UNDP AND OECS DEBATE ON SUSTEINABLE ENERGY IN BARBADOS

Bridgetown, May 8 (PL)- A meeting, attended by over 100 representatives of Small Island Developing States (SIDS), opened yesterday in Barbados under the name: Sustainable Energy for All.

The event, sponsored by the United Nations Program for Development and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, precedes a meeting preparatory to the Conference on Sustainable Development, Rio +20, next June in Brazil.

According to the organizers, the first forum of Bridgetown outlines a clear statement of the circumstances, needs and vulnerabilities of SIDS, which has members of the United Nations and other territories.

Later on, the efforts of the participants will be focused on strengthening ties and coordinate the common voice of such a large and geographically unequal group like the developing countries.

Prime Minister of Barbados, Freundel Stuart, recently said that these nations can achieve a prosperous future free of poverty by transforming their energy sector.

The Caribbean countries members of SIDS are Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago.

The group comprises also nations from other regions such as Cape Verde, Kiribati, Comoros, Mauritius, Marshall Islands, Maldives, Seychelles, Solomon, Guinea-Bissau, Sao Tome and Principe, Singapore, Fiji, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Timor-Leste, Tonga and Vanuatu.

Among the territories, the list includes Anguilla, Aruba, Virgin Islands (British and American), Montserrat, Puerto Rico, Samoa, Marianas, Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Guam, New Caledonia and Niue.

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