In the Caribbean islands, where Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face particular challenges due to their vulnerability to environmental risks and dependence on high energy prices due to fossil fuel imports, the electrification of transport presents a pivotal opportunity to enhance energy security and price stability, foster social benefits, including increased gender equity, and resilience to climate change.
The upcoming forum offers an ideal platform to discuss these opportunities, foster regional collaboration, and mobilize support for climate finance and capacity building.
Decarbonizing transport and integrating renewable energy
Caribbean islands possess abundant renewable energy resources, particularly solar, wind, and ocean energy.
The transition to electric mobility (e-mobility) presents an opportunity for these islands to significantly reduce their reliance on imported fossil fuels while integrating clean energy into their transport sectors. By linking electric transport with national renewable energy targets, the Caribbean can achieve multiple goals: lowering GHG emissions, reducing energy costs, and increasing resilience to external market shocks.
Key areas for technical development include:
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Charging infrastructure development: Deploying interoperable electric vehicle (EV) charging stations powered by renewable energy sources will be critical. Islands need climate-resilient infrastructure, such as smart grids and distributed energy systems, to ensure reliability during extreme weather events.
Market gaps and policy challenges
The Caribbean faces several market and policy challenges in achieving widespread electrification of transport:
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Limited EV and EVSE availability: The availability of electric vehicle model variety, electric vehicle supply equipment, and complementary services such as data collection and maintenance service, among others, in the Caribbean remains limited. Establishing local markets for EVs, EVSE, and EV services and encouraging regional supply chains can help address this gap.
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Policy and regulatory frameworks: While some Caribbean islands have developed energy policies focused on renewable energy, coherent policy frameworks aimed at the electrification of transport, including incentives alignment, are needed. Integrating transport electrification into broader energy transition strategies is crucial.
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Electric vehicle targets and roadmaps: to ensure coordinated cooperation between public and private sectors and the support of civil society and academia, the Caribbean countries must count on clear and gradual electric mobility targets and roadmaps. This will enable their transport sector to contribute more strongly to achieving the targets set out in their NDCs and in national and international environmental commitments.
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Second-hand vehicle importation and scrapping: Importation of second-hand vehicles that do not accomplish safety, emissions and energy efficiency standards puts an uneven floor for new electric technology vehicles as the upfront cost and the norms benefit ICEs. The loose accountability for vehicle scrapping generates perverse incentives that foster the increase of second-hand ICE private vehicle fleets.
Strengthening Caribbean islands' technical capabilities in integrating electric mobility with renewable energy, identifying market gaps and policy challenges, exploring opportunities for climate finance, emphasizing the importance of national and regional cooperation and the need for technical capacity-building to facilitate the deployment of electric mobility are necessary.
Opportunities: Access to climate finance and international support
The Caribbean's efforts to electrify transport align with global climate goals, providing an opportunity to attract climate finance and technical support. Through the upcoming NDC 3.0 submissions, Caribbean islands can leverage international climate finance mechanisms, such as the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF), to fund the development of e-mobility infrastructure and renewable energy integration. Opportunities include:
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Technical assistance: National and international organizations can provide technical expertise to support Caribbean islands in designing and implementing smart grids, renewable energy integration, and resilient transport systems.
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Capacity building: Caribbean governments and stakeholders need capacity-building initiatives to ensure local expertise can sustain the transition to e-mobility, manage renewable energy integration, and develop effective policies.
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Different metrics for the SIDS: International financers must acknowledge the SIDS approach and reach, foster, and provide finance based on that, mainly for projects supporting energy security and overall country sustainability.
Building political consensus and regional cooperation:
Collaboration among Caribbean islands is crucial for overcoming challenges and building a cohesive regional strategy for electrifying transport. The following actions are essential:
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Regional cooperation: Developing a unified approach to e-mobility, including consensual and agreed EV targets, shared standards and nomenclature for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure, among other regional actions, will enable cost-effective deployment and economies of scale. A regional approach can also attract more significant investments and support from international donors.
Given the Caribbean's reliance on imported fossil fuels, transitioning to electric vehicles (EVs) can reduce fuel imports, lower operational costs, and substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
As the Caribbean islands are renowned global tourist destinations, the hospitality sector, including resorts and hotels, plays a significant role in the region's transportation demand. By switching the vehicles used by resorts and hotels to electric, these islands have a unique opportunity to lead in decarbonizing transport while integrating renewable energy.
Resorts and hotels can be early adopters of this transition, showcasing sustainability to their environmentally conscious guests while contributing to national decarbonization efforts.
The Caribbean is at the forefront of demonstrating how its islands can lead the global fight against climate change by decarbonizing transport and embracing renewable energy.
