EEM graduate Kristin Deason led a 90-minute panel presentation entitled “Regional Approaches to Supporting NDC Implementation and Enhancement” at the Virtual Island Summit in October 2019. Kristin presently is the Lead Caribbean Representative of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), headquartered in St. Lucia. She previously served with the GGGI in Suva, Fiji; the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi, UAE; the renewable energy forecasting company Gnarum LLC in Washington, DC; the German hydrogen energy/fuel cell company Nationale Organisation Wasserstoff- und Brennstoffzellentechnologi Gmbh in Berlin; and the renewable energy company consulting company Sentech in Washington, DC.
Other experts on Kristin’s panel were:
• Vincent Guinaudeau, Senior Green Investment Specialist, GGGI
• Crispin D’Auvergne, Climate Change & Disaster Risk Management Coordinator, Organization of Eastern Caribbean States
• Nilesh Prakash, Head of Climate Change & International Cooperation, Government of the Republic of Fiji
• Annette Leo, Chief Sustainable Development and Environment Officer at Government of Saint Lucia
Panelists pointed out that island countries in the Caribbean and the Pacific have placed a high importance on implementing and expanding their Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Climate Change Accord. In both areas, regional initiatives have recently been set up to offer countries support in achieving these goals – the NDC Finance Initiative in the Caribbean, and the Pacific NDC Hub in the Pacific. The panel, which included representatives from both hubs, explored what countries need from such initiatives and how each of the regional initiatives is approaching supporting the countries.
Almost 5,000 participants from 500 islands around the world took part in the Virtual Island Summit. More information about the event can be seen at www.islandinnovation.co/summit. Kristin’s 90-minute panel can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXEC93v0so8