Mission

To promote regional energy cooperation through different strategies and actions for achieving a cleaner, safer, efficient, modern and fair energy deployment.

Vision

Shared leadership in the implementation of energy initiatives and the exchange of experiences within the countries of the Americas in support of sustainable development goals.

Guiding Principles

At the April 2009 Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, leaders of the Western Hemisphere reaffirmed their commitment to work together towards a clean energy future.

Since its inception, ECPA has focused on energy efficiency, renewable energy, cleaner and more efficient use of fossil fuels, energy poverty, and infrastructure. In the first year, nearly a dozen initiatives and projects began under ECPA in these areas, led by the United States, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Mexico, Peru, and Trinidad and Tobago. In addition to the OAS, other inter-American and regional institutions such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the World Bank promote ECPA, as well as the private sector, civil society and academia.

In April 2010, as part of ECPA, the United States invited Western Hemisphere energy ministers to the Energy and Climate Ministerial of the Americas to highlight progress, announce new partnerships and facilitate the development of new initiatives among governments, institutions, private industry, and civil society. At this ministerial, the United States Government proposed ECPA’s focus be expanded to also include initiatives regarding sustainable forests and land use, as well as climate change.

Steering Committee

Its principal functions are to advance ECPA activities with the support of the Technical Coordination Unit, promote political dialogue, foster the exchange of best practices, contribute to capacity-building, and facilitate regional coordination and diplomacy on matters relating to energy.

At the Second ECPA Ministerial Meeting, held in Merida, Mexico, in May 2015, authorities stressed the need to boost operational aspects of the Partnership. To that end, they established a Steering Committee which guides ECPA’s activities. That collegiate body furnishes governments with an appropriate forum in which they can play a leadership role, foster actions by both the public and private sectors, and identify the resources needed to implement initiatives.

During the Third ECPA Ministerial Meeting, held in Viña del Mar, Chile, in September 2017, Argentina and Panama joined the ECPA Steering Committee, joining Chile, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Mexico the United States, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Technical Coordination Unit

The General Secretariat of the OAS, through its Department of Sustainable Development (DSD), operates the ECPA Technical Coordination Unit since 2009. At the Summit of the Americas held in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, in April 2009, the U.S. Government invited all governments in the Western Hemisphere to join ECPA. Following up on this invitation, in June 2009 policy makers from several countries in the region met at a working level during the Energy and Climate Symposium held in Lima to discuss possible areas of enhanced cooperation on critical energy and climate issues. The event furthered the dialogue that ensued in Port of Spain and identified concrete next steps for cooperation, including the need for a mechanism—the Technical Coordination Unit—that would facilitate dialogue and coordinate activities and outreach. The governments were highly receptive of an OAS-led Technical Coordination Unit.

The Technical Coordination Unit, conceived as a mechanism to foster partnerships for greater dialogue, collaboration and awareness on energy and climate. The Technical Coordinating Unit is in charge of the Partnership’s communications and outreach efforts and supports ongoing ECPA initiatives, in this capacity, it maintains the ECPA website, publishes quarterly newsletters, engages in partner engagement processes, holds roundtable discussions, and sustains social media presence, among others.

In the same vein as ECPA, the Technical Coordination Unit is not a rigid structure, but rather a flexible and straightforward mechanism that enables partnerships and open dialogue on energy and climate.