MESSAGE FROM THE HONOURABLE DR. KENNY D. ANTHONY
PRIME MINISTER OF SAINT LUCIA
TO DELEGATES TO THE LAUNCH OF THE EURO CARIBBEAN ENERGY FORUM

On behalf of the Government and people of Saint Lucia I extend a warm welcome to all delegates attending the launch of the Euro Caribbean Energy Forum.

The development challenges facing the world today are a manifestation of the North- South divide. Globalization and Information Technology are mooted as the means through which weaker nations can bridge this divide. The argument is that by creating a level playing field on which all are guided by common rules, each has the same opportunity to benefit. This logic is attractive but flawed. It is silent on the issue of capacity to play on this field. At the same time the magnitude and scale of the environmental crisis we face underscore the interdependence of nations and the need to narrow the divide in pursuit of our individual and collective development aspirations. This dilemma presents us with opportunities to fashion global institutions and cooperative arrangements that speak to common goals, differential capabilities and investments in human development.

It is in this context that I see the Euro Caribbean Energy Forum. Whereas energy is central to development, the fossil-based fuels used to provide most of the world's energy hold the greatest threat to the continued existence of our planet as we know it. Our collective response must be a reduction of the carbon intensity of our production and consumption practices. To this end, energy efficiency and the greater exploitation of renewable sources of energy are to be pursued with an urgency that reflects the gravity of the findings of the Third Report of the Inter Governmental Panel on Climate Change. This response will require investments in technologies resident in the north. The Euro Caribbean Energy Forum was conceived to meet this need by creating a place to initiate action in this direction. I congratulate those who conceived this idea and look forward to the Forum helping us and our European partners to meet this challenge.