The OAS Department of Sustainable Development participated in a National Energy Development Partners Forum in Saint Lucia, sharing some of the lessons it has learned through its extensive field experience in sustainable energy and energy efficiency issues, particularly in the Caribbean region.

International energy donors and partners were invited to join their local counterparts at the June 17-18 conference, held to identify ways to most effectively support the country’s goals of relying less on diesel and more on renewable energy.

“We have support coming from many different places, so we felt it was important to bring these partners together so we can create a roadmap, and address in a more structured way our path towards achieving this 35 percent renewable energy by 2020,” said Sylvester Clauzel, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sustainable Development, Energy, Science and Technology. In a news release, the ministry said the event had the potential to alter Saint Lucia’s economic future in a positive way.

Topics on the table included identifying products and services available from donor partners to support Saint Lucia’s energy development needs; determining availability of financial, technical, and capacity-building support; filling in capacity gaps in the energy development landscape; and identifying international partners interested in helping strengthen the framework for investment in local technical capacity.

The OAS presentation introduced ECPA’s Energy Efficiency Working Group initiative as an instrument that responds to countries’ requests for support in the policy, regulatory, and technical arenas. It also recommended some specific areas where the most cost-effective energy efficiency gains can be achieved, such as measures to improve traffic flow, mandatory energy efficiency codes for new buildings, and retrofits for street lighting.