The Second Meeting of Pacific Ministers of Energy and Transport, held from 2 to 4 April 2014, in Nadi, Fiji, endorsed the establishment of the PCREEE as regional centre of excellence. The centre is co-hosted by the Pacific Community (SPC) and the Government of Tonga and operates under the umbrella of the two coordinating mechanisms for the Framework for Action on Energy Security in the Pacific – the Pacific Energy Oversight Group (PEOG) and the Pacific Energy Advisory Group (PEAG).
PCREEE was inaugurated on 26 April 2017 in Nuku’alofa, Tonga, at the margins of the Third Pacific Regional Energy and Transport Ministers’ Meeting. PCREEE operates under the Georesource and Energy Programme (GEP) of the Geoscience Energy and Maritime (GEM) Division of the SPC. The center is also part of a wider south-south and triangular partnership directed to implement the SAMOA Pathway, SDG 7, SDG 9 and the Nationally Determined Contributions under the Paris Agreement (SDG 13). The partnership aims at the creation of a network of regional sustainable energy centres for SIDS in Africa, Caribbean, Pacific and Indian Ocean.1 PCREEE is also part of the Global Network of Regional Sustainable Energy Centres (GN-SEC).
Through regional methodologies and tools, the centre assists Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs) to address existing barriers and strengthen drivers for sustainable energy markets, industries and innovation. The Ministers gave PCREEE a strong private sector and industry mandate (the SDG-9 dimension of energy). It supports activities with high relevance for domestic businesses, entrepreneurs and industry. Particularly, the centre promotes:
- Sustainable energy solutions and technologies to enhance the productivity and competitiveness of island industries with high value and job creation potential (e.g. agriculture, tourism, fishery, manufacturing, creative industry);
- Nexus-approaches which combine sustainable energy interventions with productive activities (e.g. value chain development) and other aspects of circular economy (e.g. resource efficiency, cleaner production, waste and water management, recycling);
- Sustainable energy entrepreneurship, industrial development and innovation (e.g. clean-tech, association and cluster building);
PCREEE focuses on private-sector relevant regional interventions in the areas of policy implementation, capacity development, knowledge management, as well as investment and business promotion. UNIDO provides technical services and mentoring throughout the first operational phase of the centre. Financial support is being provided by the Governments of Austria, Norway and the Republic of Korea.
During the start-up phase, the centre has implemented initial technical activities, established its governance structure and finalised its internal rules and procedures. PCREEE is currently establishing its strategic long-term planning framework.The Plan establishes the vision and mission, scope of mandate, long-term planning and resource framework and sustainability scenario(s) for the centre. In line with the directions of the Ministers, the BP will have a strong focus on the private sector and industry dimension of sustainable energy.
The BP includes a well-developed results and monitoring framework with quantifiable sex-aggregated indicators. The framework demonstrates the PCREEE theory of change and its contribution to the overall SPC vision and the established division of labour under the FAESP. The annual work plans and progress reports of PCREEE will report to the established indicators in the BP. The BP also includes an estimation of the PCREEE budget and resource requirements and propose a sustainable business model.
