Green Climate Fund Mission to Antigua and Barbuda

The Department of Environment as the National Designated Authority to the Green Climate Fund along with the Ministry of Finance seeks to advise all agencies, civil society organization and the general public of the pending Mission of the Green Climate Fund to the Caribbean on December 10 – 19, 2017. Antigua and Barbuda will be the first country in the Green Climate Fund’s itinerary, arriving on island 10th December and departing the 13th December.

The Green Climate Fund, or “GCF”, is a financial mechanism under the Climate Change Convention and the Paris Agreement, which helps fund climate finance investment in low-emission, climate-resilient development through mitigation and adaptation projects and programmes in developing countries.

This mission is part of the Fund’s thrust to improve communication and information dissemination with Caribbean constituents based on the importance for the GCF on building country programmes and country owned pipeline of projects/programmes in the region and among Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

This mission aims to accelerate the region’s engagement with the Fund, in particular in the aftermath of the devastating hurricanes. In addition to hurricanes GCF is also concerned about slow events such as droughts and sea level rise that are also a result of climate change. To date, Antigua and Barbuda has received two capacity building or “Readiness” grants totaling USD 900,000 and was recently approved in November 2017 to receive USD 3 million for national adaptation planning to address climate risks, to be implemented over the next three years.

As a result of these grants the Department of the Environment is now an accredited entity to the GCF, the regulations for the SIRF Fund (Sustainable Island Resource Framework Fund) are completed and are at the office of the attorney general, over 23M USD of projects are under development for approval in 2018 – 2019 and the OECS Commission have received financing for its accreditation.

• The GCF mission to Antigua and Barbuda and the Caribbean will seek to achieve the following core objectives for the Public Sector:
• Country Programming, including a pipeline of projects to be developed for GCF Board approval; 
• Meeting with local stakeholders in direct consultations 
• Support of national Readiness proposals, including National Adaptation Planning; 
• As well as to gain a better understanding of readiness implementation in Antigua and Barbuda.
  

The GCF is also seeking to find opportunities for the Private Sector to directly access concessional loans, guarantees and equity for low emission climate resilient transitioning. The Fund team while in Antigua will: 

• Explore Private Sector modalities and potential projects/programmes with local institutions including Clean energy, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency actors, Financial Institutions, cooperatives, business associations, insurance, among others.
  

The Private sector will be engaged during a luncheon tentatively hosted by the Governor General on 12th December. Interested private sector entities can contact the Department of the Environment to signal their interest.  

The GCF team will also be discussing the outcomes of the Caribbean Structured Dialogue, held in Belize in June 2017. Issues to be discussed include:

• Further development of the Regional Readiness Proposal for Caribbean Management of Climate and Disaster Risks (led by Grenada and Antigua & Barbuda) 
  
• Consultations with the NDAs and Private Sector regarding the Regional Readiness Proposal approved "Mobilizing Private Sector to Support Low-Carbon and Climate Resilient Development in Jamaica and other CARICOM States".