The Haiti Sustainable Energy Programme: Increasing Energy Access in Haiti and Supporting New Solutions to Energy Poverty

The Republic of Haiti - that occupies a third of the Caribbean Island of Hispaniola - became the first independent Latin American country in the early 19th century. Yet chronic instability and weak governments combined with natural disasters have left it the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. UN peacekeepers were deployed in 2004 to restore order after an uprising, and today more than 8,000 personnel remain. Moreover, many Haitians are struggling with the aftermath of the 7.0 earthquake which devastated the capital, Port-au-Prince, and surrounding areas in January 2010. More than 200,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were left homeless. Environmental and natural resource degradation is also a major concern. The country is extremely vulnerable due to deforestation, bad cultivation practices, erosion and the degradation of the watersheds. Vegetation cover has fallen to an estimated 2% of the land area (15%, if tree cultivation is taken into account), which has led to widespread biodiversity loss. The degradation of watersheds linked to deforestation is the main cause of floods. 80% of the country is mountainous, which can exacerbate natural disasters and poor land management practices. Rapid urbanisation has also taken its toll on the environment.