Background to The Observatory

There is a global and regional recognition of the need to modify current energy trends in order to substitute and complement the use of fossil fuels with alternative energy sources that are more affordable and environmentally sustainable.

The countries of the European Union and the Latin American and Caribbean LAC region have demonstrated in the past years a will to share the benefits of globalization and new technological progress.

The Heads of State and Government of both regions met for the first time in Rio in 1999 and decided to construct a “bi-regional strategic association”. In the following years energy policies in the LAC region recognized the role of the renewables in the region, and officials documents were adopted such as: 

The Brasilia Platform for Renewable Energy was stemmed from the regional meeting organized by the Government of Brazil in Brasilia, in October 2003. Representatives from the Ministries for the Environment and Energy of Latin America and the Caribbean participated in the meeting. The purpose of the meeting was to create a convergence of initiatives and to focus the discussion on problems and opportunities in the renewable energy field, in order to define a common position for Bonn 2004. At the end of the meeting, the government representatives of 21 countries approved the Brasilia Platform on Renewable Energies as an element of coordination and homogenization of the different focuses and interests of the Latin American countries.

The Santiago Declaration arose form the agreements reached by the parliamentary delegations of 10 countries of the region, in the framework of the XVII Meeting of the Energy and Mining Commission of the Latin American Parliament (PARLATINO), held in the CEPAL headquarters in Santiago, Chile in April 2004. The Declaration covers treaties oriented towards the promotion of the sustainable management of natural resources and a greater penetration of renewable energy sources through the adoption of political, legal and economic policies. Similar to the Brasilia Platform, the Santiago Declaration is the first coordination effort of the Latin American parliamentarians in the field of sustainable renewable energy.

The 4th EU-LAC Summit took place in Vienna on 12 May 2006 during which both regions agreed on the Summit’s purpose “Strengthening of the strategic association between the two regions”, and established different priorities with the objective of a coordinated action in matters of political, social and economic importance. The Summit confirmed the importance of key strategic association policies, regional integration, multilateralism and social cohesion. Energy, environment and the need to create a safe investment environment were identified as key topics that needed to be covered in detail in the short run.

The proposal to establish a Renewable Energy Observatory for Latin America and the Caribbean is the result of a vast consultation process, carried out by UNIDO, following the commitment arising from the Iberoamerican Ministerial Meeting held in Montevideo, Uruguay on 26-27 September 2006.

One of the main achievements of this meeting was a Ministerial Declaration, which highlighted the need to increase the supply and utilization of renewable energy in Latin America and the Caribbean and encouraged governments to establish a Regional Observatory on Renewable Energy to be developed and proposed by UNIDO.

The Final Declaration of the 16th Iberoamerican Summit in Montevideo, Uruguay signed in November 2006, reinforced the commitment to UNIDO to develop the Observatory.

A consultative process at the political level was initiated to accomplish UNIDO’s commitment with the Governments of the region and to obtain the inputs from key stakeholders to guide this first approach in an effective way.

• November 2006: Expert Group Meeting organized by UNIDO in Vienna
• Two meetings with GRULAC (April and June 2007)
• Several bilateral meetings with the Permanent Missions in Vienna.
• UNIDO General Conference December 2007 (LAC Regional Programme approved, including the Observatory within the Programme).

Various consultations were also made with the management of relevant organizations that work in the energy field, like OLADE (Latin-American Energy Organization) at the regional level and the IAEA and UNESCO at the global level, among others.