30th October, 2020 The Government of Tonga through the Department of Energy (DOE) under the Ministry of MEIDECC in partnership with the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN-ESCAP) and Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), conducted a one-day stakeholder consultation workshop for review of SDG7 roadmap scenario and TERM-PLUS 2021 -2035. The workshop was held at the MEIDECC office, Nuku’alofa and was attended by representatives from all line Ministries and other relevant private stakeholders.
The joint workshop is to review the TERM-PLUS document, which is an extended version of TERM, commencing in 2021 until 2035. In addition, the DOE and the UN-ESCAP have been developing a national energy transitional planning tool NEXSTEP (National Expert SDG Tool for Energy Planning). The tool is to assist in making informed decisions in transitioning the energy sector to the achievement of the national energy plans stated in the NDCs and SDG7.
In the opening remarks Dr. Tevita Tukunga, Director of Energy, highlighted that this joint workshop will be an opportunity for stakeholders to review and add values to the finalization of TERM PLUS and NEXTSTEP Project. The present of all the stakeholders will no doubt be a fruitful whole of sector approach to allow GGGI and UN-ESCAP to successfully complete their capable technical assistances for Tonga
Also, Mr. Daniel Smith, GGGI’s Country Representative for Tonga, in his opening remark, reiterated that GGGI and UN-ESCAP have been working together before in coordinating key stakeholder’s workshops in other countries. So, they are looking forward for another successful collaboration in finalization of TERM PLUS document for Tonga.
As a national focus topic, Tonga has decided to work on improving the data gathering, analysis and tracking capacity for achieving SDG7, Nationally Determine Contribution (NDC), Tonga Energy Roadmap (TERM), Tonga Energy Efficiency Master Plan, and other energy related national targets.
ENDS
Issued by the: Department of Energy (MEIDECC)