By Barbara Vergetis Lundin From Fierce Energy

The Worldwatch Institute is assisting the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in developing a more strategic approach to implementing renewable energy and energy efficiency measures in the region, or Caribbean Sustainable Energy Roadmap and Strategy (C-SERMS).

The goal is to address the inadequate energy security of most CARICOM member states and establish them as climate-compatible economies through greater diversification of the energy supply, moving away from heavy dependence on imported petroleum products and toward smarter, more-sustainable energy technologies.

“CARICOM, as just the third regional community in the world after ASEAN and the European Union, and its member states, has now committed to ambitious renewable energy goals, raising the targeted share for renewables from only 8 percent currently to 20 percent, 28 percent, and 47 percent by the years 2017, 2022, and 2027, respectively,” said Alexander Ochs, director of Climate and Energy at Worldwatch and the Institute’s lead person for the C-SERMS project. “It is now up to member states to make the targets a reality through political and financial reform.”

With the initial sustainable energy roadmap and renewable energy targets established and the identification of critical next steps, CARICOM has the basis for a more strategic approach for advancing renewable energy and energy efficiency in the region. CARICOM states have the potential to be real leaders in the transition to sustainable energy solutions, but sizable data gaps must be filled so CARICOM can begin executing the most dynamic and well-defined strategy possible, according to WorldWatch Institute.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/caribbean-community-works-out-renewable-energy-strategy/2013-07-22

Also go to http://www.irena.org/DocumentDownloads/Publications/_CaribbeanComplete.pdf

To download the full report “Renewable Energy Country Profiles Caribbean” by IRENA