MINISTER LIBURD SAYS ENERGY SECTOR WILL DECIDE CARICOM’S FUTURE

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 01, 2016 (SKNIS): Minister of Public Infrastructure, Post, Urban Development and Transport, Honourable Ian Patches Liburd, told energy stakeholders at a recent conference that the energy sector is vital to sustainable development within the CARICOM (Caribbean Community).

Speaking at an energy conference held at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, under the theme “Leveraging the Sustainable Development Goals for an Energy-secure Caribbean” Minister Liburd said that “as countries in the Caribbean region, we face a common challenge in that we are heavily dependent upon the use of fossil-fuel oil to generate electricity, while highlighting that “reducing fossil fuel costs must be a priority for the Caribbean region.”

In quoting US Secretary of State John Kerry as saying that “energy is the market of the future”, Minister Liburd said that the energy sector will determine our future.”

“We must provide incentives for industry and public education to help in encouraging energy efficiency and in moving towards low carbon growth and growth that is equitable for developing countries like ours in the Caribbean Region,” Minister Liburd said.

In an age of climate-change, CARICOM is on the move to reduce

His comments come as the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) moves to shore up a regional approach to realising a secure and efficient energy future for its member countries. And this, at a time when the climate is changing – fuelled by greenhouse gas emissions, a primary source of which is fossil fuels such as oil, on which the region is so dependent.

The CARICOM Energy Policy was approved in 2013 and only last week, Dr Devon Gardner, programme manager for energy with the CARICOM Secretariat, revealed that work is to begin shortly on an energy efficiency strategy for the region.

 

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