IN a significant effort to bolster energy security and cooperation in the Caribbean Region, the Caribbean Energy Chamber (CEC) was launched, on Monday.
Keeping the ball rolling with the array of stellar presentations at Guyana’s Energy Conference and Supply Chain Expo, on Monday, the founding Chair of CEC, Melanie Chen, said that the pan-Caribbean Chamber will be addressing pressing energy challenges within the Region.
She said: “CEC will serve as a hub for uniting all energy stakeholders in the Caribbean, including those from both public and private sectors… We will be hosting workshops, round tables, and breakout sessions at conferences aimed at enabling actions to help the implementation of energy transition and security in the Caribbean.”
Chen said that the CEC’s headquarters will be located in Saint Lucia.
According to Chen, with the formation of CEC as a regional, self-sustaining cooperative mechanism, it is her hope that it will aid in advancing energy security and prepare the region to “stand up to the challenges of today and tomorrow.”
The CEC founding Chair then went on to extend her gratitude to the Government of Guyana and St Lucia.
She said: “We would especially like to thank the Government of St. Lucia for their support… We’d also like to thank the Government of Guyana for giving us the opportunity to do the inaugural launch of CEC here today in Georgetown.”
While giving more details on the organisation, Chen said that she is in the process of locating Guyanese to represent the country and its needs on the Board.
The organisation is governed by a 23-member Founding board for the first three years, according to her.
While expounding on the challenges that the region faces, such as climate change, she said: “Climate change does not have boundaries…It will take global teamwork to help mitigate its effects.”
Chen then went on to underscore the importance of cooperation to tackle these issues, noting: “We share cooperation as a capital that brings attention to Caribbean energy security in a more consistent manner, through policies that achieve sustainable impact for the common person…Cooperation to see tangible solutions to the challenges of the energy transition, facing the Caribbean as an opportunity to work with all potential partners or the region’s future.”
