The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has organized a Caribbean workshop on Climate Change Financing and the Green Climate Fund at the Barbados Hilton Hotel, Bridgetown, Barbados, on July 15 and 16, with support from the German Government through the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

This workshop brings together high-level policy-makers from Ministries of finance, planning, energy and environment and other relevant Ministries, as well as regional organizations, international expert, stakeholders from civil society and the private sector to discuss key issues around the global climate change finance architecture and the UN Green Climate Fund.

This regional meeting follows and builds on a successful international technical workshop held on July 11 and 12, at the same location, which focused on modalities of support for getting developing countries ready to access the recently established Green Climate Fund.

The expected outcomes of the workshop include deepening understanding of the challenges and opportunities of the current climate change financing architecture, identifying specific needs and capacity gaps in the region, institutional arrangements to enhance climate finance readiness in the region, and most importantly to work out concrete elements of a structured climate finance readiness work programme for the region.

Recent evolution in aid assistance and climate change financing have rendered readiness support crucial at every stage of the funding cycle, from the formulation of bankable projects in line with national priorities to the monitoring of their implementation and results. The readiness support programme to be deployed in the region can be regarded as a win-win investment by both recipients and their development partners, and this workshop is organized in this spirit.

“Readiness is crucial for the effectiveness of climate finance. Getting countries ready in terms of strategy, institutional capacity and project pipelines is a vital pre-condition for the GCF to have the transformational impact towards low-emission and climate resilient development we want it to have” said Martin Kipping, Director for Germany, on CDB’s Board of Directors. “This workshop is a great opportunity for institutions from the region to discuss their experiences in managing climate finance and their needs for readiness support.”