Forum Information

European Union meets Latin America on Renewable Energy

Background

The efficient use of the abundant natural resources, especially of the renewable energies, represents a great opportunity for the sustainable development of the Latin American countries. The Energy and Environment Partnership with Central America, is an initiative launched during the United Nations World Summit in Johannesburg 2002 by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland in coordination with the General Secretariat of the Central American System for Integration (SG-SICA) and the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD); which promotes the utilization of the renewable energies in the region, in order to have a major participation in satisfying their energy needs, contributing in this way to the poverty alleviation and the mitigation of the global Climate Change.

The Partnership has 64 members among public and private institutions in Central America and Europe, and currently has 75 demonstrative projects under execution at the regional level. Also, semiannually the Partnership organizes the major renewable energy events in Central America, and during the Finnish Presidency of the European Union, in the period from July to December of 2006, it has been programmed the FORUM “European Union Meets Latin America on Renewable Energy”, to be held at Hotel El Panama in Panama City from 9 to 11 of October of 2006, in coordination with the National Administration of the Environment of Panama (ANAM) and other institutions.

NOTE: English - Spanish simultaneous translation available.

Objectives

Present the global situation of the renewable energies, motivating political actions, and technology and know-how transfer.
Facilitate dialogue between the private and governmental sectors.
Creation of a contacts network for information exchange and promotion of commercial alliances between Europe and Latin America.
Present financing opportunities and impulse the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)
III Meeting of Ministers of Energy and Environment of Central America