific objectives of CSEF V are to identify and agree on modalities for validating the mid-term [2022] and long-term [2027] C-SERMS targets, propose actions through which member states are able to attract the “right type of capital” to support long-term sustainable energy production and use.

The organisers said that the CSEF V will seek to catalyse consensus among stakeholders around what they are prepared to do to further define and support the long-term (2027) commitments that are necessary for energy transformation within Caricom.

Energy Programme Manager at the Caricom Secretariat, Dr Devon Gardner said that the forum will provide a greater understanding of what had taken place since the last CSEF and since the regional energy policy and C-SERMS were approved.

CSEF was established as a biennial sustainable energy event in the community. The previous events were held in Grenada, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, and in Barbados.

“The forum is intended to facilitate dialogue and actions towards the adoption of more robust policies and the transfer of appropriate technologies in renewable energy and energy efficiency in Caricom. It seeks ultimately to enhance stakeholder support and contribution to diversification of the regional energy supply from its current fossil fuels base to a mix that includes significant renewable sources,” the Secretariat added.