Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) Ministerial Meeting on the Initiative for Renewable Island Energy concluded today. In this ceremony Ministers, international development partners, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and representatives from Maldives and AOSIS countries have participated. The (IRIE) Ministerial was structured as a two-day facilitated dialogue.

Minister Thoriq Ibrahim as the Chair of AOSIS  stated that the meeting was a resounding success and the discussions were held with the partners on how to further advance on the provision of finance, technology and on how to increase the capacity building of the AOSIS countries in a sustainable transition to a low carbon economy.

Among the main discussions, it was discussed complementing and building upon the existing initiatives regionally and internationally. In addition, it was also proposed to expand on the SIDS lighthouse initiatives in collaboration with IRIE and IRENA. It was also proposed to compose an energy task force to increase on technical and project implementation capacity.

The Ministerial culminated in two closing discussions, the first on the vision for SIDS at the next 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to be held next month in Germany and the second on identifying priorities that will guide IRIE and participating initiatives in the coming year.