President Faure represents SIDS DOCK at World Future Energy Summit |19 January 2018
Aside from representing Seychelles, President Danny Faure also represented the Small Island Developing States Dock Assembly (SIDS DOCK) at the World Future Energy Summit (WFES) held in Abu Dhabi as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2018.
President Faure was elected as President of the third SIDS DOCK Assembly -- a small island developing states initiative for renewable energy and sustainable development -- during the last United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) held in New York in September 2017.
SIDS DOCK was established by SIDS to facilitate the transformation of the SIDS energy sector and build resilience to the impacts of a changing climate by providing a collectively approach to the most critical needs and challenges of countries, and seek to transform a liquid petroleum dominated sector to low carbon economies dominated by renewable energy and efficiency.
“The presence of SIDS DOCK at this year’s World Future Energy Summit presents a major strategic occasion for small island states where the ideals of true and genuine partnerships have been evolving, developing and strengthening across small islands, while we are always looking for partners to help us grow, hence within this context WFES presents the ideal forum for us to engage in innovative ways and partnerships to enhance and expedite our journey to sustainable energy for all SIDS,” declared President Faure.
SIDS DOCK is the only SIDS body to be officially recognised by the UN as a United Nations treaty organisation and have so far met on the sidelines of the UNGA in New York.
WFES, which ended yesterday, was a chance for over 30,000 professionals to join together to learn, network and source business solutions from the advancing future energy and clean technology. The four-day Summit was held at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC).
Background
The Third Assembly approved the SIDS DOCK Secretariat’s Annual Work Programme (2017-2018), focusing on four main programmes:
(1) Our Oceans Programme includes the Blue Guardians, being led by the Seychelles, where the SIDS DOCK Secretariat and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) with support from GRID-Arendal and the Permanent Missions to the United Nations of Samoa, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and the Seychelles, are partnering to protect the oceans and develop climate-resilient Blue Economies; we will also be developing proposals to support the financing and building of the first ocean energy, desalinated water, food demonstration, Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) facilities in SIDS.
(2) The Electric Vehicle Pilot is being developed as an EV Transportation Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) for small islands, to reduce importation of petroleum fuels by accelerating EV deployment across the SIDS, focusing on aggregated procurement by SIDS governments of fleet vehicles (taxis, public sector transportation, and corporate entities including car and bike rental agencies operating in the tourism industry).
(3) The SIDS DOCK Island Women Open Network or the IWON, as it is known, has been building its coalition across the SIDS, steadily advancing the empowerment of women and girls in the field of renewable energy. In September 2017, on the margins of the Third Assembly of SIDS DOCK, Seychelles was elected Vice-President of the SIDS DOCK IWON.
(4) SIDS Regional Centres in Barbados and Tonga. Regional Centres, UNIDO and Austria provide the capacity for implementation and building the next levels of capacity needed to move away from imported fuels and greenhouse gas emissions.