The Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, Stuart R. Young, contributed to the Pre-COP26 Public Seminar hosted today, Monday 25th October 2021.
The Pre-COP26 Public Seminar was hosted virtually as a collaboration between the United Nation’s Resident Coordination Office and the British High Commission of Trinidad and Tobago to discuss Trinidad and Tobago’s movement towards a green economy in preparation for COP26 which is only five days away.
In his keynote address, Minister Young outlined concrete actions in supporting the green economy transition in Trinidad and Tobago. He noted that while Trinidad and Tobago is not a major emitter of greenhouse gas emissions, we are taking actions to implement climate change mitigation and adaptation policies to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. “In that regard, Trinidad and Tobago’s aim is to achieve a reduction in overall emissions from the three sectors by 15% by 2030”.
Minister Young also mentioned incoming green projects which are currently being undertaken to meet Trinidad and Tobago’s Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (iNDCs) including the establishment of a solar utility and promoting a transition to Electric Vehicles as a low carbon alternative to liquid transportation fuels as shown in the recent National Budget.
“Additionally, robust policy measures for forest, land use and natural resources management are underway that will result in greater mitigation of greenhouse gases but which are not included as part of the iNDC”.
In the transition to a green economy, Minister Young urged persons to recognize that there is no one-size-fits-all model for designing an effective green economy.
“As a petroleum-based economy our pathway may be different than other countries but our goal is the same and we will be taking the necessary action to achieve this objective in a timely fashion”.
Minister Young reaffirmed that T&T is committed to doing its part to reduce global warming by producing greener cleaner energy and commodities, working towards decarbonization, and becoming more energy efficient whilst balancing our oil and gas industry economy needs.
