22 May 2012: Officials from the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) agreed on guidelines for implementing a new “Sustainable Energy for Latin America and the Caribbean” project.

The guidelines were adopted at OLADE’s Steering Committee meeting held in Quito, Ecuador, from 15-16 May, 2012. The six-year, C$9.2 million project, which officially begun in April 2012, aims to increase access to sustainable energy in Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) countries while promoting economic growth and reducing poverty.

The project has two thematic clusters: Energy Planning, Integration and Governance; and Social and Economic Aspects. The former contains eight elements on general capacity building and an executive development programme in energy planning, assistance to small countries in policy and regulation development, a technical network, strengthening of subregional energy integration and enhancement of energy access, particularly to electricity grids. The cluster will also include work on climate change mitigation and adaptation in member States’ energy sectors, and work on the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and similar mechanisms.

The social and environmental aspects cluster includes four elements, one on promoting corporate social responsibility (CSR) generally in the energy sector, the implementation of CSR in rural energy systems in isolated areas, integrating gender equity into energy sector and energy access decision making, and a certificate course in energy and social issues. [OLADE Press Release]