Target and Timeframe: The Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Lighthouses Initiative (LHI) is setting a target of 10 GW total installed renewable energy (RE) capacity in all SIDS by 2030.

Context for the ambition:

In launching the second phase of the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative (LHI) in 2018, SIDS and development partners endorsed that the SIDS LHI moved beyond the power sector and to include all the sectors that contribute to sustainable development in SIDS. This is reflected in the SIDS LHI priority areas listed below:

• Support SIDS in reviewing and implementing Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), with technical assistance and capacity building.
• Expand from assessment and planning to implementing effective, innovative solutions.
• Promote all renewable sources, including geothermal and ocean energy, and step up work on wind and photovoltaic (PV).
• Support the development of bankable projects, access to finance and cooperation with the private sector.
• Strengthen institutional and human capacity in all segments of the renewable energy value chain.
• Expand focus beyond power generation to include transportation and other end use sectors.
• Leverage synergies between renewables and energy efficiency.
• Nexus between RE and agriculture, food, health, and water to foster broad socio-economic development.
• Raising awareness about job creation, gender equality and women’s’ empowerment through renewables.
• Link renewable energy uptake to climate resilience and more effective disaster recovery.
• Enhance collection and dissemination of statistics, supporting informed decision making.
• Reinforce and expand partner engagement, leveraging synergies with other SIDS initiatives.
• Boost renewable power deployment, aiming for a target of 5 GW of installed capacity in SIDS by 2023.

SIDS LHI had initially, in 2018, set a target of 5 gigawatts (GW) of total installed RE capacity in all SIDS by 2023. According to IRENA data, the total installed RE capacity in all SIDS was 5.94 GW by the end of 2020. The SIDS LHI target had been achieved and exceeded three years in advance. IRENA, as the coordinator of the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative undertook a consultation with all the partners of the Initiative, which consisted of 38 SIDS and 31 development partners, to set a new target.

According to IRENA analysis the annual average growth rate was 405 MW per year, so by 2030, the total RE installed capacity for all SIDS would be 9.99 GW. IRENA had also undertaken an analysis on the first round of NDCs and found that for SIDS RE targets in the first NDCs totaled 10.31GW by 2030. IRENA prepared a Discussion Paper that was shared with all the SIDS LHI partners to endorse the new target of 10 GW of total RE installed capacity for all SIDS by 2030.

This new target which has been endorsed by the SIDS LHI partners and AOSIS is now being submitted as the SIDS LHI voluntary commitment to achieve SDG7 energy compact.

The analysis to set this 10GW target utilized the first INDCs from SIDS; however, many SIDS are currently preparing and submitting enhanced and updated NDCs have raised ambition in their commitment towards the implementation of the Paris Agreement through energy transition and climate action. The SIDS LHI is prioritizing energy-water-health-agriculture/food security nexus as well as integrating climate resilience into the energy sector.

The SIDS Lighthouses Initiative is also operationalizing two SIDS-focused initiatives that support SDG7 in SIDS, which have been catalyzed by previous Chairs of AOSIS.

1. Initiative for Renewable Island Energy (IRIE) in partnership with IRENA, Germany, Italy, and the European Union
• Political engagement: Ministers along with key development partners would meet biennially for strategic guidance on the progress/or stocktake of IRIE work.

• Technical support: The technical operation shall feed into the ministerial engagement to provide guidance on way forward, through conducting regional technical workshops.
• Affordable finance: working with donor agencies and partners to provide streamlined access to grant, concessionary and private sector financing through an Investment forum for implementing NDCs
• Partner coordination: Enhancing the coordination of the many partners actively supporting the energy transformation efforts in SIDS

2. Ambitious SIDS Climate Action Summit Package: Towards a pathway of enhanced renewable energy transition targets by 2030, in partnership with IRENA, UNOHRLLS and the Climate Investment Fund
• Expansion of the SIDS Lighthouse Initiative by 2023 to support SIDS increased ambition toward 100% renewable energy targets and to facilitate scaling up finance across donors and regions, increase de-risked financing, and the development of financing mechanisms through public private partnerships linked to technical assistance and capacity building, enhanced policies and regulatory frameworks and streamlined business and economic models.

In addition, it is worth noting the work being done by organizations at the SIDS regional level across mitigation, renewable energy, and energy efficiency:

1. For the Pacific, regional stakeholders include the Pacific Community (SPC), the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), the University of the South Pacific (USP), the Pacific NDC Hub and the Pacific Power Association (PPA), among others.
• Energy Security and Resilience in the Pacific (FESRIP) 2021-2030 was published on April 2021 by The Pacific Community and the CROP Energy Sector Technical Working Group with support from the Pacific Regional Infrastructure Facility and UNDP.

2. For the Caribbean, regional stakeholders include the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), the Caribbean Electric Utility Services Corporation (CARILEC) the University of the West Indies (UWI), and the Caribbean NDC Hub, among others.
• The CARICOM Regional Energy Policy set a regional target of 47% renewable energy contribution to total electricity generation by 2027.

3. The Africa, Indian Ocean, and South China Sea (AIS) regional stakeholders include the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC), the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the African NDC Hub, among others.
• ASEAN Member States, through the ASEAN Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation (APAEC) 2016 – 2025 has set an aspirational target to increase the component of renewable energy (RE) to 23% by 2025 in ASEAN total primary energy mix.

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