Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley speaking about the benefits of the Green Bank while Special Advisor on Economics Professor Avinash Persaud, and GCF’s Director of the Private Sector Facility, Kavita Sinha and Investment Officer, Tom Bishop, listen attentively.
Author: Julie Carrington
Significant progress was made during discussions between the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Government of Barbados in the establishment of a Green Climate Finance Bank.
This comes following a three-day working visit from March 16 to 18 to the island by GCF officials who were invited at the request of the Government of Barbados.
The Director of the GCF’s Private Sector Facility, Kavita Sinha, and the Fund’s Investment Officer, Tom Bishop, met with government officials, numerous financial and development finance agencies, and other key players in the renewable energy sector where they presented the Green Climate Finance Bank’s role in climate financing and the creation of innovative products.
Speaking to the Barbados Government Information Service on the sidelines of a meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, last Friday, Ms. Sinha commended Government for the “impressive” background work that had been done in conceptualising green initiatives.
She added that the ideas submitted for approval were in keeping with GCF’s mandate to support vulnerable economies to become more resilient against the impacts of climate change.
Ms. Sinah acknowledged that the costs for building a green climate-resilient economy were high and could not be fully funded by government financing.
“So, we need to mobilise private capital and other public capital which would otherwise not come into low-emission climate-resilient development. So, GCF plays the role of catalysing our private sector to crowd in private capital as well as in public capital in such projects,” she stated.
Ms. Sinah lauded Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley for coming up with the Green Climate Finance Bank, calling it an “innovative idea”, pointing out that the Bank would help other Caribbean countries to meet their targets for Nationally Determined Contributions, and achieve a climate-resilient low-emission future.
The GCF, as one of the proposed founding equity investors in the bank, will provide technical assistance and other support to develop the funding proposal, for approval by the Board.
During the session, Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley and Minister in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Ryan Straughn, received an update on the issues discussed earlier in the day and promised to put structures in place to minimise the lag time between approval and the start times for projects.
Source: https://gisbarbados.gov.bb/blog/gcf-and-government-join-forces-to-set-up-green-bank%ef%bf%bc/
