September 2014.
Climate Institute Working Paper Supports Call for Sustainable Energy at High-Level Side Event at the 3rd Int’l Conference on Small Island Developing States – Apia, Samoa / Climate Institute Announces Carbon Offset Program.
November 2012.
GSEII’s Nasir Khattak Moderated a Panel at COP 18 in Doha, Qatar, on the “Sustainable Energy for Island Economies” Program.
Panelists showcased projects on their partner islands and highlighted challenges and opportunities related to enacting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s signature Sustainable Energy for All initiative. Some panelists included Pradeep Monga (UNIDO); Senator Heherson Alvarez (Philippines); Minister for Economic Development, Natural Resources and the Environment Aliki Faipule Kelisiano Kalolo (Tokelou, NZ); Alexander Oochs (Worldwatch Institute); Michelle Gyles-McDonnough (UNDP); Tom Hawat (Pangaeon); Harry Verhaar (Philips Lighting) and others.
June 2012.
GSEII Launches the Vision 20/30 Partnership for Island Economies
At the historic Rio+20 Conference in Brazil, the Climate Institute and Carbon War Room co-hosted a high level side event which culminated in the joint announcement by Aruba’s President Mike Eman and Sir Richard Branson, Founder of the Carbon War Room, to lead the transition of the island to 100% renewable energy. PM Tillman Thomas (Grenada); José María Figueres (former Pres. of Costa Rica and current President of Carbon War Room); Christiana Figueres (Exec. Sec. UNFCCC); Melinda Kimble of the United Nations Foundation; David Payton of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP); Elizabeth Press of the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA); Martin Hiller, Director General of the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP); Pradeep Monga of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO); and Nasir Khattak, Chief Operating Officer of the Climate Institute were in attendance among others panelists for this historic series of events.
December 2011.
GSEII Joins UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Sustainable Energy For All (SE4All) initiative at COP 17 in Durban, South Africa
On the sidelines of COP 17, the Climate Institute announced its support for and partnership with the UN’s SE4All initiative, which has set the ambitious target of global sustainable energy by 2030 through a three-pronged structure to support universal access to modern energy services; to double energy efficiency; and to double the share of renewable energy in world’s energy supply. GSEII has formed a strategic partnership with the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) to achieve progress toward goals shared with SE4All.
September 2010. UN High-Level Review Meeting of the Mauritius Strategy for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States
“Mr. President, I would submit that SIDS may be holding the path to the solution of energy and climate problems. Transformation of SIDS energy base to renewables and greening of their economies is the best possible win-win opportunity that is there before us. Most SIDS are highly dependent on imported oil and other fossil fuels. Fortunately, many of the small island states have renewable energy resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and there is vast potential for energy efficiency. The international community must scale up the efforts to transform the energy base of small island states…”
-From Nasir Khattak’s remarks before the UN General Assembly | Read on here
October 2008.
OAS Launches the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Program
In 2008, the Department of Sustainable Development of the Organization of American States launched the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Program (CSEP), a project designed to build upon the successes of the Global Sustainable Energy Islands Initiative (GSEII) in the Caribbean. Working in Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, CSEP aims to address market barriers to these islands’ transition toward cleaner, more sustainable energy use.
CSEP Launch Presentation from OAS (PDF)
(Photo above: CSEP stakeholders meet in St. Kitts and Nevis with OAS representatives.)
August 2007.
Pacific Power Association’s Annual CEO’s Meeting
In August 2007, the Pacific Power Association (PPA) held its annual CEO’s meeting in Majuro, Marshall Islands. Recognizing that engineers of many of the Pacific utilities lack sustainability education especially in areas such as renewable energy and energy efficiency, most of the workshops focused on these topics. The Climate Institute, in cooperation with the Alliance of Small Island States, has arranged educational sessions focusing on efficiency.
September 2006.
Washington Summit on Climate Stabilization
On September 19-20, 2006 the Climate Institute hosted the Washington Summit on Climate Stabilization, exploring the possibility of rapid climate change. Featured at this event was the launching of the International Leadership Alliance by a coalition of island nations and developing states, expanding on GSEII’s work in their commitment in pioneering climate protection strategies. The summit also marked the 20th anniversary of the Climate Institute.
(Photo at right: Sir Crispin Tickell awards Iceland President Grimsson the Climate Institute’s Global Environmental Leadership Award.)
June 2006.
St. Kitts and Nevis Sustainable Energy Plan Stakeholders Meeting
On June 13th, 2006 representatives of GSEII and its partners met in St. Kitts to discuss the potential for sustainable energy developments on the islands. Presentations given at this meeting are listed: St. Kitts and Nevis Sustainable Energy Plan (PowerPoint presentation, 3MB)
A thesis by Kevin de Cuba of OAS addressing sustainable energy issues in St. Kitts and Nevis is listed: Towards a Sustainable Energy Plan for St. Kitts and Nevis (PDF, 6.3MB)
May 2006.
UN CSD-14 Side Event
In a special event entitled “Global Sustainable Energy Islands-Leading by Example,” the GSEII team and ambassadors to the United Nations from the Marshall Islands, Dominica, and St. Kitts and Nevis imparted the progress of the GSEII initiative. The meeting showcased the progress of the nations in developing sustainable energy initiatives, demonstrating that leadership, targeted planning, and collective action may result in true positive change.
Final Proceedings Report (May 2006) (PDF, 178KB)
April 2006.
