Last Updated on October 23, 2020, 5:16 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Climate change is posing a critical challenge for Caribbean Small Island Developing States, and civil society organizations have little access to and engagement in climate finance mechanisms.
St. Kitts and Nevis has launched a Green Climate Fund Readiness Project: “Enhancing Caribbean Civil Society’s Access and Readiness for Climate Finance.”
The project, which would be implemented by Caribbean Natural Resources Institute, is designed to build the capacities of civil societies in assessing access of CSO to climate finance; and to identify and assess the effectiveness of CSO/ multi-stakeholder engagement mechanisms for climate change decision-making and climate finance.
It will also identify ways that will strengthen multi-stakeholder coordinating mechanisms for climate change decision-making; and effectively engage CSOs in development/ updating, monitoring and implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions, National Adaptation Plans and climate finance frameworks.
Terry Morris, National Project Coordinator and Civil Society Liaison touched briefly on the importance of the project.
He said, during the launch on October 22, at the National ICT Centre that there is an urgent need of building resilience. The GCF project would facilitate, such as we seek to build resilience in our vulnerable communities among at-risk populations and in communities that are at risk to disasters and destructions.
He added that civil society organizations are well-positioned, therefore, to lead that bottom-up approach. We believe that a grassroots approach to being able to have sustainable interventions is key to addressing the issue of climate change and other environmental issues.
Mr Morris said that the project is timely as it sets the tone for the Observance of International Day Climate Action on October 24, 2020.
He said, “We also acknowledge the fact that Community Service Organizations are making climate change a key element of their programming and so this project comes in at a time when the technical support, the financial support, and the other support that is needed to ensure that CSOs are positioned and have the capacity to have successful projects”.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
