Port of Spain, March 26, 2021 â€“ Caribbean civil society can play a key role in delivering climate finance and building local resilience, and there needs to be greater investment to support this role alongside governments and the private sector.

This was the key message from the virtual regional dialogue, â€œDelivering Caribbean Climate Ambitions: Climate Finance, Civil Society and Partnerships”, held from March 16-18, 2021. It was attended by over 200 participants, including leading regional and national civil society organisations (CSOs), national authorities, regional agencies, funders and international partners. Key themes explored over the three days included options for accessing climate finance with a focus on civil society’s role and capacity, expanding multi-stakeholder engagement in climate change decision-making, and leveraging partnerships to realise climate ambitions.

Antigua and Barbuda’s Ambassador for Climate Change and representative for the Chair, Alliance for Small Island States, H.E. Mrs. Diann Black-Layne, provided remarks and highlighted that “Without CSOs we can’t get to where we need to go. The government cannot do it on its own.” She noted that the Department of Environment in Antigua and Barbuda is accredited to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) for projects up to US$ 50 million, and the reason for such an ambitious accreditation is because they have an ambitious programme to engage CSOs in delivering climate finance. She welcomed the collaboration with the GCF and other national designated authorities in the Caribbean to get more CSOs ready to take action and scale up impact.

GCF’s Regional Manager â€“ Caribbean and Brazil, Division of Country Programming, Dr. Orville Grey, noted that “Having civil society, including local communities and indigenous peoples, as forefront stakeholders contributing to the development of GCF programmes and projects for the Caribbean is not only laudable but a strategic goal in taking country ownership to another level.”

Executive Director, Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), Ms. Nicole Leotaud, highlighted that â€œCivil society are doing amazing work on the ground, particularly reaching the most vulnerable, and can deliver climate action. We need to invest in them, and we should not discount even the micro and small grants that support hundreds of small CSOs across the region. This includes working with Caribbean CSOs as intermediaries for large funds to channel resources to the ground, leveraging their local knowledge and relationships and their cost-effective systems.”

The launch of a Caribbean Climate Finance Action Network was also announced on March 18, 2021 at the dialogue. This network will keep the conversation going beyond the dialogue. It will bring together key civil society, government and private sector stakeholders for shared learning, partnership building and developing practical solutions to improve access to and delivery of climate finance in the region.

This regional dialogue was organised as part of the project, â€œEnhancing Caribbean civil society’s access and readiness for climate finance” by CANARI and national designated authorities to the GCF across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States, with the Climate Change Division, Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change in Jamaica as the lead authority. Technical partners for the dialogue included Climate Analytics and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD).

For more information on the dialogue and wider project, see: https://canari.org/csos-ready-for-climate- finance__________________________________________________________________________________

About the project: The â€œEnhancing Caribbean civil society’s access and readiness for climate finance” project is being implemented from February 2020 to August 2022 by national designated authorities to the Green Climate Fund (GCF) across the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Member States. The Climate Change Division, Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change in Jamaica as the lead authority. CANARI is serving as the implementing entity for the project. The project’s scope includes the CARICOM region, with targeted activities in Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Grenada, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia and Suriname.

About the Climate Change Division: The Climate Change Division was established to lead, provide strategic support, coordinate and monitor the transformational change towards a climate resilient society in Jamaica. It also plays a key role in coordinating Jamaica’s representation in international climate change negotiations. It serves as the focal point to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the national designated authority to the Adaptation Fund and GCF, which is the largest global funding mechanism

Climate Technology Centre and

Network.

About CANARI: The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is a regional technical non-profit organisation which has been working in the islands of the Caribbean for over 30 years. Our mission is to promote and facilitate stakeholder participation and stewardship of natural resources in the
Caribbean. OurworkfocusesonBiodiversityandEcosystems,EquityandJustice,Participatory Governance and Resilience. See here for more information on CANARI: http://www.canari.org/.

Connect with us:

#climatereadyCSOs #climatefinance #ResilientCaribbean

For further information, please contact:

Ainka Granderson, Ph.D., CANARI Senior Technical Officer and Project Manager at [email protected] or +868 638 6062