What is ECPA up to?

The next stop before Viña del Mar will be Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where representatives from countries around the region will gather April 20 to prepare for September’s Third ECPA Ministerial Meeting. In a sense, Port of Spain is the birthplace of ECPA; the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas grew out of an initiative proposed there by the U.S. Government in April 2009, at the Fifth Summit of the Americas.

This second preparatory meeting, which will bring together the ECPA National Focal Points, will build on the progress made at the first preparatory meeting, held in Miami last October. (See November 2016 newsletter.)

Participants will follow up on their initial exchanges regarding national and regional sustainable energy priorities; encourage public-private partnerships for the advancement of sustainable energy; and identify potential areas of action and deliverables to be presented at the ministerial in Chile.

Speaking recently at a meeting of the Inter-American Council for Integral Development (CIDI), Trinidad and Tobago’s Ambassador to the Organization of American States (OAS), Anthony Phillips-Spencer, noted that taking on energy concerns is a critical part of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

“The importance of addressing energy and climate issues in the region is undeniable, and it is evident that our strategies as individual countries and as a region must all be coherent, integrated, and accurately targeted,” he said.

Ambassador Phillips-Spencer said he hopes the exchanges in Port of Spain will help steer the countries toward “increased regional energy cooperation and transformation” and “increase the momentum for a successful Third Ministerial Meeting in Chile.”