Twenty islands came together for the Achieving Sustainable Energy for All in Small Island Developing States Conference, adopting the “Barbados Declaration”. The declaration calls for universal access to modern and affordable renewable energy services while ending poverty, protecting the environment and creating new economic growth opportunities. Adopted mere weeks before the UN Conference on Sustainable Development ‘Rio+20’, the declaration includes an annex with voluntary commitments of 20 small island developing states to work toward providing universal energy access, using renewable sources and decreasing fossil fuel dependence.
Barbados, the host country, announced plans to increase the share of renewable energy in the country to 29% of all electricity consumption by 2029, expecting total electricity costs to be cut by US283.5million and emissions of CO2 to be reduced by 4.5million tonnes.
Commitments of other small developing island states include Marshall Island aiming to electrify all urban households and 95% of rural households by 2015; Seychelles committing to produce 15% of their energy supply from renewable energy by 2030; Maldives committing to achieve carbon neutrality in the sector by 2030 and Mauritius planning to increase the share of renewable energy such as solar power, wind energy, landfill gas, hydroelectric power, etc. to at least 35% by 2025.
The declaration stresses the importance of open dialogue and cooperation in protecting small developing island states from oil-price volatility and economic vulnerability and focuses on commercially feasible options for providing energy.
Over 100 heads of state, ministers, leading development experts, business executives and civil society activists and UN officials from 39 countries from the Caribbean, Indian Ocean, the Pacific and Africa came together for the two-day conference.