A one-day forum on ‘Women in Green Technologies: Empowering Women to Lead Sustainability Initiatives’ opened, yesterday morning, at the United Docks Business Park in Port Louis. The Minister of Energy and Public Utilities, Mr Georges Pierre Lesjongard, the Ambassador of the United States to Mauritius, Mr Henry Jardine, and other personalities were present.
This initiative is a joint collaboration of the United States (U.S.) Embassy in Mauritius and the American Chamber of Commerce. The forum is funded by the U.S. Department of State’s Economic Bureau under its “Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise (POWER)” programme.
The Regional Manager from the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, Miss Sarah Whitten, was the keynote speaker at the event. Specialised in project financing, she outlined the various sources of financing available in developing sustainable development projects in Mauritius across the African continent, and the case for promoting diversity in the business sector.
Panelists at the forum included representatives from the Economic Development Board, the Mauritius Institute of Directors, Business Mauritius, the Mauritius Commercial Bank, Mindex Group and Lineage Invest.
In his address, Minister Lesjongard highlighted the crucial role played by women in fostering community resilience and responding to climate-related disasters as well as their influence on policies and institutions to enhance the accessibility of public goods, including energy, water, sanitation, and social infrastructure as economic and political actors.
The Minister observed that nevertheless various remedial schemes and policies have been established by his Ministry in collaboration with international organisations.
Speaking about the energy sector, Minister Lesjongard recalled that the Government has set clear objectives for the sector for the establishment of the green energy industry as an economic pillar of activity. “We have pledged to shift to a low carbon economy with the aim, amongst others, to help Mauritius achieve the 60% renewable energy target, phase out coal by 2030, and increase 10% energy efficiency by 2030,” he added.
To achieve this and to successfully meet the national and global clean energy targets while effectively addressing climate change challenges, we must adopt an integrated and inclusive approach, ensuring that everyone, including women, feels deeply involved and connected to the transition towards renewable energy.
For his part, Ambassador Jardine highlighted that the theme of today’s event touches upon two core components of U.S. foreign policy, namely: advancing women’s economic security and, mitigating the impact of climate change. On this note, he indicated that in January of this year, the U.S. Government launched the first-ever interagency U.S.
“The U.S. Embassy looks forward to our ongoing cooperation with the Government of Mauritius and the Mauritian private sector to further strengthen this collaboration in the field of green technologies and energy efficiency but also in other key sectors where partnerships and business opportunities with U.S. firms can be established,” Mr Jardine added.
