About Us
About SARPF
South Asian Regional Parliamentarian Forum (SARPF) for Regional Energy Cooperation is a collective of leading parliamentarians committed to crafting a sustainable energy future for the South Asian region. The SARPF serves as a pivotal platform for bringing together parliamentarians from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka to engage in substantive discussions and take collaborative actions on shared energy concerns, with a special focus on regional energy cooperation, energy transition and climate change, and sustainable development.
How We Work
Leading multi-party parliamentarians from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka have formed an active collective entitled the Regional Parliamentary Forum. Their objective is to work towards regional energy cooperation and energy transition to achieve the goals of sustainable development in the South Asia region. These parliamentarians are committed to addressing the challenges of climate change and energy transition. They will build their capacity through regional and national meetings involving parliamentarians, experts, and Ministries. The focus will be on shaping parliamentary and policy-making interventions to facilitate regional energy integration in faster and sustainable ways.
Parliamentarians, as policymakers and lawmakers in their respective countries, will generate public debates nationally and internationally on the need for enhanced regional energy cooperation to accelerate the sustainable energy transition. They will deliberate upon the new policy and legislative measures and propose their implementation roadmap in the most affordable way. As a regional collective, parliamentarians will work to build political consensus within their countries and the region as a whole, fostering mutually beneficial regional energy initiatives. The combined national and regional initiatives by parliamentarians will create political consensus among the involved countries and their governments.
Achieving regional energy integration and cooperation will necessitate policy and legal changes in the energy sectors of the countries in the South Asia region. This also involves integrating regional vision and policy measures into national energy planning. Parliamentarians, both nationally and regionally, will take actions to facilitate the required policy changes and the prepare roadmaps for the development of regional energy markets.
The SARPF will establish a resource bank for knowledge and best practices in the areas of regional energy cooperation for parliamentarians and stakeholders to access. The Forum will collate latest knowledge in this area, generate new policy reports, and organize study tours of parliamentarians to showcase successful regional cooperation practices. The resource bank will regularly contribute to enhancing and updating the capacity of parliamentarians to take action. The network will aim to become an example of regional parliamentary engagement for advancing social and infrastructural initiatives.
Parliamentarians, through the Forum, will establish partnerships with governmental and non-governmental organizations working in the field of South Asian regional energy cooperation. They will carry forward their actions by collaborating with global and regional events to build broader political will and consensus towards a regional approach to energy and climate challenges. The Forum will actively seek to build such partnerships and alliances to support its objectives.
Our Mission
The mission of the SARPF is to mobilise political will to advance a just sustainable energy transition in South Asia through regional energy cooperation recognizing the shared developmental problems of energy security, accessibility, and affordability. Parliamentarians of the sovereign nations of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka have come together to establish this voluntary platform with the felt need to accelerate, strengthen, and scale energy exchange and trade in the region. The Parliamentarians as policy and lawmakers have acknowledged their shared responsibilities to address the energy challenges faced by the region and have considered the rich and deep historical linkages of cooperation among the people of South Asia. The Forum strongly aligns with the economic framework of sustainable development that will allow South Asian countries to yield economic well-being for all while meeting climate and environmental goals as early as possible. In essence, the SARPF seeks to become a credible political voice of parliamentarians of South Asian countries for deepening regional energy integration for sustainable energy and climate prosperity for the people of South Asia.
Our Values
Inclusivity
Equitable and Just
Multi-party and
Democratic
Democratic and
Transparent
Science-based but contextual
Respect
- Forming a Regional Collective of Parliamentarians
- Parliamentary Actions: National and Regional
- Policy Changes
- Knowledge and Best Practices
- Partnerships
Aims
To foster long term regional energy security, affordability, and sustainability in South Asia
To contribute towards global and regional efforts to mitigate climate change and accelerate clean energy transition as early as possible.
To harness for the BBINS countries the economic and social opportunities generated from the growth of the clean energy industry globally.
Key Objectives
To achieve these aims, the specific objectives of Forum are:
- To facilitate cooperation among BBINS countries in the field of energy production, distribution, and utilization by prioritising cross-border electricity trade and establishment of a regional energy/electricity market.
- To promote the development and sharing of best practices in the energy sector.
- To encourage the development of a well-integrated regional energy infrastructure-South Asia Energy Grid.
- Policy Advocacy
- Regional Cooperation
- Litigation
- Alliance and Partnership
- Learn and share
- Forge alliances
- Shape policy
- Empower communities