Business View Caribbean | Volume 8, Issue 11

3 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN VOLUME 8, ISSUE 11 The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat in collaboration with key regional institutions, development partners and Member States celebrates CARICOM Energy Month (CEM) 2021, throughout the month of November. E nergy remains a strategic priority for all CARICOM countries, as the region confronts unprecedented challenges in a worsening climate, the ongoing public health crisis, and declining economies. These, and other, issues are captured in this year’s theme: ‘From Dependence to Resilience: Fueling our Recovery with Sustainable Energy’ as the region that is seized, in particular, with the increasingly volatile global oil prices, which are at a record seven-year high, is seeking to decouple its economy from imported fossil fuels, which provides more than 80% of its energy needs. The Month constitutes Regional events, which run concurrent with events that are part of National Energy Months within the respective countries. Regional events are organized by the CARICOM Secretariat, in partnership with the Caribbean CARICOM ENERGY MONTH BEGINS Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), the German Federal Ministry of Economic Development and Cooperation (BMZ) and European Union (EU) co-funded Technical Assistance Programme for Sustainable Energy in the Caribbean (TAPSEC) will be conducted virtually, on account of the ongoing COVID-19 measures in Member States. CEM 2021 will kick off with a virtual Gameshow exploring the nexus of energy and water in resilient economies. Highlighted within the Month include activities that are focused on youth engagement, especially the CARICOM Energy Youth Forum that targets persons between the ages of 15 and 35 years old, as well as a Green Education and Energy Career Day that will highlight many of the emerging opportunities and pathways for future jobs and careers within the sustainable energy sector within the region. Critically, as world leaders assemble [at COP26] to make decisions on issues, including energy, that are linked to global climate change, the activities of CEM are focused on the engagement of decisionmakers, O p e n i n g L i n e s