The Government of Finland, through its newly accredited envoy to the Caribbean Community (Caricom), has expressed strong interest in exploring the bioenergy potential in mainland territories of Caricom.
Speaking at the ceremony for the presentation of his Letter of Credence to Caricom Secretary-General Ambassador Irwin LaRocque on Thursday the new Finnish Ambassador, His Excellency Kukka Pietikaine said his country wanted to
continue cooperation in renewable energy technologies.
He said forest based bioenergy has a central role in Finland’s economy, with 80 percent of its renewable energy coming from forest biomass. Indicating that CARICOM and Finland “should take a closer look” at the region’s bioenergy potential, he informed that Finland was one of the global leaders in waste-to-energy solutions and a forerunner in biofuel technologies.
Another interesting field of cooperation between Caricom and Finland, he said, could be the development of wave energy, with Finland also possessing “first class technologies in this field,” adding, “a preliminary wave energy assessment would be the first step for the development of the blue energy resources.”
Caricom and Finland formalised diplomatic relations in 2009. Finland became one of the first non-hemispheric donors to the Caricom Development Fund, which was ratified in 2008 to provide financial or technical assistance to the disadvantaged countries, regions and sectors. Its contribution to regional development has also been through support in education, sustainable energy, sea governance, and meteorology.
Secretary-General LaRocque said that the areas of Caricom-Finland cooperation are all critical to the sustainable development of Member States. He noted that the Memorandum of Understanding on Political Dialogue and Technical Cooperation between CARICOM and countries of the Nordic Region signed in September 2016, symbolized the importance that both sides place on the relationship. He said he looked forward to advancing the Community’s cooperation with Finland around the priority areas identified in the MOU, as well as in international fora.
He told the new Finnish Ambassador that an ever-present issue in Caricom’s diplomatic advocacy was adequate access to the necessary development funding to finance development efforts, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
As the global landscape became increasingly uncertain, Caricom Member States continued to grapple with challenges to their best efforts to advance socio-economic interests of the Region. Therefore, global agreements which speak to sustainable development took on a special significance for the Region, largely made up of Small-Island and Low-Lying Coastal Developing States (SIDS), the Secretary-General stated.
He also apprised the new Finnish Ambassador of Caricom’s concerns regarding some Members of the European Union which had categorised some Caricom Member States as non-cooperative tax jurisdictions, despite the fact that those countries were not so designated by the relevant global regulatory authorities.
After the accreditation Secretary-General LaRocque and the Ambassador engaged in wide ranging discussions including on the post-Cotonou Agreement relations between the African Caribbean Pacific Group of States (ACP) and the European Union (EU). The Secretary-General indicated that the ACP was an excellent platform for the EU to interact with a large group of developing countries. Among other topics were renewable energy and the challenges posed by de-risking and the listing of countries as non-cooperative tax jurisdictions.
