Saint Lucia: The new Caribbean Energy Chamber also known as CEC is to be established by the government of Saint Lucia in cooperation with other Caribbean nations to address the energy challenges being faced by the Caribbean. It is also intended to bring affordable zero energy security of supply in the region. The headquarters of the project is situated in Saint Lucia.
The establishment of this chamber project for the entire Caribbean is an important milestone for the region and efforts to address energy transition and security issues. The Caribbean Energy Chamber is to be situated under the leadership of Melanie Chen, the Founding President of the initiative.
As per the reports, the project is said to be a non-profit, non-partisan, and will be taken care of by an independent organisation. In the first three years, the project will be overseen by a board of 23 founding members.
After that, the Caribbean Energy Chamber with its headquarters in Saint Lucia goes through an election process to annually elect its board of directors. The members are of the companies and individuals from both the Caribbean and the rest of the world.
As per the statement of President Melanie, the Caribbean Energy Chamber acts as a central hub that brings together all Caribbean energy stakeholders, including both the public and private sectors.
It is also said that the Chamber plans to organise workshops, round table discussions, and breakout sessions to promote cooperation and action on energy transition and security measures across the region.
The governments of Caribbean nations and institutions considered the decision to establish a Caribbean Energy Chamber in Saint Lucia within the time for the better usefulness of the project for the betterment of the region.
The open nature of the economies of the Caribbean nations together with a progressive foreign policy, encourages the region to actively seek cooperation with international partners to promote the betterment of the citizens of the island nations.
As part of its first initiatives, the Caribbean Energy Chamber will focus on several key areas, including energy efficiency, technical capacity deployment, grid modernisation, and the promotion of distributed generation.
Chen expressed his optimism for cooperation in the Caribbean and with the global community, while highlighting the importance of recognising differences and also focusing on shared values. Chen also noted that the collaboration provides a platform to improve energy security in the Caribbean through sustainable policies that have a lasting impact on individuals.
Eugene Tiah, CEO and the Founding Director, mentioned about the impact of climate change on the Caribbean and also talked about the need for global cooperation to take steps to solve its effects. The issues such as geopolitical tension and conflicts which lead to the increase in the price of resources and food also mentioned in the statement.
Verne Emmanuel, the Founding Vice President, also mentioned about the optimism shown by Chen and mentioned that the Caribbean Energy Chamber will play role as a regional cooperation mechanism with improve in energy security and effectively respond to current and future challenges.
The establishment of the Caribbean Energy House reflects a concerted effort to address energy challenges in a collaborative manner while showing the commitment of the governments in the region to sustainability at time of conflicts and global uncertainty.