1st CPLP Energy and Climate Seminar: governments, finance and private sector debate the energy transition
The Government of São Tomé and Príncipe, which holds the Presidency-in-Office of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP), together with the Energy Thematic Commission of the CPLP Consultative Observers, coordinated by ALER and the Association of Energy Regulators of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (RELOP), are promoting the 1st CPLP Energy and Climate Seminar. The event, which will take place on 2nd July 2024, at the CPLP headquarters Auditorium in Lisbon (Portugal), brings together members of government, energy company leaders and financiers in a debate on the energy transition in CPLP Member States.
Under the topic "The contribution of climate finance mechanisms to accelerating the energy transition in the CPLP Member States", the 1st CPLP Energy and Climate Seminar will focus mainly on the role of private investment. It is an event that aims to encourage the sharing of experiences and the exchange of good practices between CPLP countries; and to promote the public-private complementarity of financial resources in sustainable energy projects.
In this first seminar, after an initial reflection on the progress of COP28 and the road to COP30, the national strategies of the CPLP member states for the energy transition will be shared. This will be followed by a debate on the importance of the regulatory framework for attracting investment and a presentation of private sector investments in Portuguese-speaking countries, highlighting the role of national banks and the business sector.
The program includes the presence of Zacarias da Costa, Executive Secretary of the CPLP; Esterline Gonçalves Género, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of São Tomé and Príncipe to the CPLP; Sandoval Feitosa, Director General of ANEEL and President of RELOP; Isabel Cancela de Abreu, Executive Director of ALER; Gabriel Makengo, Director of Energy of São Tomé and Príncipe; Jerónimo Cunha, General Director of the General Directorate for Energy and Geology of Portugal; Rito Évora, National Director for Industry, Commerce and Energy of Cape Verde; Iazalde Jeremias, Head of the Energy Planning Department of MIREME, in Mozambique; Carlos Handem, General Director of Energy of Guinea-Bissau; Pedro Manuel Afonso, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Prodel, in Angola; Francisco Sambo, Director of Planning and Cooperation of the Ministry of Land and Environment of Mozambique; Albano Manjate, Deputy National Director of Monitoring and Evaluation of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Mozambique; Gilson Pina, National Planning Director of Ministry of Finance in Cape Verde; Alexandre Siciliano, Head of the Energy Transition and Climate Department, National Bank for Economic and Social Development, in Brazil; and Renato Guerra Almeida, Partner at Miranda Law Firm.
This event is the first of the CPLP Energy and Climate Seminar Series aimed at boosting cooperation and dialogue between public and private entities in CPLP countries in the field of energy transition, and identifying opportunities for climate finance.
The second seminar, scheduled for 10th October, will take place in Praia (Cape Verde), on the sidelines of a high-level event on Climate Finance, organized by the Cape Verdean government, and will focus mainly on strategies for mobilizing climate funds for the energy transition. This will be followed by a third seminar, on 22nd November, as part of the 1st International Seminar on Carbon Credit Regulation, in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), which will present advances in the regulation of national carbon markets. The fourth and last seminar in this series, to be held in March 2025 in São Tomé and Príncipe, will launch the “Lusophone Energy Transition Roadmap for COP30”, which will compile the energy transition and climate finance strategies of each CPLP country and identify points of cooperation between them.
The CPLP Energy and Climate Seminar Series also has the institutional support of the CPLP, the Ministry of Infrastructure and Natural Resources of São Tomé and Príncipe, the Ministry of Energy and Water of Angola, the Ministry of Mines and Energy of Brazil, the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Energy of Cape Verde, the Ministry of Energy of Guinea-Bissau, the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy of Mozambique and the Ministry of Environment and Energy of Portugal.