ImpactAlpha, January 30 — With storms, flooding and erosion, Caribbean islands are vulnerable in a warming world. The region’s climate adaptation annual financing gap tops $100 billion, says the International Monetary Fund.
CARICOM, a development financial institution focused on the Caribbean, with technical assistance from USAID, has launched the CARICOM Resilience Fund to catalyze capital for climate adaptation and resilience in the Caribbean’s eastern and southern regions.
CARICOM provided $15 million in first-loss capital to anchor the blended-finance fund, which has a $100 million target. “The Resilience Fund will contribute to preparing Caribbean countries to mitigate and adapt to adverse economic shocks, in particular those related to climate,”said Roger Nyhus, US ambassador to Barbados, where the fund was launched.
Catalytic capital
The fund will make debt and equity investments in small and medium enterprises and infrastructure projects in renewables, clean transport,the blue economy, sustainable agriculture, information and communications technology, and financial services.
CARICOM has selected Sygnus Capital, a Jamaica-based alternative investment firm, to manage the fund. CrossBoundary helped structure the fund.
