Island States get boost for moving into renewable energy

(ADPnews) - Dec 9, 2010 - The Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), the Government of Denmark, the World Bank, and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding, an initiative aimed at increasing AOSIS countries’ access to renewable sources of energy.

An DKK 80 million (USD 14.2m/EUR 10.7m) pledge of support from the Government of Denmark has helped kick off the initiative, which is expected to help island states from the Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific Islands regions transition to low-emission, climate-resilient development paths, the World Bank said yesterday.

Because of their size and remoteness, most small island developing states are heavily dependent on imported petroleum for their energy needs. Some countries spend an estimated 25–50% of their GDP on imported oil, which leads to very high domestic electricity costs.

The World Bank and the UNDP will facilitate the trust fund that will be established via the memorandum of understanding.

(DKK 1.0 = USD 0.177/EUR 0.134)

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