Clean energy talks held with UK’s COP President-Designate

THE UK’s Conference of the Parties or COP26 President-Designate, the Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma, made an official visit to Barbados from July 7th to 8th. Whilst on island, he met with key stakeholders from the public, private and NGO sectors, to discuss this country’s success in implementing renewable and energy-efficient technologies.

As President-Designate of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26), Minister Sharma has been focusing on delivering a successful COP that reflects the UK’s leadership on climate and the British Government’s work to mobilise global action that supports ambitious climate adaptation, mitigation and finance measures. As such, part of his engagements saw him exploring how Barbados’ public and private sectors are working together to achieve the country’s clean energy ambitions. These discussions were hosted by electric vehicle supplier, MegaPower, at its head office in The Edghill Building in Wildey, St. Michael yesterday.

While on site there, introductions were made by Laura Ferguson, Regional Director for the Caribbean in the UK Department of International Trade, after which Mr. Sharma participated in a photo opportunity with officials present and also experienced first-hand being driven in one of the company’s electric vehicles, ahead of the discussions.

The actual meeting included senior representatives from the Ministry of Energy and Water Resources, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Investment, the Caribbean Centre for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency (CCREEE), Megapower Ltd., ZOOM EV (UK) and representatives of the UK’s Department of International Trade.

The event provided an opportunity for the COP President-Designate (CPD) to hear first-hand about how Barbados’ private and public sectors are working together to address the challenges and opportunities faced when transitioning to carbon neutrality and their plans to increase this co-operation in the future.

Mr. Scott Furssedonn-Wood, British High Commissioner to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, noted that the visit by the UK’s CPD allowed for a valuable opportunity to reflect on Barbados’ success in advancing its “clean growth targets” and the event also provided a real-world demonstration of how the UK can partner with Barbados on this objective.

It has been noted that several UK clean energy suppliers are already partnering with Barbados’ private sector companies and key ministries, to provide knowledge transfer and invaluable access to UK technologies.

Joanna Edghill, Managing Director and Co-founder of Megapower Ltd., meanwhile commented that the British High Commission has been a key source of support in shifting public perceptions about electric vehicles here in Barbados. Having been incorporated in June 2013, Edghill noted that Megapower applied to the British High Commission in Barbados for a grant for a public awareness event and the funding received ensured that the campaign was extremely effective, making the switch to electric vehicles much easier.