00:00On day one of the 2025 Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference at the Hilton Trinidad,
00:06the Energy Chamber's chairperson, Marla Baliraj, outlined a new global reality which Trinidad and Tobago has not escaped
00:13as the Twin Islands Republic continues to earn much of its revenue from its crude oil and natural gas sectors.
00:20Since we met here one year ago, there have been major shifts in the global landscape for sustainable energy.
00:26We have seen some major economies cancelling or restructuring previous policies
00:32in order to encourage investments into lower carbon energy sources.
00:36The U.S. being the most obvious case, but they are not alone,
00:41as many other countries have either scaled back their subsidies or pushed back regulatory deadlines
00:47that has been driving the energy transition.
00:49The Energy Chamber's chairperson said this has resulted in some major global energy companies
00:55adjusting their ambitions for the energy transition.
00:59Day two of the conference saw a continuation of the focus on the recent change in U.S. energy and trade policies,
01:05as well as the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, or CBA.
01:11Among those who spoke on that issue was Dr. Priya Mohan,
01:15Senior Fellow at the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies at the University of the West Indies.
01:22At U.S. we have done studies looking at the impact of CBAM on Trinidad and Tobago,
01:29and looking at the products contained in the EU CBAM,
01:34currently 33% of our total exports would be affected by these taxes,
01:39which translate to 13.5% of our GDP.
01:43Dr. Mohan said 37% of Trinidad and Tobago's exports go to the U.S.,
01:48and a large amount of those exports will be affected by those taxes.
01:52She pointed out that it's going to take time for a transition to cleaner fuels and cleaner technology.
01:59Of course, we can't ignore Trump tariffs, and of course, we've been given a 10% tariff.
02:07A lot of our exports are exempt, crude petroleum, natural gas, critical minerals.
02:13But what the tariffs do, they create a lot of uncertainty in that the preferential treatment
02:19we would have enjoyed previously with the U.S. may no longer be on the table,
02:24and that uncertainty certainly is not good for business.
02:28However, there was an expression of optimism.
02:30So while the challenges are significant, these issues present an opportunity for our exporters
02:38to innovate, diversify, and capture new value in the global marketplace.
02:43So the global drive towards decarbonization driven by CBAM is a powerful catalyst for our own transformation.
02:51Dr. Mohan said this should foster innovation in areas such as carbon capture and storage,
02:56energy efficiency, and blended fuels, which were examined during panel discussions
03:01at the Caribbean Sustainable Energy Conference.
03:04It also creates an opportunity for us to create our own domestic market,
03:09our own credit market domestically.
03:12If we pay the carbon tax within our jurisdiction,
03:15we are exempt from paying the taxes to the EU, the UK, the U.S.
03:20Reference was also made to U.S. $11 to $13 billion in funding
03:25under one international program towards net zero carbon goals
03:29that could be accessed by small island states like Trinidad and Tobago.
03:35Jewel Brown, TV6 News.
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