Barbados Prime Minister Freundel Stuart will deliver the feature address at the European Union-Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference that begins here on Monday. An EU statement noted that immediately after the opening ceremony that will also be addressed by Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General Irwin La Rocque and the newly appointed EU Ambassador to Barbados, Daniela Tramacere, a number of agreements will be signed with CARICOM and Caribbean Forum (CARIFORM) countries. It said these include a three million Euro (One Euro = US$1.29 cents) allocation to Barbados for renewable energy under the European Development Fund (EDF) and a Euro9.2 million grant for the implementation of the Caribbean energy policies.

EU-GIZ partnership to benefit island communities and schools through improved supply of clean water, access to solar-powered electricity and fuel from biogas. Fourteen Pacific island countries and Timor Leste are working on 22 projects to increase resilience and improve access to fresh water and energy for island communities. The projects are funded by the European Union, through their EDF10 Pacific Regional Programme (PRIP).

The European Union and Kiribati have signed an agreement for a $US5.6 million energy project. The project is framed in the EU-New Zealand energy partnership that has delivered renewable energy projects in Tuvalu, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Kiribati. Kiribati Minister, Teuea Toatu; EU Ambassador to the Pacific, Andrew Jacobs and General Manager, NETCON representative Luke van Zeller. In June the partnership was expanded to include Niue, Tonga, and countries in the Northern Pacific.

The European Union is committed to supporting sustainable energy projects in Pacific countries and has established a strong partnership with New Zealand for this purpose, says head of the EU Delegation for the Pacific Andrew Jacobs. This is after the EU and Kiribati signed a euro 3.7 million ($F8m) energy project last Wednesday which is framed in the EU-NZ Pacific energy partnership that was established at the Pacific Energy Summit in 2013. The partnership has delivered renewable energy projects in Tuvalu, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Kiribati.

The European Union (EU) and the Republic of Kiribati today signed a 5 Million Euro energy project. The project is framed in the European Union –New Zealand energy partnership that was established at the Pacific Energy Summit in 2013, which has delivered renewable energy projects in Tuvalu, Samoa, the Cook Islands and Kiribati. At the Pacific Energy Conference held in Auckland, New Zealand in June, 2016, this partnership expanded to include Niue, Tonga, and the Northern Pacific.

Renewable energy projects across the world received funding worth $6 billion in 2015 from multilateral banks, a recent report has revealed. The World Bank, The European Investment Bank (EIB), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) provided a total of $25 billion in climate finance across the world. Around 20% of this investment (i.e., $5 billion) went into adaptation projects, while the remaining 80% was invested into mitigation projects.

SIDA, the Swedish aid agency, is paying for Energy 4 Impact to roll out a new off-grid renewable energy support programme in Rwanda. The programme started in July and ends in June 2019. According to a release, it is designed to support government priorities to reduce poverty and increase energy access in rural areas. The Rwanda government targets to increase access to electricity to 70% by 2018 out of which 22% will be through off grid connections. As off now, off grid connections account for less than 2%

Africa remains one of the most difficult markets to penetrate, riddled by bankability issues and a distinct lack of the right kind of strategic partnerships. To expedite and support solar investment on the continent, SolarPower Europe and the Africa-EU Renewable Energy Cooperation Programme (RECP) have teamed up to facilitate business cooperation between African and European stakeholders. The RECP is a development programme funded by the European Commission and several EU member states including Austria, Finland, Sweden, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

Africa’s bid to combat the potentially devastating consequences of climate change has received a major boost with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and European Union announcing plans to spend €3.42 million to bolster low-carbon, climate-resilient development on the continent. Climate change threatens to push millions of people in Africa into extreme poverty by 2030 as crop yields decline, water grows scarce, droughts intensify and food prices increase. Roughly 18 million people on the continent could be affected by floods every year as global warming rises.

In East Africa, the government of Rwanda has received a grant from Belgium within the framework of improving access to reliable on grid electricity services for households and public priority institutions. Government intends to apply a portion of the funds to eligible payments under the contract for the supply of electrical material and accessories for power lines. Bidding will be conducted in accordance with the law No 05/2013 of 13/02/2013 modifying and complementing the Law No 12/2007 of 27/03/2007 on public procurement.