2022 UN Oceans Conference: Prime Minister of Tonga oversees the historic signing of the development of the world’s first ocean energy power purchase agreement for São Tomé and Príncipe Agreement signed during the launch of the Global Ocean Energy Alliance (GLOEA) ushering in a new era of clean energy for small islands and coastal states and the global energy sector.

08 July 2022, United Nations Headquarters, New York, U.S.A.: Honourable Mr. Siaosi ‘Ofakivahafolau Sovaleni (Hon. Huʻakavameiliku), Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Tonga and President of the Sixth Session of the SIDS DOCK Assembly (at podium), addressed a packed room of fellow leaders, high-level officials and distinguished guests attending the SIDS DOCK Side Event on the launch of the Global Ocean Energy Alliance (GLOEA), on 29th June 2022, at the Eurostars Universal Lisboa Hotel, Lisbon, Portugal, on the margins of the 2022 United Nations Ocean Conference, held from 27 June to 1 July 2022. The GLOEA is the most important sustainable energy and climate resilience initiative created by Small Island Developing States (SIDS), coastal nations, and Least Developing Countries (LDCs), since the idea for a SIDS DOCK. Hon. Huʻakavameiliku said that the launch of the GLOEA proves that SIDS have taken the leap and the lead in advancing the commercialization of ocean energy technologies that are SIDS-Appropriate.

The SIDS DOCK Side Event was chaired by His Excellency Mr. Ronald Jumeau, Ambassador and former Permanent Representative of the Republic of Seychelles to the UN, former Chair of the SIDS DOCK Executive Council and SIDS DOCK Roving Ambassador for Climate Change and the Ocean, and organized by the Secretariat of SIDS DOCK, the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Stimson Center Alliance for a Climate Resilient Earth (ACRE), in partnership with the Governments of the Kingdom of Tonga, Belize, the Republic of Seychelles, and the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe, with the kind and generous support of the Governments of Austria and Norway.

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SIDS DOCK is a United Nations (UN)-recognised international organisation established in 2015, with all the rights and privileges for addressing climate change, resilience, and energy security in small islands. SIDS DOCK represents 32 small islands and low-lying developing states across the globe, and is so named because it is designed as a “DOCKing station,” to connect the energy sector in SIDS with the global markets for finance and sustainable energy technologies. The organisation’s work is coordinated by the Secretariat, in Belmopan, Belize.

CONTACT:

Christine Neves Duncan                               Martin Lugmayr
Chief of Staff & Project Director                 Sustainable Energy Expert
SIDS DOCK Secretariat                                  United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)
secretariat@sidsdock.org                             mlugmayr@unido.org
cduncan@sidsdock.org