Energy Chamber: Go faster, more boldly towards change

THE Caribbean needs to move faster and more boldly in making the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner, more sustainable energy sources.

Energy Chamber of Trinidad and Tobago chairman Dwight Mahabir expressed this view at the opening of the virtual Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference 2022 on Monday.

"We are confident that the region can indeed make the bold changes that are needed and create a sustainable future for the Caribbean." While the challenge to making this change is daunting, Mahabir said, "The region has taken on big challenges in the past and has shown that when we put our minds to it – this remarkable set of small nations can be world leaders."

But he added that regional stakeholders need to be bold and act fast.

Mahabir reminded participants that when the covid19 pandemic began two years ago, "Everybody across society had to quickly adapt and to do things differently."

The Caribbean and TT were no exception to this new reality.

"A lot of us in the business community had spoken about work-from-home policies and virtual meetings for many years, but the reality is that most of us had not gone far beyond talk."

Mahabir said the pandemic forced businesses to take action and "we all scrambled to make the necessary adjustments and adapt to new ways of working."

As devastating as the pandemic has been and continues to be, he continued, it reminded the world's population about the famous cliche about necessity forcing them to become creative and inventive. He believed the same thinking was needed regarding the transition from traditional to new, sustainable energy resources.

"It will involve the wholesale reorientation of the energy systems which have been applied to literally build the modern world. " Mahabir said, "It is going to need trillions of dollars of new capital investment and new technologies and innovations that, in some cases, do not yet exist. It is going to need new policies, new fiscal instruments, and new relationships between the public and private sector."

Reiterating that these actions will be tough and complex things to do, Mahabir said, "Just as with the pandemic, we have no choice. The cost of inaction is just too high."

BPTT CEO Clare Fitzpatrick said, Our ability to meet climate commitments and the energy needs of the people in the Caribbean will take all hands on deck.

"Companies like ours need to continue to take action to improve our operations and to partner and work with others to support broader country and regional goals."

While governments have a role to play to frame policy and regulatory frameworks that can support investment, Fitzpatrick said business organisations like the Energy Chamber also "have a role to play in supporting thought leadership and collaboration across industry stakeholders."

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