THE extensive work done by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) in the area of energy will soon translate into action for the region, Minister of State in the Office of the Prime Minister of Barbados, Darcy Boyce, said as he addressed the 73rd Special Meeting of COTED on Energy on Thursday.

The 73rd Special Meeting of COTED on Energy was convened at the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, Guyana. The meeting was held one day after the Government of Montserrat ratified the agreement which established the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE).

CCREEE is an institution of CARICOM with a mandate to promote renewable energy and energy efficiency investments, markets and industries in the Caribbean. It aims at improving access to modern, affordable and reliable energy services, energy security and mitigation of negative externalities of the energy system by promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Together with Barbados, Dominica, Jamaica and Belize, Montserrat became the fifth CARICOM member state to do so, thereby allowing for the establishment of the centre’s legal identity by mid-May.

The centre is intended to function as the implementation hub for the CARICOM Energy Policy, as well as the Caribbean Sustainable Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS).
At the opening ceremony of the COTED Special Meeting, Minister Boyce, who chaired the proceedings, expressed optimism about the future of the region’s energy sector.

“Today’s agenda makes me smile because it looks like we just about there, and we just need a little bit more to get us over the hump, to get this programme going,” he said.
The Barbadian Minister of State noted that the programme for continued energy development in the region has several implications, particularly on countries’ foreign exchange and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Our focus on energy has been driven by our quest to reduce for many of us, the foreign exchange that we have to find to fuel the energy for our economies,” he said.
As the region makes strides in achieving its regional agenda, Minister Boyce urged his fellow regional leaders to ensure that the benefits of such development and progress trickle down to the man in the street.

“We also have to make sure that the benefits of the work we are doing in renewable energy and energy efficiency and all those things benefit the average consumer,” he emphasised, adding that those with ministerial responsibilities have an even bigger role to play in ensuring the benefits are felt by the people on the ground.
“This is not just an exercise in academics, this is an exercise of practical living for many people who could barely afford to pay their electricity.”

Minister Boyce was pleased that more attention is being placed on oil and gas in the region.
“We all also have to bear in mind that if we are the owners of resources, we ought not to let those resources stand there idly,

but we should use them for the benefits of our country and for the region. So I am glad we are not shying away from the matter of oil and gas,” he told his counterparts.
Assistant Secretary-General of Trade and Economic Integration (CARICOM Secretariat) Joseph Cox said exciting times are ahead. He noted that the agenda of the COTED Special Meeting on Energy is an “action oriented” one.

Review of the interim operations, appointment of the executive board and appointment of the executive director were among items outlined on the agenda.
“We are looking to see finite outcomes. We are looking to see the stage being set for us to really push the regional agenda in a meaningful way,” Joseph said while expressing great optimism.

He noted that already technical officers have been assigned to member countries in keeping with an established framework which allows for more strategic and effective engagements.

The assistant secretary-general also noted that up for serious consideration is a Regional Energy Efficiency Building Code (REEBC).
Guyana was represented by Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson.