Despite increasingly intense natural disasters and a high dependency on fossil fuels, Small Island Developing States (SIDS) have demonstrated strong leadership by setting ambitious climate targets and national energy policies in pursuit of Paris Agreement and Sustainable Development Goals. On-ground capacity building, project facilitation and access to international finance are critical to support SIDS in their energy transitions.
Increasing the private sector’s participation as independent power producers and committing private capital towards renewable projects in SIDS was the focus of a week-long roundtable kicking off on Monday 28 August in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. The capacity building roundtable for islands in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and South China Sea was organised by IRENA through its SIDS Lighthouses Initiative.
