Page 28 - “GREENING” THE CONTENT IN CXC® SYLLABUSES

E-LEARNING MODULES AND LEARNING GUIDE FOR TEACHERS

environmental and social impacts, including coastline damage and biodiversity loss from oil spills,

groundwater contamination from refineries, and destruction of coastal ecosystems and

livelihoods. Systems for monitoring and assessing these impacts are rarely adequate.

The rising cost of energy puts an increasing strain on rural communities, on rural enterprises,
which support a large proportion of the region’s poor, and on ecosystems. For example, the lack

of other affordable energy options has contributed to Haiti’s vicious cycle of poverty→

deforestation → loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services → increased poverty. There is need
for renewable energy options that will be most promising in different national and local contexts.

Heavy reliance on imported fuels is one of the most significant factors driving the extremely high

electricity costs in the region, which remain substantially greater than the comparable average

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in most of the developed world, reaching as high as US$0.40/kwh in some Caribbean countries.
Energy has a critical role to play in Caribbean countries’ Nationally Determined Contributions
(NDCs). For example, the Antigua and Barbuda NDC indicates a specific RE goal: to “achieve an

energy matrix with 50MW of electricity from renewable sources both on and off-grid in the public

and private sectors.” Their NDC goal is equivalent to replacing their entire peak power-generation
capacity with renewable energy resources. In addition to this goal, the NDC indicates an intention

to construct a waste-to-energy plant by 2025 and to produce 100% of electricity demand for

water services (including desalination) from off-grid RE resources. Specific measures and tools

for achieving energy-efficiency improvements (including updating the building code and

establishing EE standards for imported vehicles and appliances) are also included in the NDC,
although the anticipated mitigation outcomes of such measures are not quantified. See Best

practice in utilizing energy and climate policies to develop NDC mitigation targets in the

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Caribbean as well as Policy brief on NDC mitigation targets of the CARICOM member
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15
states and LCCARL233_en.pdf.

13 https://www.caribbean-council.org/new-opportunities-address-energy-security-caribbean/
14 https://www.energimyndigheten.se/globalassets/klimat--miljo/internationella-klimatinsatser/best-practice---ndc-mitigation-
targets-in-the-caribbean---transport-revision-230118-clean.pdf
15 https://www.energimyndigheten.se/globalassets/klimat--miljo/internationella-klimatinsatser/policy-brief-on-ndc-mitigation-
targets-of-the-caricom-member-states---final.pdf
16 https://repositorio.cepal.org/bitstream/handle/11362/38677/1/LCCARL233_en.pdf
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