July 1, Suva –  On June 28, the GGGI Fiji Office, in partnership with its government counterpart the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (MoIT) and donor funding support from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP), delivered a one day national stakeholder workshop on Data Audit and Data Management Assessment to Support the Electrification of the Transport Sector in Fiji. The workshop is part of a partnership project between GGGI, MoIT, and UNESCAP that focuses on the implementation of transport projects on evidence-based policies for sustainable use of energy resources. The workshop was conducted at the Government Training Centre (GTC) at Nasese in Suva.

The event was officially opened by the Permanent Secretary of Infrastructure and Transport, Mr. Taitusi Vakadravuyaca. In his opening remarks, Mr. Vakadravuyaca stressed that “while Fiji is at the forefront of dealing with the threat of climate change, it strives for sustainable development and achieve green growth targets into the future”. He also mentioned that the transport sector is a critical sector in Fiji’s economy representing 60% of fuel users, and a careful approach in preparing the sector to transition and adopting a more efficient mode of transports is essential. He also highlighted that it is also crucial that relevant policies and plans are established on evidence-based information and resources, which could be shared with relevant stakeholders to ensure effective execution.

In his remarks at the workshop, Mr. Iosefa Maiava, the Head of UNESCAP Pacific said that “in such partnership projects as these, UNESCAP hope to address certain policy-related challenges such as building data-relevant capacities and capabilities in Fiji to support the development of an energy knowledge management systems”. He further stated that workshop, such as this, serves as an opportunity for participants to learn new knowledge but also for stakeholders to understand better the priorities of Fiji’s energy sector aligning our work in the future better to the country’s needs. Ms. Katerina Syngellakis, Pacific Regional Representative for GGGI, also made a presentation during the workshop that highlights a glance of Fiji’s Low Emission Development Strategy (LEDS) and coverage required from all sectors of the economy which entails four (4) possible scenarios to achieve net zero emission by mid-century (2050). This would as well require moving towards 100% electricity-based land and maritime transport by mid-century (2050) and specific sets of decarbonization actions that the land and maritime transport will need to make.

The stakeholders that gathered for the workshop included key actors from the private sector, non-government organizations, and key government agencies to discuss and identify the data flows, bottlenecks, and constraints within the electricity and transport sector and how this could be better improved to enable effective mobilization of new modes of transportation such as electric vehicles into Fiji’s transport sector. A second national stakeholder consultation workshop is scheduled for the 6th of August 2019, in which a data management strategy on this important subject will be devised.