The Tonga Government is actively working to reduce its fuel imports and Greenhouse gases emissions by transitioning towards a more sustainable and resilient transportation system.
A statement confirmed that the National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the United States Department of Energy jointly with the Tonga Department of Energy – Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications (MEIDECC) conducted a three days’ stakeholder meeting, from the 12 – 14 June at Davina House, Nuku’alofa, discussing and to support the development of electric mobility in Tonga.
“The purpose of the stakeholder meeting was to obtain a deeper knowledge of the transportation system in Tonga through its key stakeholders. Furthermore, the meeting gathered feedbacks from Stakeholders regarding policy options to improve transportation efficiency and advance electric vehicles in the country.”
The meeting was opened by the Acting Director of the Department of Energy, Ms ‘Emeline Laumanu.
“Since this is the first stakeholder meeting of the Draft Policy Options to Improve Mobility Efficiency and Electrify Transportation in Tonga, Electric Vehicles (EVs) is the target technology we have identified for phasing out fossil fuel and minimizing emissions in the transport sector”, said Ms Laumanu.
“The event was also fortunate to have participants from the Pacific region (Fiji, Kiribati, Tuvalu and Vanuatu) who are here in the country for the Pacific Regional Electric Vehicle Working Group Meeting on the 15 -16 June, sharing their experiences on electric mobility development. Mr. Andrew Campbell, an UNIDO New Zealand based Consultant also participated at the Tonga Stakeholder Meeting.”
“NREL presented the identified global and regional trends for transportation efficiency and EVs, highlighted key policies and initiatives from select case studies, build on the Tonga Energy Efficiency Master Plan (TEEMP) and Tonga Energy Road Map 2021-2035 (TERM Plus) and summarized the current state of transportation in Tonga.”
Laumanu concluded the meeting, thanking NREL and the US Department of Energy, the regional and local participants for their support and highlighted that the meeting has been a good step in the right direction in terms of getting the right people to discuss way forwards and supporting the development of electric mobility in Tonga.