by Linda Straker
- Green Climate Fund Caribbean partners in Grenada for second structured dialogue
- Grenada will continue to champion for small island states most vulnerable to climate change
Green Climate Fund (GCF) partners in the Caribbean have gathered in Grenada for the second structured dialogue where they will be provided with an opportunity to reflect on progress and capture lessons learned towards strengthening and streamlining as well as exploring investment opportunities that fit into the fund’s mandate.
Calling for decisive immediate action, Prime Minister Dr Keith Mitchell told the participants that action is needed to reverse some of the scourge of climate change on small island nations such as those in the Caribbean.
“It cannot be business as usual, we need to act now so that future generations will applaud us for the action we take now to protect our planet,” he told the participants who are representing all Caricom members, international and regional donor organisations as well as non-governmental organisation whose work focuses on environment protection.
“There is a short window to protect against catastrophic activities,” he said, reminding them of the natural disasters which devastated many of the northern Caribbean countries during the 2017 hurricane season.
Promising that Grenada will continue to be a champion for matters affecting small island states that are most vulnerable to climate change, Dr Mitchell who is presently the SIDSDOCK Chairman said as a champion, the matter affecting the islands will always be priority advocacy.
“Grenada will continue to be a champion of sustainable development for small island states because in a space of a few hours everything can change with one incident.” The Prime Minister reiterated his call for adjustments to be made to country GDP ranking if they are vulnerable to climate change activities.
“It’s easy to sit and go by the books to qualify and unqualify countries for certain things, but things can change quickly,” he said.
According to the programme, during the 6-9 November meeting at the Radisson Convention Centre, participants will focus on a number of areas including
- Increasing understanding of the GCF’s modalities and the strategic opportunities for Caribbean countries;
- Understanding countries’ needs and take stock of progress achieved since the last Caribbean Structured Dialogue;
- Updating the regional roadmap for strategic engagement with the GCF;
- Enhancing the country ownership of GCF Projects and
- Accelerating strategic country programming to build sustainable, climate-resilient societies.
There will also be discussions on enhancing private sector engagement in the GCF portfolio targeting immediate opportunities presented by Caribbean countries, and providing a platform for sharing best practices and lessons learned among stakeholders.
The GCF is a unique global platform to respond to climate change by investing in low-emission and climate-resilient development. GCF was established to limit or reduce greenhouse gas emissions in developing countries, and to help vulnerable societies adapt to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. Given the urgency and seriousness of this challenge, the Fund is mandated to make an ambitious contribution to the united global response to climate change.
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