Regulations, skill gaps stall progress on green energy financing- PM

Prime Minister Mia Mottley has called on Caribbean nations to unlock the power of over $50 billion in private savings to spearhead the region’s green energy revolution.

Highlighting the untapped financial potential, she urged swift action to mobilise at least $1 billion within two years as a foundation for sustainable development and global financial leverage.

“The region cannot continue to ignore the fact that we have in excess of US$50 billion in private savings,” she said at a panel discussion during a regional energy forum here.

“If we were to be able to mobilise even just one billion in the next two years or so of domestic savings, it becomes the strongest platform for [us] to argue for the mobilisation and unlocking of international capital that will significantly expand the pool of funds available to both the public and private sector.”

Mottley revealed that a quick assessment of excess liquidity in some countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Guyana, and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, showed approximately $8 billion.

“We haven’t touched Jamaica, Bahamas, Belize, or even the rest of Trinidad,” she added, noting the vast potential of the funds.

Further framing the savings as a critical starting point, she asserted that financial independence would globally enhance the region’s negotiating power.

“This is about strengthening our ability to fund our own future while making a stronger case for international support,” she said.

Despite the potential of utilising domestic savings, Mottley pointed out that regulatory challenges remain a primary obstacle.

“The regulatory issues are real because in small populations, you have skill deficits,” she said, noting her concerns.

She suggested that regional bodies like the Caribbean Regional Technical Assistance Centre could play a larger role in addressing these regulatory hurdles, stating, “If we can get CARTAC, which was originally set up to help us on the financial and macroeconomic issues, to step up to the plate in helping us on some of these regulatory issues, that would be a great thing.”

The PM also addressed the disconnect between global financial commitments and the capacity to execute projects.

“Finance is just oxygen, it’s not the destination,” she said.

Coupled with mobilising domestic savings and addressing regulatory hurdles, the PM suggested other practical solutions, urging international powers to scale up decarbonising technology and advising oil and gas companies to monetise leakages, “instead of letting the leakages go into the atmosphere and oceans”.

“Everyone comes out on top,” she said.

shannamoore@barbadostoday.bb