Latin America and Caribbean countries have been told that they must urgently make progress on the energy transition, with greater production of renewable energy, universalizing access to energy, and increasing energy efficiency, among other measures.
The calls have come from delegates attending a high-level workshop to help prepare a special report on the region for the International Energy Agency’s World Energy Outlook (WEO) 2023 report, which ends later on Friday.
The workshop is gathering information on the region’s energy-related needs and opportunities to prepare a special report, the WEO-2023 Latin America Energy Outlook, which will be included in the next edition of the annual report prepared by the International Energy Agency (IEA).
It has brought together high-level officials from the IEA, ministerial authorities from various countries of the region, and experts from international, regional, and multilateral organizations such as the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).
ECLAC’s Executive Secretary, José Manuel Salazar-Xirinachs, told the workshop that the energy transition not only constitutes an alternative for supporting access, energy security, and environmental sustainability but also serves as a driver of productive transformation and of the development pattern in the region.
“The current situation of cascading crises and their effects including increased poverty, a new lost decade in terms of economic growth, high inflation, and fiscal restrictions have exposed the fragility and vulnerability of countries’ energy systems, with negative impacts on energy security, equality, and sustainability. These crises have especially affected households in the most vulnerable quintiles, worsening the poverty and inequality situation,” Salazar-Xirinachs said.
He recalled that despite progress on electricity coverage in the region, which reaches 97 per cent of the population, there are still 16 million people without access to this vital service and 77 million who do not have access to clean cooking systems.
This is compounded by the fragility of countries that depend on imports of fossil fuels natural gas and oil), which reveals the low level of diversification and renewability in their energy matrix.
CMC/
