Energy in the development of New Caledonia

Against the backdrop of increasingly scarce fossil fuel resources and climate change, New Caledonia, which is not currently subject to the Kyoto protocol, must respond to environmental concerns, and find ways and means of becoming less energy-dependent. With the Territory defining its Land Use and Development plan for 2025 and, further down the line, its energy and climate plan, the Government of New Caledonia and the Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME), via the Territorial Energy Management Committee (CTME), have asked the Development Research Institute (IRD) to produce a complete report of the situation and a multi-disciplinary analysis of the issues involved in the question of energy in the development New Caledonia. During the course of 2009, a board of experts also examined energy management, new energy production and storage technologies, ways of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, the geopolitical position concerning energy and climate, and regional cooperation along with energy and climate management in New Caledonia. Their detailed assessment is provided here. In accordance with the expert report model developed, the body of experts called up all available scientific data and knowledge so as to apply this understanding to the specific situation in New Caledonia. The body was thus able to deliver a series of recommendations, which may usefully support the policies that the Territory is on the point of adopting. (authors)