Lisbon, May 27, 2025 (Lusa) - The prime minister of Sao Tome and Principe, representing the acting presidency of the Community of Portuguese Language Countries (CPLP), argued on Tuesday on the sidelines of an event in Portugal that the organisation "can play a very important role" in the energy transition process.
"What has been agreed is that the CPLP can play a very important role in this energy transition process," said Américo Ramos in statements to Lusa, in Estoril, Cascais, after speaking at the opening of the CPLP's second Energy Conference, which began on Tuesday and runs until Wednesday, under the slogan “Driving a Resilient, Sustainable and Inclusive Energy Transition for the CPLP”.
For the Sao Tome prime minister, as a community the CPLP "can unite the needs and potential of each member state and be a very valid interlocutor and partner with international partners."
It is, he stressed, made up of states "with different levels of development," there are "common issues" and this is why "there can be an exchange of experiences" between the more developed countries in certain areas and replicate them in others.
According to Ramos, the CPLP "will have to play its role" and contribute to the development of its member states.
Overseen by the government of Sao Tome and Principe, current holder of the rotating presidency of the CPLP, and organised by the Energy and Climate Thematic Committee of the CPLP Consultative Observers, coordinated by the Lusophone Renewable Energy Association (ALER) and the Association of Energy Regulators of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (RELOP), the conference has institutional support from the CPLP and Portugal's Ministry of the Environment and Energy, and the partnership of the Portuguese Energy Agency (APA) and Cascais city council.
According to the CPLP, as well as being "a moment to share the latest developments and anchor projects in the energy transitions of each member state," the event "aims to promote new partnerships and investment and financing opportunities."
The first CPLP Energy Conference took place in 2015, during Timor-Leste's stint holding the presidency.
A decade on, held on the sidelines of the III Meeting of Energy Ministers, the II CPLP Energy Conference is the meeting point for governors, financiers, entrepreneurs and energy sector specialists from the community and from other international institutions.
Angola, Brazil, Cabo Verde, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Portugal, Sao Tome and Principe and Timor-Leste are the nine member states of the CPLP.
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