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Pacific Islands Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy Project (PIGGAREP) - Regional Interventions

Country drivenness is one the key characteristics of the PIGGAREP. Therefore, the PIGGAREP interventions are country-driven and are country-specific. However, the PIGGAREP is flexible to accommodate priorities, which are common among two or more PICs and which can be more efficiently and cost-effectively delivered as a regional intervention. These include the following:

SIS Capacity Building Workshop on Renewable Energy Technology Applications: 21-25 April 2008, Port Vila, Vanuatu

Background Programme Participants Presentations Outcome & Follow-up

Background

Climate change has been recognized by the Forum Leaders as one of the most serious threats to the Pacific. The Pacific islands have already experienced, and will continue to experience the adverse effects of climate change and these are expected to worsen over the coming decades. For some low lying atoll countries, climate change may even threaten their very existence, as confirmed by the recently published Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, AR4.

It is estimated that for every $10 increase in the price of oil, national incomes for the Federated States of Micronesia and Kiribati reduce by over 4% and by at least 2% in Tonga, Tuvalu, Palau and the Solomon Islands. A meeting of Pacific Energy Ministers held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands, 25-26 April 2007 noted that biofuels of a recognized quality standard could make an important contribution to GHG mitigation and to energy security and sustainable supply. It noted that local biofuel production should be evaluated and progressed where it is economically viable and environmentally sustainable.

At the Sixteenth SIS Leaders’ Summit held at Nuku’alofa, Tonga on 15 October 2007, the Summit noted that non-fossil solutions are viable and critical, particularly for the Smaller Island States, which face particular hardships as a result of climate change and sea level rise. SIS Leaders’ requested the support of development partners to improve the Pacific access to and affordability of such technology, including through the coordination of efforts at national level and to support the implementation of the priorities identified by Energy Ministers.

The Global Environment Facility, through UNDP, is providing funds through the SPREP-executed Pacific Islands Greenhouse Gas Abatement through Renewable Energy (PIGGAREP) to assist SIS in their GHG mitigation effort through renewable energy. At the same time, the government of Taiwan is providing funds through the Smaller Island States Sustainable Solar Initiative (SI3SI) to improve the solar electricity project management skills in the SIS, disseminate the experiences from the RMI Action for the Development of Marshall Is Renewable Energy (ADMIRE) and a consultancy to produce of a TV documentary to highlight and disseminate the successes of renewable energy projects in the SIS, PICs and SIDS.

For the production of the TV documentary, PIGGAREP is also participating in a SPREP-British High Commission Climate Change Film Project (CCFP) which will train and support media professionals, filmmakers and producers from Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu to research, develop and produce their own short film on how climate change is affecting their country. Their stories will not only highlight the effects of climate change, but share the inspirational stories about what is being done to reduce its impact, including renewable energy and it productive utilisation.

Through the collaboration between PIGGAREP, SI3SI, CCFP and REEEP , a SIS Capacity Building Workshop on Renewable Energy Technology Applications was held at Port Vila, Vanuatu on the 21st – 25th April 2008.

Workshop Objectives

The objectives of the workshop were:

• To strengthen the capacity in the SIS to Productively Utilize Renewable Energy (PURE) services from standalone and grid-connected PV, wind and biofuel through the sharing of RE experiences, and
• To enable SIS to observe and to learn from the biofuel and wind power developments as well as the RE developments in Australia and other PICs

A Workshop Report was produced including an evaluation of the event by the participants.