The People???s Republic of China will continue its collaboration with Barbados in the area of renewable energy with the provision of solar power units at the Garfield Sobers Gymnasium next year.
The pledge came from Ambassador of the People???s Republic of China to Barbados, Wang Ke, last Monday, as she participated in a formal hand-over ceremony of 25,000 LED lights and 1,000 energy-saving air conditioners to the Division of Energy for installation in Government-owned buildings.
Ambassador Wang said that the donation represented ???a big step forward??? in the collaboration between Barbados and China to address climate change and promote sustainable development.
???Currently, addressing climate change has become a global challenge confronted by all the countries in the world. As a leader of the SIDS (Small Island Developing States), Barbados has continued to focus on and make strides in developing its green economy and maintaining sustainable development,??? the Chinese diplomat said.
She lauded the national target of 50 per cent power generation from renewable energy and a 22 per cent increase in energy efficiency by 2020.??Ambassador Wang said that China would continue to cooperate with developing countries to address climate change through sharing experiences and technologies, supporting capacity building and providing equipment.
Also in Barbados to participate in the hand-over ceremony was Counselor Xie Ji of the Department of Climate Change, National Development and Reform Commission.??Mr. Xie said that between 2011 and this year, the Commission had cooperated with more than 20 developing countries to provide equipment to address climate change.
So far, under the programme, more than 20,000 air conditioners, 1.2 million LED lights, 9,000 LED street lights, and 8,000 household solar photovoltaic power generation systems had been donated.
The Commission has also facilitated seminars on addressing climate change and green low-carbon development, in which 400 participants from 53 developing countries have been involved.??He further disclosed that China was establishing the South-South Cooperation Fund, which would provide support for SIDS to address climate change.
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