Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, December 19, 2019 – The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) is very pleased to announce a Euros 20 million top-up for its Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA)Facility from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety (BMU) International Climate Initiative, through KfW, the German Development Bank.
The legal agreements for the top-up were signed on December 17 and the funds will be deposited in the EbA Facility before the end of the year. Federal Environment Minister Svenja Schulze commented: “Nature often provides the best solutions for climate action and adaptation to climate change. In addition to climate action and nature conservation, such projects often bring social benefits as well: They help people in vulnerable developing countries, in particular, to adapt to climate change. People in these countries are often much more directly dependent on nature. This is equally true for agriculture and for coastal protection.”
The funds will provide additional support to the CBF’s EbA Facility, which was established in 2017 with 25 million Euros provided by BMU.
“EbA is gaining momentum as an effective approach to addressing climate adaptation and risk in the Caribbean” shared Karim ould Chih, Chairman of the EbA Facility Committee which has technical oversight responsibility for the Facility. “The interest of organizations to access this funding is extremely high in the region as demonstrated by the large number of applications submitted during the First Call for Proposals” he added.
“This additional funding will allow the CBF to better support the development and the scale-up of EbA approaches in the region” reflected Joth Singh, EbA Facility Programme Manager. “We are particularly interested in the scaling up aspect which will use the innovative approaches already developed in the region and to expand these in both sizes and in numbers so we can achieve real results in adapting to and reducing climate risk” Singh added.
CBF Chief Executive Officer, Yabanex Batista, was delighted with the news of the top-up. “At a time when increased action to address climate change is a matter of urgency for the world and our region, these resources will help chart the course for effective adaptation”, he said. “The CBF hopes that this new contribution will allow us to build a path to establish the EbA Facility as a permanent finance mechanism for climate adaptation in the region” he added.
Eligible countries for this new contribution will include Antigua & Barbuda, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, and Saint Vincent & the Grenadines.
Established in 2012, the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) is the realization of a bold vision to create reliable, long-term funding for conservation and sustainable development in the Caribbean region.
Learn more about the CBF at www.caribbeanbiodiversityfund.org
For more information, please contact:
Dr. Joth Singh, Program Manager, EbA Facility
E-Mail: jsingh@caribbeanbiodiversityfund.org or
secretariat@caribbeanbiodoversityfund.org
