The International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) Renewables and Islands Global Summit opened on Thursday, 6 September in Malta. George Pullicino, Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs, Malta, welcomed participants, noting that island states share a common vision of implementing renewable energy technology amidst limited financial resources and geophysical restrictions. Adnan Amin, Director-General, IRENA, said that the energy challenges faced by islands are severe and renewable energy is economically and commercially viable. Throughout the day, four plenary panel sessions took place with presentations and general discussions.

A high-level panel addressed the implications of the Rio+20 outcome document on sustainable islands development and renewable energy. Panelists included: Darcy Boyce, Minister, Prime Minister’s Office, Barbados; Abdulmatheen Mohamed, Minister of State for Environment and Energy, Maldives; George Pullicino, Minister for Resources and Rural Affairs, Malta; Riddell Akua, Minister for Utilities, Nauru; Rolph Payet, Minister of Environment and Energy, Seychelles; Kausea Natano, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Communication and Public Utilities, Tuvalu; and Adnan Amin. An expert panel on island energy trends and strategies also took place in the morning, with five presentations addressing specific energy challenges and opportunities, and strategies to address them.

In the afternoon, strategic partnerships for renewable energy in islands were discussed, with presentations on national programmes and experiences with public-private partnerships and incentives for mobilizing private financing from Cape Verde, France, Germany, New Zealand, United States, UNDP and Saudi Arabia. The last panel session of the day focused on enabling frameworks for investment and provided the private sector’s perspective on opportunities and barriers to invest in renewable energy, with presentations by representatives of EDF, Hitachi, Vergnet, Youmicos AG and Enemalta Corporation.