Over thirty representatives from nine Caribbean countries this morning met in Kingstown, St Vincent and the Grenadines to better position themselves to access funding for climate change mitigation.

Countries in attendance at today’s workshop will use their Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) to develop concept notes which will be presented to development partners, who will also be in attendance. During this workshop, actions and priority areas identified in NAMAs, will be under consideration by development partners. NAMAs refer to any action that reduces emissions in developing countries and is prepared under the umbrella of a national governmental initiative. The United Nations Development Programme’s Japan-Caribbean Climate Change Partnership (UNDP J-CCCP) has provided support for the development of NAMAs in 7 Caribbean countries since 2017 in the transport, energy and water sectors, as one of the tools to implement countries’ Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC).

In his remarks at the opening of the regional workshop, the honourable Camillo Gonsalves, Minister of Finance, Economic Planning, Sustainable Development and Information Technology noted the importance of climate financing for the region. He said, “we in the Caribbean are fighting a battle. We are among the most vulnerable yet, we are considered middle income countries and this disadvantages us when we seek financing.”

“This workshop is a great opportunity for our colleagues to learn more about accessing funding for very necessary processes and advancements, with the added value of learning from peers and, having donors on hand to provide guidance” said Resident Representative a.i. for the UNDP Barbados and the OECS Subregional Office, Chisa Mikami.

The J-CCCP partnered with the Enabling Gender-Responsive Disaster Recovery, Climate and Environmental Resilience in the Caribbean (EnGenDER) Project, as well as development partners, to host this workshop. The J-CCCP is a regional initiative working in 8 Caribbean countries, including Belize. The programme of work under the J-CCCP is in line with the Paris Agreement on Climate Change, to keep global warming below 2 degrees Celsius and to drive efforts to limit the temperature increase even further to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Climate change is one of the most serious challenges to the Caribbean, and as such boosting resilience is crucial for the region’s development and is a clear part of UNDP’s global strategic plan of programme priorities. Agriculture, fisheries, water and sanitation, human health and coastal resources and infrastructure are all being affected by climate change and require responses at both community and national levels in the region.