Promise made last year by developed countries to help developing states

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) and the Pacific Island Forum (PIF) have raised alarm bells at the lack of commitment from developed countries to fulfill their pledge of providing US$100 billion a year to help developing countries.

CARICOM Secretary-General Dr Carla Barnett and her PIF counterpart, Henry Puna, who both attended the recent United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP 26), made their concerns, in outlining their concerns about the unfulfilled promise, argued that financing for adaptation to climate change was a major focus of their deliberations.

Barnett expressed concern that there were early warning signs during the climate change conference that major emitters would leave COP 26 with limited ambition to avert the current world trajectory which would take global temperature rise well over two degrees by the end of the century.

In agreeing with the CARICOM secretary general’s suggestion, Puna identified sea-level rise as a potent threat to the security and wellbeing of the Pacific Islands.

He cited a number of examples in recent years, where entire islands were already submerged or rendered uninhabitable due to rising sea levels. The two secretaries general focused attention on financing for climate resilience and mitigation initiatives, specifically the challenges of accessing climate financing from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) as a means of funding adaptation.

Meanwhile, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF SPC) has received a grant of US$1.6 million to support the rollout of insurance for the fisheries sector in five additional Caribbean countries. The Irish Aid support to CCRIF’s Climate Risk Insurance is part of the government of Ireland’s commitment to small island developing states.

It helps maintain a sustainable blue economy in the Caribbean, through enabling quicker local responses to the effects of climate change and environmental degradation.