Port of Spain, February 23, 2023 – The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is launching the Caribbean Local Green-Blue Enterprises Knowledge Platform and the Root Capital Financial Product which will support businesses around the Caribbean aiming to have a potential positive effect on the global or local environment, community, society, or economy.

CANARI has been working for more than 10 years to support these local green-blue enterprises as they strive to meet triple-bottom line returns (economic, environmental and social). They include informal and formal businesses which use green business models, develop green products or green their business practices. Community eco-tourism, craft, small scale fisheries and agro processing are nature- based businesses which are very important in rural communities across the Caribbean and types of local green- blue enterprises.

Nicole Leotaud, CANARI’s Executive Director, noted that, “Local green-blue enterprises are a key pathway to environmentally sustainable, inclusive, and resilient economic development in the Caribbean but are an invisible and underserved sector.” The Caribbean Local Green-Blue Enterprises Knowledge Platform seeks to catalyse and facilitate enhanced support for these unique enterprises through building awareness and understanding of the needs and opportunities for this sector. This platform will benefit these enterprises and their networks, green marketplaces, policy and regulatory agencies, business support organisations and financial institutions. Limited access to finance is a main challenge facing local green-blue enterprises in Trinidad and Tobago. The Root Capital Financial product was developed as a fund operated by an LGE cooperative which aims to provide tailored support to local green-blue enterprises through the provision of finance, capacity building, mentorship and community.

Development of the platform and financial product was led by CANARI with input and advice from a multistakeholder Action Learning Group on Financing Local Green-Blue Enterprises (LGEs Finance ALG) in Trinidad and Tobago, with representation from key government agencies, private sector financial institutions, civil society, and businesses.

The work was carried out under the project, “Civil society participation for sustainable finance reforms: global coverage” funded by the European Union (DCI/ENV/2020/417-985) and managed by the Green Economy Coalition (greeneconomycoalition.org). CANARI led implementation of the project in Trinidad and Tobago.

The virtual launch takes place on Monday 27 February 2023, 10:00 – 11:30am via the Zoom webinar platform and will be livestreamed on CANARI’s social media channels. Please contact Danielle Morong Johnson, Technical officer at [email protected] to register or for more information.