Regional Cooperation

Addressing environmental justice and ensuring a just transition are necessary steps to achieve deep decarbonization and social equity. As societies move toward zero-emissions targets, policymakers, businesses, and the broader climate community have an obligation to ensure the well-being of communities disproportionately affected by these changes; to provide safety nets for workers, create decent green jobs, and include communities historically marginalized by the high-carbon economy in conversations on transition plans. Accelerating the clean energy transition is essential to resilience in Fiji and other PICs, and further, creates jobs in the clean energy industry, and when coordinated with overall economic development plans, can facilitate economic diversity and job growth in other industries to improve democratic stability and enhance commercial trade with the United States.

Accelerating the Clean Energy Transition in the Pacific Islands

The “Accelerating Clean Energy Transitions and Resilience in Pacific Island Countries” workshop held November 15-16, 2023, gathered 70+ attendees from 15 countries for a two-day event in Suva, Fiji that consisted of dialogue to shape and coordinate the energy transition in the Pacific and capacity building to use advanced analytical tools to accelerate renewable project development. The two-day regional workshop was a direct response to the outcome of the 5th Pacific Energy and Transport Ministers meeting in May 2023. The workshop mapped pathways, resources, and expertise needed to accelerate the transition towards zero emissions, renewable energy, and transformational investments for a resilient future. USAID partnered with Arizona State University, the Pacific Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency, the Global Green Growth Institute, and the University of the South Pacific to develop actionable frameworks and mobilize funding for activities that promote a just and equitable transition towards a fossil fuel free Pacific. The diverse set of actors in attendance met to co-create solutions, and form public-private sector partnerships, leading to at least 10 sites being developed and perhaps up to 75 sites for solar plus storage. UNDP and various development partners pledged up to $40M in investment to deploy renewable energy solutions, and a training program was outlined to continue advancing the energy transition through additional workshops, technical assistance, training, and coaching. Efforts and output from the workshop supported priorities as outlined in the 2022 – 2027 USAID Pacific Island Strategic Framework.

AmpUp also developed financing options for a Just Transition, including green capital and climate financing and expanded case studies to include more regions from the world to improve overall applicability to the global breadth of AmpUp.