St. Lucia Energy Policy Stakeholders Meeting
Sponsored by GSEII and the German aid agency Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), a meeting was held in St. Lucia to discuss the nation’s energy policy and progress over the past five years. Resulting from this meeting, in which representatives of the St. Lucian government agencies, utilities, and private and trade organizations were present, were prioritized actions to meet the nation’s sustainable energy plan targets for the year 2010.
March 2006.
Global Environmental Facility (GEF) Stakeholders Meeting
The GSEII team held a stakeholders meeting in Dominica to review the nation’s sustainable energy plan and progress, particularly with regards to its development of geothermal energy. The project document for this initiative, the Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Development Project, was finalized at this meeting.
September 2005.
Caribbean Solar Financing Program Training Session
Organized in St. Lucia, a training session intended to familiarize representatives of the island’s credit unions with solar hot water system technology and financial methods facilitating their adoption occurred. This event, arranged by representatives of the UNIDO-GSEII team, was one that marked the initial phase of the Caribbean Solar Financing Program.
July 2005.
“Clean Development Mechanism and Emission Reduction Credits- Opportunities for the Caribbean Utility Sector”
The Climate Institute and the Center for Clean Air Policy (CCAP) organized a training session at the Engineers Conference of the Caribbean Electric Utilities Services Corporation (CARILEC) in Antigua in July 2005. Designed to inform Caribbean utility companies of climate change, the Kyoto Protocol, the Clean Development Mechanism project and the opportunities and challenges arising from each, the session succeeded in generating new ideas for electrical projects in Caribbean nations.
March 2005.
Engineer Training Session for Pacific Power and Associates (PPA)
In March 2005, the Climate Institute arranged and helped organize a detailed two week training session on renewable energy for the PPA engineers with the help of E-7 Utilities. The agenda for this workshop included wind energy assessment, project development, turbine technology and grid connection, solar photovoltaic design, operation, and maintenance, as well as micro-hydroelectric site survey, planning, and design.
The Climate Institute has been able to facilitate the E-7 utilities involvement in the Pacific and will be coordinating training activities between PPA and E-7. A proposal for E-7 collaboration with CARILEC is also under development, which also involves UNIDO. Furthermore, the Climate Institute has also been offered honorary membership in the Pacific Power Association, which will be confirmed during 2005.
January 10-15, 2005.
SIDS Mauritius International Meeting
The island nations are mostly dependent on imported fossil fuel, the rising price of which is increasingly putting huge burdens on their terms of trade and economic growth. There is an urgent need to develop an energy agenda for the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) consistent with their indigenous resources and less prone to disruption by external forces. In addition, by taking actions on renewable energy and efficiency, and reducing their greenhouse gas emissions, SIDS can promote and help build international awareness on climate change and set examples for bigger countries to follow.
A major special event, Clean Energy Islands: SIDS as Examples of Sustainable Development was organized during the SIDS International Meeting in Mauritius in January 2005. This event was co-funded by the UNF/UNIDO project and was able to bring to the event the Minister from the Marshall Islands and the Ministers from Dominica and St. Lucia who presented the sustainable energy initiatives of their governments. This event highlighted the leadership taken by the SIDS on clean energy in order to encourage the rest of the world by example.
Clean Energy Islands, a presentation by Hon. Tom Roper (PDF, 1.29 MB)
ADMIRE presentation — Acting for the Development of Marshall Islands Renewable Energy (PDF, 139 KB)
December 2004.
COP-10 Side Event with OAS
In December 2004, the Organization of American States (OAS) presented progress on the Geo-Caraibes and GSEII activities at a side event organized by the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership at the 10th Meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP-10) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).
The Organization of American States (OAS), a partner in the GSEII, has been able to actively engage the utilities in St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Kitts & Nevis to participate in a major Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Energy Project. The Eastern Caribbean Geothermal Development Project (Geo-Caraïbes) is the direct result of the GSEII work in Dominica. The project focuses on St. Lucia, Dominica and St. Kitts & Nevis, and seeks to catalyze the development of one or more geothermal power plants that might export electricity to several islands of the region, including Guadeloupe and/or Martinique.
August 2004.
Annual Conference of Pacific Power and Associates (PPA)
In the Pacific, GSEII helped organize and prepare the agenda of August 2004 Annual Conference of the Pacific Power Association (PPA) to ensure that the Pacific utilities continue to focus on renewable energy technologies. The Honorable Tom Roper (of the Climate Institute) delivered the keynote address “Building Island Communities Through Strong Utilities.” (PDF, 29 KB) An Engineer’s workshop with renewable energy components was also held at the event.
Presentation by Hon. Tom Roper to the PPA on Utilities and Sustainable Development (PDF, 1.68 MB)
April 23, 2004.
UN CSD-12 Side Event
On April 23rd, 2004, a short side event was organized by the Climate Institute and partner organizations for the UN CSD-12 session in New York to highlight the leadership of small island states in clean energy. The UN Ambassadors from St. Lucia and Dominica presented the progress made by their countries. The UN Ambassador from Grenada attended, and the Vice Chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Ambassador Enele Sopoaga of Tuvalu, gave the keynote address.
While these islands are among those which carry the least blame for climate change, they have all taken significant steps to increase their use of sustainable energy technologies, and this event gave them the opportunity to present the progress made by their countries in developing and implementing their sustainable energy plans.
Presentation by Hon. Tom Roper on Role and Goals of GSEII (PDF, 592 KB)
