At the recently held, Third UN Ocean Conference, a stakeholder meeting was convened by the Costa Rica Government to generate national, regional, and global solutions in an inclusive manner, with the participation of all relevant stakeholders. The meeting served as a platform for the exchange of best practices and successful experiences related to ocean governance and health.
The CEO of the St Lucia National Conservation Trust Fund (SLUNCF), Craig Henry, represented the Caribbean Sustainable Finance Architecture (CSFA) on a panel discussing “Conservation Trust Funds as Local Mechanisms for Blue Conservation Finance” on June 7. The CSFA comprises the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF), through its Conservation Finance Program, and its 10 partner National Conservation Trust Funds (NCTFs). Currently, the CBF has partnership agreements with NCTFs in The Bahamas, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Guyana, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Craig shared the CFSA’s impact on sustainable development in the Caribbean and in particular the work of Agence Française de Développement (AFD)/French Global Environmental Facility (FFEM) through the CBF’s Caribbean Regional Architecture for Biodiversity (CRAB) project that supports Blue Conservation Finance. SLUNCF with the support of the CBF and in affiliation with REDLAC will host the XXVI RedLAC Congress in Saint Lucia on October 7-10 later this year. The Congress will explore the theme, “30x30x30: The Path to 2030,” with a focus on advancing global conservation targets within our national and regional contexts and is being hosted in the Eastern Caribbean for the first time.
The other panelists included representatives from Forever Costa Rica Association, Mesoamerican Reef Fund and Pacifico Foundation. This panel showcased the role of CTFs in marine conservation as a resource mobilization tool from public donors, philanthropy, and the private sector including innovative work with the private sector, parametric insurance and impact investment; funding to support governments in meeting the 30×30 goals; regional platforms that effectively work with multiple governments; and building regional architectures for long term financing of marine and coastal resources. Stéphanie Bouziges-Eschmann was the moderator from the FFEM and she brought the perspective of international cooperations, highlighting the crucial role they play in channeling these financial resources for local action, innovation, strengthening of networks and communities of practice, and for creating government and community led partnerships.
The participation of the CSFA was made possible with financial support of Agence Française de Développement (AFD), French Global Environmental Facility (FFEM) and the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) through the CRAB Project.
