(26 September 2024) Within the framework of the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, representatives of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), UN Energy and the Central American Integration System (SICA) presented the Regional Energy Compacts at the side-event “Advancing SDG 7 in Central America and the Dominican Republic”. The five Energy Compacts are:
This initiative was promoted by ECLAC’s Subregional Headquarters in Mexico through its Energy and Natural Resources Unit, with the objective of supporting the fulfillment of SDG 7 and reinforcing the actions of the 2030 Sustainable Energy Strategy of the SICA countries.
ECLAC, in coordination with SICA’s General Secretariat and its Energy Planning Technical Group (GTPE), led the process that culminated in the approval of the Compacts at the XVII Regular Meeting of SICA’s Energy Ministers Council, held on 20 June 2024 in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
The CEO of SE4All and UN Energy Co-Chair, Damilola Ogunbiyi, highlighted that the agreement reached by the SICA countries is a testament to regional cooperation and to the actions needed towards a sustainable and resilient future.
“I congratulate SICA and the Pro Tempore Presidency of Honduras for developing five new Energy Compacts, for their commitment towards a significant progress on universal access to electricity and for scaling up renewable energy, reflecting the region's strong commitment to SDG 7,” said Ogunbiyi.
In a message sent from Mexico, the Officer-in-Charge of ECLAC's Subregional Headquarters, Jorge Mario Martínez Piva, said that the commitments agreed by the SICA member countries through the Energy Compacts reflect their efforts to achieve the goals of universal access to modern energy, increasing the share of renewable energy in their energy matrices and improving energy efficiency.
“ECLAC will continue to support regional energy integration to promote more access to electricity and to clean cooking fuels and technologies, more energy generation with renewable sources, and more energy efficiency”, he said.
Debora Ley, Head of the Energy and Natural Resources Unit of ECLAC’s Subregional Headquarters in Mexico, highlighted the impact of the Compacts: “The actions proposed in SICA’s Regional Energy Compacts, based on the 2030 Sustainable Energy Strategy of the SICA countries, which was coordinated by ECLAC, will contribute to a just energy transition that favors more energy generation through renewable sources, access to modern, reliable and affordable energy for all, and improved energy efficiency in all energy consumption sectors”.
Ingrid Figueroa, from SICA’s General Secretariat, expressed her appreciation for the regional collaborative efforts, noting that “the Compacts represent a milestone on the road to energy integration and sustainable development in Central America and the Dominican Republic”.
The event was also attended by Bahareh Seyedi, Senior Sustainable Development Officer of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA); Stephanie Tatiana Orellana, Coordinator of the Energy Coordination Unit of the General Secretariat of SICA; Tomás Antonio Rodríguez, Undersecretary of State in the Office of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency of the Ministry of Energy (SEN) of Honduras, and Carlos Cordero, Director of the Secretariat of Sectoral Planning of Environment and Energy (SEPLASA) of the Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAE) of Costa Rica.
The approval of the Regional Energy Compacts reaffirms the commitment of the SICA member countries and ECLAC to contribute to the fulfillment of the SDG 7 targets and in the promotion of a sustainable energy agenda within the region.
