There were some disappointments at COP27.
The eventual Sharm el-Sheikh Implementation Plan lacked strong language or resolutions on reducing fossil fuel usage, lacked strengthening net-zero pledges and Nationally Determined Contributions to meet decarbonization goals that support limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrialisation levels.
However, according to Racquel Moses, the only United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) global Ambassador representing Small Island Developing States and the Caribbean and the CEO of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA), there were several silver linings to take note of.
She said, “In addition to the consensus on Loss and Damage, which will provide a lot of necessary funding for climate-impacted communities globally, COP27 also saw the first pavilions for youth, indigenous people and climate justice—a definite shift towards more inclusive decision-making.”
Caribbean excellence and private sector financing were both on show at the CCSA Investor Forum, and as pointed out by Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley at COP27, “The region will explore ways of leveraging the IMF and World Bank for investment funds.”
Moses added, “The interest from the private sector to finance resilience-building projects has continued to grow. The result in Sharm el-Sheikh leaves a lot to work with.”
At COP27, Moses’ organisation, CCSA, had three objectives.
Firstly, CCSA highlighted the need for fit-for-purpose funding through grants and philanthropic funding to take many of the region’s climate-resilient projects from concept to bankability.
To do this, Moses announced that the Caribbean Blended Finance for Resilience Fund, to help finance renewable energy projects in the region, has received funding from the Caribbean Development Bank with the support of the government of Canada.
Showcasing one of the projects within the Caribbean at the Caricom Pavilion at COP27, the CCSA presented its fourth Investor Forum, previewing Dominica’s National Financing Vehicle to commercialise its vast geothermal potential.
At the event, Francine Baron, CEO of the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica, explained that geothermal projects drive the country’s shift to a sustainable economy.
Baron added that it is also an essential pathway toward developing a Caribbean Single Energy Export Market for green hydrogen. She said Dominica is eyeing Trinidad and Tobago as a potential market for green hydrogen.
The second objective revolved around advocacy for Loss and Damage funding, for which they agreed to create a facility for at COP27, with details to be hashed out at COP28 next year.
She added that there were also positive movements with the creation of the Global Shield by Germany and the G7.
This separate financial mechanism will be used as disaster relief to strengthen social protection schemes and provide some climate risk insurance.
Many of the Caribbean islands, including T&T, have parametric disaster insurance for events such as tropical cyclones, excess rainfall and earthquakes through the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility.
Lastly, CCSA aimed to highlight Global South innovation.
Innovations included a climate-smart map in determining where the Caribbean region is against our objectives, the funding flows needed to reach these objectives, and the resilience scorecard, which tracks areas of need and directs financing into the sectors with the most critical requirements.
In addition, the Caribbean Development Bank has also developed the Recovery Duration Adjuster (RDA), a tool to capture countries’ vulnerability based on the time it would take them to recover from the impacts of a climate event.
Moses said this is a mechanism that the Accelerator hopes to see rolled out globally, as a replacement for GDP per capita as a measure of access to concessionary finance.
This story was produced as part of the 2022 Climate Change Media Partnership, a journalism fellowship organised by Internews’ Earth Journalism Network and the Stanley Centre for Peace and Security.