GN-SEC highlighted as good practice for south-south and triangular cooperation in SIDS

The Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC) program is featured in the new UN report "Good Practices in South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable Development - Volume 4", which was launched by the United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) in conjunction of the Global South-South Development Expo 2022 "Advancing South-South and Triangular Cooperation for Sustainable COVID-19 Recovery: Towards a Smart and Resilient Future." The event was co-hosted by the Government of Thailand and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) from12 to 14 September 2022, in Bangkok.

The report highlights the GN-SEC achievements in the context of small island developing states (SIDS) and the SAMOA Pathway implementation. Since 2010, UNIDO has supported various regional economic communities in the establishment and operation of regional centres promoting the sustainable energy transition "from the region for the region". Today, the network of centres, including ECREEE (Praia), CCREEE (Bridgetown), PCREEE (Tonga), SACREEE (Namibia), RCREEE (Egypt) and CEREEAC (Angola) is serving thirty-four of thirty-eight SIDS.

Under the GN-SEC platform, UNIDO facilitates SIDS-SIDS and triangular cooperation on sustainable energy and circular economy issues and adapted island solutions. Jointly, the centres work on issues such as renewable energy integration and storage, energy efficiency standards, integrated e-mobility and power systems, online capacity building tools and knowledge systems, as well as ocean energy. 

Successful strategies of small islands to cope with global emergencies, such as climate change, oil price peaks and the COVID-19 health and economic crises, require a rapid diversification to new sectors, industrial upgrading and leapfrogging to sustainable energy and circular economy solutions.

The creation of the network of centres for SIDS is also an outcome of a partnership between UNIDO and the Small Island Sustainable Energy and Climate Resilience Organization (SIDS DOCK), which was formed on the margins of the Third International Conference on Small Island Developing States, held in September 2014 in Apia, Samoa. The network of centres has received financial support by the Governments of Austria, Norway and Spain. 

The report is available for download at: https://unsouthsouth.org/2022/08/31/good-practices-in-south-south-and-tr...