UNLOCKING CLIMATE CHANGE
FINANCE: OPPORTUNITIES AND
CONSTRAINTS
Caribbean Development Bank (CDB)
Board of Governors Meeting
May 25 2001
Port of Spain,
Trinidad and Tobago
Philip S Weech,
Director, BEST Commission,
Ministry of the Environment
ASSUMPTIONS
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Our climate is changing
Impacts immediate, slow onset and longer term
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Impacts will accelerate with time
Entire Caribbean and all economic sectors are
vulnerable
Adaptation in all sectors - essential
Action is required
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supported by finance
technical assistance
ES Technology transfers needed
OBLIGATIONS UNDER UNFCC CONVENTION 1/3

Historical responsibility
 Action
to address climate change enshrined in the
UNFCC Convention
 Developed countries
Article 4 (3) new and predictable, agreed full cost reporting article
12, agreed full incremental costs Adequate and predictable flows,
burden sharing (annex 1)
 Article 4 (4) assist particularly vulnerable in meeting cost of
adaptation
 and Article 4 (5) promote, facilitate and finance environmentally
sound technologies

OBLIGATIONS UNDER UNFCC CONVENTION 2/3
Vulnerable Parties
 Developing Countries


Article 4 (7)
The extent to which developing country Parties will effectively implement their
commitments under the Convention will depend on the effective implementation by
developed country Parties of their commitments under the Convention related to
financial resources and transfer of technology and will take fully into account that
economic and social development and poverty eradication are the first and
overriding priorities of the developing country Parties.
OBLIGATIONS UNDER UNFCC CONVENTION 3/3


Article 4 (8)
In the implementation of the commitments in this Article, the Parties shall
give full consideration to what actions are necessary under the Convention,
including actions related to funding, insurance and the transfer of
technology, to meet the specific needs and concerns of developing country
Parties arising from the adverse effects of climate change and/or the
impact of the implementation of response measures, especially on:
(a) Small island countries; (b) Countries with low-lying coastal areas; (c) Countries with arid and semi-arid
areas, forested areas and areas liable to forest decay; (d) Countries with areas prone to natural disasters; (e)
Countries with areas liable to drought and desertification; (f) Countries with areas of high urban atmospheric
pollution; (g) Countries with areas with fragile ecosystems, including mountainous ecosystems; (h) Countries
whose economies are highly dependent on income generated from the production, processing and export,
and/or on consumption of fossil fuels and associated energy-intensive products; and (i) Landlocked and
transit countries
OPPORTUNITIES - RESOURCES AVAILABLE
UNDER CONVENTION
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Under Construction
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Existing –
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Loss and Damage
Fast Start - Copenhagen Accord 30Billion
Longer term – Cancun Accords 100B
GEF an entity operating the Financial Mechanism of the
Convention
SCCF, LDCF
Existing - Under Kyoto Protocol
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Adaptation fund GEF as the secretariat
•
Features direct access
OPPORTUNITIES RESOURCES AVAILABLE
OUTSIDE CONVENTION - EXAMPLES
 World
Bank (IBRD)
 Climate Investment Funds
 pledged more than US$6.1 billion a pair of international investment instruments
designed to provide interim, scaled-up funding to help developing countries in their
efforts to mitigate increases GHG emissions and adapt to climate change.

Bilateral
 SIDS
Dock Ltd.
 ECPA (Energy and Climate Change Partnership of
the Americas)
OPPORTUNITIES / CONSTRAINTS
GEF
Project based activities, small pool of money 1BUSD, Cofinancing, mitigation focus, short duration, work with UN
agencies (UNEP/UNDP/FAO etc.)
Bilateral Aid
Bilateral projects with often unilateral rules, donor set priorities
may not match local needs, middle income countries harder to
qualify, use of foreign expertise tie in to proprietary technologies
WB Group
Regional DBs
UN System (UNEP,
FAO, UNDP, ECLAC
etc.)
Useful Caribbean disaster risk insurance pool (too small?),
loans some grants as seed to larger interventions, poverty
reduction focus, middle income countries tighter requirements,
all scales all sectors public and private (IFC)
National
Why pay for damage not of your doing? Responding to climate
change already being borne, costs will increase,
Opportunity to link to bilateral focus, CDM projects, Adaptation
fund direct access provisions (model for future)
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE CDB 1/2

Cost estimates needed
 Estimates
of costs to adapt to CC in CDB borrowing
member states
 GEF incremental cost considerations

Support CDB BM to better take advantages of
opportunities
 GEF
– Caribbean Biodiversity Fund synergies
 Direct Access through the Adaptation Fund model

Implement CARICOM regional energy strategy

COTED March 2007- 2011 then CARICOM HOG meeting July 2011

Regional energy projects
 E.g.
geothermal – OAS/ECPA Dominica and environs
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE CDB 2/2

Renewable energy expansions
 Insurance
pool for hurricane risk associated with
RE expansions
 Policy reform(s), energy pricing, electricity sector reforms, private
and public sector efforts
 Demonstration
climate proof CDB projects
Loss and Damages
 Expansion of Caribbean Disaster Risk
programme

IS CLIMATE FINANCE LOCKED?
NO!!
 Opportunities exist
 Regional development banks involvement in
climate financing exists! ADB, AfDB
 The Caribbean despite its high vulnerability to
the adverse impacts of climate change have
taken in initial (very small/modest steps)

 Caribbean
Disaster Risk insurance
 More - Much More Needed
THANK YOU
Philip S Weech
Director,
The Bahamas Environment Science
and
Technology (BEST) Commission,
Ministry of the Environment (MTE)
Commonwealth of The Bahamas.
2 Floor Dockendale House,
West Bay Street,
Nassau, N. P. Bahamas