CaribPR Wire

Jennifer Baldwin, Research Fellow, Energy and Environment, Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), Inter-American Development Group.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Mar. 16, 2012: Caribbean businesses have great potential to cut high energy costs by investing in renewables.

That’s according to Jennifer Baldwin, Research Fellow, Energy and Environment, Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF), Inter-American Development Group, and one of three panelists who will address delegates at the inaugural “Going Green” Invest Caribbean Now Forum, part of this year’s Caribbean Tourism Organization’s 13^th annual Sustainable Tourism Conference.

The CTO is partnering with Invest Caribbean Now, the brand founded by Felicia Persaud, the Guyana-born CEO of the New York-based digital media company Hard Beat Communications, to present the inaugural green forum – set for April 18, 2012 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal.

“Significant cost savings and new entrepreneurial opportunities can be created if businesses invest in quantifying and managing their environmental impacts,” said Baldwin. “The Multilateral Investment Fund has over 10 years of experience helping tourism businesses in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce their energy and water use and to increase their stewardship of natural resources. I will share several success stories of businesses that profited from reducing their environmental impact through efficiency, renewables, and building a green brand around conservation. I will also share our newest projects on these topics in the Caribbean.” 

Currently, renewable energy provides less than two percent of the Caribbean region’s commercial electricity.

Other presenters of the April 18^th forum will include Tony Fiddy, President of the Waste to Energy Division and Regional Vice President for Europe and Africa, Naanovo Energy Inc. who will discuss Naanovo’s focus on helping the Caribbean region move away from fossil-fuels and into alternative energy.

Partnership and exhibitor opportunities to be a part of the historic Green Forum are available by calling 1-646-820-5694 or emailing Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

To attend STC 13, log on to http://www.caribbeanstc.com/register Partners to date for the April 18^th Green Investment forum include One Caribbean Television, CaribPR Wire and News Americas Now.

CaribPR Wire, NEW YORK, NY, Feb. 10, 2012: The first Green Investment power forum has been added to the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s 13^th annual Sustainable Tourism Conference and is set for Guyana this April.

The CTO is partnering with Invest Caribbean Now, the brand founded by Felicia Persaud, the Guyana-born CEO of the New York-based digital media company Hard Beat Communications, to present the inaugural green forum.

The event is set for April 18, 2012 from 8:30 to 10 a.m. at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal and will feature Greg Watson, head of the Climate Change team at the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of The Inter-American Development Group and Tony Fiddy, President of Naanovo Energy UK Ltd.

Persaud explained that the green forum will be similar to the company’s Invest Caribbean Now New York forum, which took place last June in New York, allowing presentations from both speakers while giving ministers of government, tourism officials, entrepreneurs and other delegates the opportunity to pitch their investment ideas and prospects to both Watson and Fiddy. 

The successful June 9, 2011 event at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel featured over 300 money managers, investors, hoteliers, ministers of governments and real estate developers as part of the Caribbean Tourism Organization’s Caribbean Week in New York series of events. The event returns this June 6^th to New York City and will feature CEO of McKinney Rogers, Damian Rogers as the key note speaker along with the chairman of Blue Equity, LLC, Jonathan Blue and President of Solamon Energy, Jay Neo.

“The Caribbean and Guyana has tremendous potential for investments, especially for green investors, as evidenced by the interest of many renewable companies in a region rich with sun, wind and waterfalls, all of which have become attractive potential sources of power,” said Persaud. “This event presents an opportunity for the government of Guyana as well as Caribbean ministers and entrepreneurs to do business in renewables.”

Watson re-joined the Multilateral Investment Fund of the IDB Group in 2008, having previously worked there from 2004-2007. He serves as the team leader for the MIF’s environment and clean energy team, conceptualizing, overseeing, and implementing the MIF’s climate change projects, investments and research in clean and efficient energy, natural capital, and adaptation. 

Watson leads several projects in the Caribbean, including a recent regional project on adaptation, projects on energy efficiency in Jamaica and Barbados, and a project on sustainable tourism and biodiversity in Guyana. 

Reporting to the President and CEO of Naanovo Energy Inc., Fiddy holds the dual position of President of Naanovo’s Waste to Energy Division and the Regional Vice President for Europe and Africa. As head of the WTE Division, his primary responsibility is to oversee the global deployment of WTE/Maax^TM systems and to work with regional representatives of Naanovo and its subsidiaries in the development of WTE projects. This includes projects in the Caribbean, among them St. Kitts/Nevis.

Partnership and exhibitor opportunities to be a part of the historic Guyana Green Energy forum are available by calling 1-646-820-5694 or emailing Joe Bernstein at [email protected].

Guyana has become a key player in the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions which significantly contribute to climate change.  The Caribbean Tourism Organization has been staging its Annual Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, otherwise known as the Sustainable Tourism Conference (STC) since 1997. This conference will be keynoted by former Guyana President Bharrat Jagdeo on April 15^th and is part of the information dissemination and regional awareness component of CTO’s Strategy for Sustainable Tourism. STC also serves as a primary arena where new and creative ideas about enhancing the competitiveness and sustainability of the Caribbean tourism product are generated.

Partners to date for the April 18^th Green Investment forum include One Caribbean Television, CaribPR Wire and News Americas Now.