February 2017 |Business View Caribbean

14 15 Over two days, several panels featuring govern- ment ministers and some of the biggest names in the regional energy field discussed a range of issues pertinent to the Community’s transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy. Discussions centered on the CARICOM Energy Policy (CEP) and the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS) and regulatorymatters; build- ing a culture of effective statistics and information management; funding the transition; and identi- fying knowledge, skills and quality requirements. The Forum,which attracted more than 100 per- sons, also looked back at progress in energy tran- sition made over the past five years and looked forward to the next ten years. The final session onWednesday 25 January, focused on the outlook of the region’s energy transition from fossil fuels to cleaner energy. It was during that session that participants said the time had come for a special meeting of CARICOM heads of government on energy.With the un- derstanding that a regional initiative in practical terms was needed going forward, the panelists and participants suggested that concrete success stories should be brought before the heads of government to highlight the strengths as well as opening lines the challenges and for there to be decisions, at that level, on matters that the sector is fighting to solve. There were calls for approaches to be made first to the heads of government with responsibility for energy and sustainable development in the CAR- ICOM quasi cabinet to catalyze efforts towards the special meeting on energy. CARICOM heads meet next in Georgetown, Guyana,mid-February. In the past, special meetings of the Communi- ty’s Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) were held on energy. It was at one such meeting in 2013 that the CEP and the C-SERMS were approved.The C-SERMS aims at a renewable energy electricity penetration of 20% in 2017, 28% by 2022 and 47% by 2027.The proposal for the establishment of CCREEE was also placed before CARICOM heads of government in 2015. Back in 2003, heads of government, at a special meeting in Castries, Saint Lucia, discussed energy, within the context of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).At that meeting they also discussed work that was ongoing on the CEP. Energy is also inserted in the CARICOM Five- Year Strategic Plan under Building Economic Re- silience, the primary of the plan’s six priority areas. Efficiency, diversification, and cost reduction are over-arching elements of the energy thrust.The focus is on optimizing existing assets and reduc- ing the high cost of energy inputs–particularly