“São Tomé and Príncipe has been promoting an ambitious agenda for cooperation in the energy sector within the CPLP”
São Tomé and Príncipe, as part of its presidency of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), has been promoting an ambitious agenda for cooperation in the energy sector in the CPLP area, following the theme of the São Tomé Presidency, “Youth and Sustainability in the CPLP”, and taking into account the Declaration of the Presidency of the CPLP, which called for the need to encourage deeper cooperation in the youth, energy and sustainability sectors in our community area.
The operationalization of the different initiatives included in this agenda has been carried out in close coordination with the Energy Thematic Committee of the CPLP Consultative Observers, coordinated by ALER, of which the Ministry of Infrastructure and Natural Resources (MIRN) is also an Honorary Member and with whom it has been collaborating for several years.
To begin with, we organized the CPLP Energy and Climate Seminar Series, with a pioneering concept of triangular cooperation, based on intersectoral coordination between the energy, environment and finance areas of the various member countries. These seminars have created a new space for dialogue and exchange and have given substance to today's central debate on mobilizing funds to enable an energy transition to low-carbon economies.
The three seminars that have already taken place - in Lisbon (Portugal) on 2nd July, in Praia (Cape Verde) on 30th October, and in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) on 4th November - have been widely attended and drawn great interest from the public and private sectors of the different Portuguese-speaking countries, with ministerial delegations and a total of 88 speakers, 305 face-to-face participants and more than 1,700 online participants.
The 4th and final seminar in the series, to be held on 25th March 2025, in São Tomé and Príncipe, the capital of São Tomé, will be the culmination of these meetings. It aims to lay the foundations for a Lusophone roadmap for COP30 in Belém do Pará, Brazil.
More recently, in COP29 in Baku, we launched the 2nd CPLP Energy Conference, which will take place on 27th and 28th May 2025 in Cascais (Portugal), under the theme: “Driving a Resilient, Sustainable and Inclusive Energy Transition for the CPLP”. The conference will be held after the III Meeting of CPLP Energy Ministers, on the 26th May, where the Ministers will agree and approve the CPLP Biennial Action Plan and Strategic Energy Cooperation Plan for the next 6 years.
From the meetings we have been promoting, the importance and need to consolidate a cohesive and coordinated block of Portuguese-speaking countries has emerged. This will make it possible to optimize the exchange of knowledge and resources, to tackle energy and climate challenges more effectively, and also to strengthen the positioning of Portuguese-speaking countries at the international level.
Angola, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Mozambique, Portugal, São Tomé and Príncipe and East Timor are part of a community with enormous ecological, economic, social and cultural diversity. Recognizing this diversity, these countries, united by the Portuguese language, share common challenges in the implementation of their energy transitions, in the vulnerability to climate change and in the decarbonization of their economies.
The CPLP cooperation area plays a key role in exchanging experiences, sharing good practices and coordinating efforts to speed up countries' energy transitions, ensuring fair and inclusive transitions that respect the rights of local communities, promote the resilience of ecosystems and contribute to strengthening and modernizing countries' economies.
For these reasons, the Seminars and the Conference are unique opportunities to further deepen the synergies between Portuguese-speaking countries, to strengthen our union and action as a coordinated block.
It is our expectation that the events we are organizing will form a path that will leave a legacy that will last over time and consolidate this coordinated approach of the CPLP, allowing us to strengthen the presence and voice of member countries in the international discussions and forums that are coming up after the end of our presidency, namely the African Climate Summit in September 2025 and COP30 in November 2025.
We, therefore, invite everyone to join these events to showcase the best that has been done in each of the Portuguese-speaking countries, strengthen our energy and climate community, and plan for the future towards a resilient, sustainable and inclusive energy transition for the CPLP.
São Tomé and Príncipe Presidency of the CPLP