10 November 2014: The Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA) has completed its fourth and final sub-regional preparatory meeting in 2014 for the Second ECPA Meeting of Ministers, which is intended to boost the region’s cooperation on energy and climate change issues. At the upcoming meeting, which is scheduled to take place in 2015, ministers are expected to put forward their priorities on these issues and structure a stronger partnership.

Participants at the fourth sub-regional preparatory meeting, which met in Guatemala on 5 November 2014, compared the pros and cons of adopting a broad strategy that spans the sub-region rather than taking a strictly national approach. They discussed ways of interacting with multilateral agencies, civil society and the private sector.

The preparatory meetings started with International Renewable Energy Forum, held in May 2014 in Mexico, where participants discussed redefining priority areas and ensuring all countries could get involved. Caribbean countries then gathered on 6 October, in Miami, US, just prior to the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum. Discussions largely centered around Caribbean countries’ main concerns: dependence on imported fossil fuels and high cost of electricity. A third meeting held in Montevideo, Uruguay on 28 October reviewed progress under the ECPA priority areas and considered how to closely align the ECPA agenda with national priorities and contexts.

The First ECPA Meeting of Ministers was held in 2010 in Washington DC, US. The date and location of the Second Meeting are yet to be announced. [ECPA Press Release]