4th Growth and Resilience Dialogue with Social Partners Presentation

The opportunity of scaling up clean energy in the Caribbean.

 Expensive imports of fuel for electricity generation impose a drain on hard currency reserves, increase the cost of doing business, erode competitiveness and limit economic growth.  Given abundant resources, renewable energy has rightly been identified as a solution towards sustainability and resilience as well as growth in jobs and economy.  Energy efficiency presents ample savings opportunity for residential and commercial consumers, as well as for municipalities (buildings incl. schools and hospitals, street lighting, water utilities) and industry. Consumer-side energy efficiency measures could save 12% to 25% of current electricity use, equivalent to over US$5 million savings per year.  Progress has already been made in setting the stage for a clean energy transition. Scaling up renewable energy and energy efficiency in the region can be achieved through a robust legal, regulatory, normative framework and implementation of sustainable financing mechanisms.