On Tuesday, participants from pilot countries, civil society, non-governmental organizations and multilateral development banks gathered for the opening of the fifth Scaling Up Renewable Energy Program (SREP) Pilot Countries meeting in Bandos Island, Maldives. The session was opened by Ahmed Shafeeu, Minister of Fisheries and Agriculture, Maldives, who expressed confidence in the meeting's role to generate greater exposure of the Maldives' energy sector through the opportunities provided in sharing lessons. Patricia Bliss-Guest, Climate Investment Funds (CIF) Administrative Unit Program Manager, applauded the leadership shown by the Maldives in raising awareness about the consequences of climate change and in addressing its mitigation and adaptation challenges.

Pilot countries then shared updates on the preparation and implementation of their investment plans and projects, highlighting new developments, goals and factors contributing to or delaying project progress. In an "Ask the Expert" session, participants from new SREP pilot countries and reserve countries were invited to discuss their lessons learned and share experiences with the other pilot countries present.

After lunch, Zhihong Zhang, Senior Program Coordinator, CIF Administrative Unit, presented on the monitoring and project delivery of the SREP "pipeline," outlining the "traffic light" system used for monitoring project progress, and countries discussed possible reasons for, and actions to, address delays. Zhihong then provided an overview of the new Competitive Set Aside under the SREP, introduced by the CIF Administrative Unit. During the final session of the day, Patricia Bliss-Guest presented the proposed criteria and procedures for selecting the members of the SREP Sub-Committee.

Participants attended a dinner hosted by Mariyam Shakeela, Minister of Environment and Energy, Maldives.