PUNTA CANA, La Altagracia. PUNTA CANA, La Altagracia. - Energy Ministers from countries across the Americas, along with representatives of the United States government, the Organization of American States (OAS), the World Bank (WB), and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), are set to participate in the VI Ministerial Meeting of the Energy and Climate Alliance of the Americas (ECPA). The event is hosted by the Ministry of Energy and Mines of the Dominican Republic and will take place in Punta Cana on the 14th and 15th of March 2022. The theme of this year's meeting is "Renewable Energies of the Americas: integration and innovation."
Vice President Raquel Peña along with the Minister of Energy and Mines, Antonio Almonte, will head the meeting.
The event will include signing three bilateral cooperation agreements between the Dominican Republic and Chile, Panama and the Dominican Republic, and Chile and Panama.
Delegates from various international organizations will present on the need to promote the decarbonization process, including the United States Department of State, the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), and the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA).
Minister Almonte stated that the Dominican government's strategic objective is to promote a fair and equitable energy transition by integrating renewable energies into the national electrical matrix, which will significantly help decarbonize the sector.
The summit aims to promote dialogue and cooperation among regional countries to achieve a fair and inclusive energy transition and work towards the common net-zero emissions goal.
This year's event will address issues related to the energy transition, such as advancing fair and inclusive energy policies in the Americas, decarbonizing heavy industry, accelerating hydrogen financing in the Americas, and the future of energy: challenges and technologies for decarbonization. The meeting seeks to promote private investment in the sector and strengthen regional cooperation mechanisms to support energy transition efforts.
The ECPA event will have the special participation of Mr. Mark Phillips, the Prime Minister of Guyana; Jordan Schwartz, the Executive Vice President of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB); Lilia Burunciuc, the Director of Operations for the Caribbean of the World Bank (WB); and Roberto Álvarez, the Chancellor of the Dominican Republic. Additionally, 17 energy ministries from the region will be represented at the event, along with members of the Energy and Water Unit of the Economic Commission for Latin America (ECLAC) and the Latin American Energy Organization (Olade).
The VI Ministerial Meeting of the Energy and Climate Alliance of the Americas promises to be an exciting event, bringing together key stakeholders to promote sustainable energy development and a fair and inclusive energy transition in the region.
What is ECPA?
ECPA is an initiative of the Organization of American States, launched at the 2009 Summit of the Americas. Its objective is to promote sustainable energy development in the region through cooperation, political dialogue, technical exchange, and dissemination.
In this sense, the promotion of cleaner energy sources, universal access to energy, the development of energy efficiency systems, the promotion of regional integration, the commitment to the development of energy infrastructures stand out as pillars of ECPA. . resilient, the fight against energy poverty, and the development of capacities, research and implementation of innovative technologies and nature-based solutions that contribute to mitigating climate change.
Currently, the ECPA steering committee is made up of 34 countries and is chaired by the Dominican Republic, host of the 2024 ministerial meeting.
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