Feed in tariff for renewables for non-interconnected islands, business models and investment opportunities, 1st Greening the Islands Observatory Report and National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs).
Over 40 speakers are gearing up for a full day of discussions, debate and exchange at the upcoming Greening the Islands annual conference, which will take place on October 15th in the Sicilian capital of Palermo, organized in collaboration with the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) Islands Commission. Their common mission will be to explore our key themes for 2019: “Making the circular economy and sustainable tourism a reality on islands: business models and financing opportunities”.
The morning session will see the 4th national conference take place against a backdrop of new policy initiatives that have been introduced in Italy. The session will review all the incentive tools and tenders made available by the Government and which are now operational, starting with the Minor Islands Decree (feed in tariff for renewables for non-interconnected islands) and calls for innovative pilot projects of the Ministry of Economic Development, as well as funding from the Ministry of the Environment for energy efficiency and mobility projects.
A debate will follow, featuring best practices by industry representatives, on how these various instruments are working, possible business models and investment opportunities for citizens, businesses and private funds and their impact on tourism and the economy of islands.
After lunch, the international event will open with the presentation of the first report of the Greening the Islands Observatory, providing an updated analysis on the status of the circular economy and sustainable tourism on European islands featuring a deep-dive on the cases of Crete, the Italian Egadi archipelago and the German island of Helgoland. A debate will follow on the scenario described in the report and opportunities for public and private financing.
The second part of the session will involve European institutions and industry associations in a discussion about National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) and the role of islands in these plans. The event in Palermo represents an important step in the multilateral islands dialogue with European institutions that was launched by the CPMR Islands Commission and Greening the Islands with the support of the Committee of the Regions in Brussels in June. CPMR Islands Commission and Greening the Islands joined forces to call for closer collaboration as a key step towards promoting low-carbon solutions on European islands and for involvement of island governments and the private sector in designing and implementing NECPs.
This year’s Greening the Islands international conference is organized in the framework of the General Assembly of the CPMR that will see the participation of over 100 regional and island governments and will be followed, on October 16, by a CPMR seminar on the circular economy. Greening the Islands will take part in the CPMR seminar to which all participants in the GTI conference will be invited.
The 5th edition of the Greening the Islands Awards, chaired by an international jury, will also take place, spotlighting the most innovative projects carried out on islands in the fields of energy, mobility, water and waste.
For information about the agenda, sponsorship opportunities and registration, see here.
