The Commonwealth’s Climate Finance Access Hub is helping to improve Caribbean countries’ access to climate finance. In Barbados:

The Commonwealth is providing Barbados technical assistance to strengthen its access to climate finance by designing six projects ranging in value from US$90,000 to 10,000,000.

The projects are being prepared by the government of Barbados with the support of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub’s National Adviser deployed in the country, Winston Bennet.

Bennet helps ensure that projects proposed by the country meet the technical requirements of international funders that address climate change. He provides advice on seeking suitable donors and techniques to make successful funding applications.

Projects, currently in the pipeline, involve vital sectors of Barbadian economy and its national development priorities. Focus areas include renewable energy and climate resilience with an emphasis on water resource management, as well as civic participation in the climate change discourse.

With the Commonwealth’s support, two additional projects have already been submitted to Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects and UNDP Small Grants Program. These include climate-smart agricultural training sessions, one aimed at persons with developmental disabilities/mental health needs and the other focusing on at-risk youths.

And in Jamaica:

Jamaica received a US$0.6 million grant to fund REDD+ readiness actions as part of its Forest Policy, through the support of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub.

The Hub’s National Adviser deployed in Jamaica, Katherine Blackman provided technical assistance to draft the grant proposal for the Green Climate Fund, which will support the country’s aims for ‘no-net-losses’ to forest cover.

The Hub’s General Manager, Bilal Anwar, said: “Maintenance and restoration of the forest ecosystems and protection of the country’s biodiversity is one of the key component of Jamaica’s low carbon developmental strategy. It is profoundly gratifying that the technical assistance by the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub has enabled the country to receive this readiness grant for REDD+ activities.”

REDD+ or Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation is a mechanism developed by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. It creates a financial value for the carbon stored in forests by offering incentives for developing countries to reduce emissions from forested lands and invest in low-carbon paths to sustainable development.

Learn more at the Climate Finance Access Hub website.

[Image: Liam Byrnes]