The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced its support of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Coalition, which was launched on December 12, 2017 during the One Planet Summit in Paris, that aims to create the world’s first “climate-smart zone” to support areas in the region destroyed by hurricanes in September 2017
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has announced its support of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Coalition, which was launched on December 12, 2017 during the One Planet Summit in Paris, that aims to create the world’s first “climate-smart zone” to support areas in the region destroyed by hurricanes in September 2017.
The One Planet Summit was hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron to review progress on the Paris Agreement, a climate change pact adopted by governments globally in 2015.
The public-private Coalition will work to implement a US$8 billion climate investment plan to transform the region’s energy system, boost economic growth and build resiliency.
It will also look at ways of removing systemic obstacles to finance meant for climate-smart investments.
The intended end result is to help Caribbean islands move away from costly fossil fuels and meet all of their energy needs from renewable sources.
Caribbean leaders have been brought together with representatives from the Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank and Caribbean Bank and national and international business and organisations to form the Coalition.
Members will support the establishment of partnerships which will coordinate investment deals, as well as cooperating to dissolve the technical and financial barriers that prevent Caribbean nations capitalising on opportunities for development and transformation.
Its launch follows the CARICOM-UN High-level Pledging Conference on November 21, which focused on helping countries to build a more climate-resilient community.
Almost US$2.5 billion was pledged at the conference for this purpose, and the Climate-Smart Coalition hopes to contribute further to the $5 billion recovery process in the Caribbean.
Around US$1.3 billion has already been committed by Coalition partners for recovery efforts and $2.8 billion will go towards wider climate-smart projects.
The Prime Minister of Grenada and Chair of CARICOM, Keith Mitchell, said: “Caribbean leaders have come together as a powerful collective to build a better future for the people of the Caribbean.
“Now we need to turn this possibility into a set of realities that benefit all our people.
“We all need to work together to change the rules of the game to accelerate climate-smart financial flows for the Caribbean and other small island developing states.
“Together we can build thriving economies fuelled by clean energy, nature-based resilient design and innovation.”
The Prime Minister of Dominca, Roosevelt Skerrit, said: “Despite the immense human suffering and economic damage caused by the recent hurricanes, the people of the Caribbean do not want to be just passive victims of climate change.
“Rather, they want to be active participants in designing and implementing solutions and for their Caribbean region to serve as a beacon of hope for island nations all over the world.”
