Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef has held strategic talks with Gwen Yamamoto-Lau, Executive Director of the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA), to explore innovative green financing solutions and renewable energy strategies relevant to island nations like the Maldives. The meeting was held during his visit to Hawaii as a special guest of the Blue Planet Alliance.
The meeting highlighted the shared climate challenges faced by island communities and the innovative role that green financing can play in addressing them. The HGIA, serving as Hawaii's pioneering green bank, has established an innovative model that leverages public-private partnerships and inclusive financial tools to accelerate Hawaii's transition to 100 percent renewable energy and enhance climate resilience.
The discussion centred on shared challenges facing island nations, particularly their unique vulnerabilities to climate impacts and common obstacles in renewable energy deployment. The Vice President expressed keen interest in Hawaii's successful journey towards renewable energy transformation – a path that offers valuable insights for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) like the Maldives, which seek to reduce fossil fuel dependency despite geographical constraints.
Executive Director Yamamoto-Lau provided a comprehensive overview of Hawaii’s ambitious clean energy goals and briefed the Vice President on HGIA’s innovative and equitable financing mechanisms, such as on-bill financing programmes that allow consumers to repay renewable energy investments through their utility bills. These approaches help bridge financial gaps between public initiatives and private sector investments, which the Vice President identified as essential for expanding the Maldives' renewable energy portfolio.