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HIGH-LEVEL OAS CARIBBEAN SUSTAINABLE ENERGY SEMINAR FOR NASSAU, BAHAMAS

The Organization of American States (OAS) is teaming up with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture (IICA) to organize a Caribbean Regional Sustainable Energy High Level Seminar. The event will take place on July 23, 2008, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm at the Sheraton Cable Beach in Nassau, Bahamas.

Ministers and other senior authorities from the Caribbean region will join the host country—The Bahamas—as well as US government representatives, organizers and key energy stakeholders from around the globe to address key challenges in the energy sector throughout the region. The seminar seeks to identify measures to increase energy sector sustainability while combating the rising costs of energy resources.

The seminar stems from a 2007 OAS General Assembly mandate in the Declaration of Panama on Energy for Sustainable Development, which Member States approved, committing to pursuing alternative solutions to the energy challenges facing the hemisphere. At a subsequent Meeting of National Authorities and Experts on Energy, held in March 2008 at the OAS headquarters in Washington, the Member States agreed to hold a seminar to further discuss these issues at a sub-regional level, and to focus more specifically on local needs. The current seminar will examine the challenges and opportunities for the development and use of sustainable energy within the context of the Caribbean region.

The Caribbean Regional Sustainable Energy High Level Seminar is intended as a forum for high level participants from Caribbean Governments and the donor community to identify key impediments to promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency alternatives, priority technical and capacity building needs, and opportunities for rationalizing and improving coordination among the numerous entities working in the region. The Caribbean Renewable Energy, Energy Efficiency and Bioenergy Action Programme (CREBAP) will be presented as an effective instrument to address these issues. The CREBAP partnership comprises the IADB, the OAS, IICA, the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat, and the Republic of Guyana. The agreement creating CREBAP was signed in August 2007 in Georgetown Guyana.

This is the second in a series of four sub-regional events set to take place throughout the Americas. At the first meeting—in Santiago, Chile, on July 11 2008—OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza stated that the global state of energy was at a critical juncture as “we are faced with a problem regarding energy demand which may have serious consequences,” and the increasing cost of petroleum caused by the growth in energy consumption “is causing economic and even social instability.”

Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago, will also be represented.

For further information contact Mark Lambrides ([email protected]), or tel. +1 (202) 458-6261.

WHAT: Caribbean Regional Sustainable Energy High Level Seminar
WHEN: July 23, 2008
TIME: 9:00 a.m. (Nassau Time)
PLACE: Sheraton Cable Beach
4914 West Bay Street, Nassau, The Bahamas

Reference: AVI-044/08