KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Dr Andrew Wheatley will leave the island on the weekend to attend the fifth Caribbean Sustainable Energy Forum (CSEF V) in Nassau, Bahamas, scheduled for January 23-25.

A release from the ministry today stated that upon an invitation from the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Irwin LaRocque, Wheatley will lead a two-man Jamaican delegation to the forum, which seeks to facilitate high-level dialogue on best practices aimed at promoting a region wide shift to sustainable energy use.

 “With the shared understanding that easy and economic access to and efficient use of energy is the cornerstone of a production platform aimed at delivering economic growth and inclusive development, I expect that next week’s forum will move us further along the trajectory of successfully achieving energy security and thus growth at both the individual member state and regional levels,” Wheatley explained.

The forum, which had its second meeting in Montego Bay, Jamaica in 2010, seeks to link renewable energy policy and strategy to implementation at the regional level, whilst referencing individual member state best practices.

As a clean energy coordination and implementation forum, CSEF V will see over one hundred national, regional and international stakeholders from civil society, the private and public sectors in attendance.

Agenda items for the Forum will include:

• a Ministerial Panel on Energy, Climate and Sustainable Development with a focus on effectively linking the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (CSERMS), and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs);

• a Regulatory Roundtable to consider the Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) Process and

• Policy, Strategy & Planning sessions aimed at in the first instance, shifting the C-SERMS from concept to Action and in the second instance at, gauging the effectiveness of the CARICOM Energy Transition process over the five year period of 2012-2017.

The forum is jointly funded by: the Organization of American States (OAS), the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Technical Assistance (REETA) Programme of the German Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development; the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank.