Nature-Based Economies ensure that ecosystem conservation is a source of capital for development and sustainable livelihoods while preserving the health of marine and coastal ecosystems. Conservation in this context involves actions to protect and sustainably manage ecosystems, that bring about economic benefits/capital for sustainable development addressing societal challenges effectively and adaptively, propelling:
The NBE Program was established by the CBF as it aligns directly with the organization’s mission to ensure continuous funding for conservation and sustainable development in the Caribbean region.
Waste management is a major environmental problem in the Caribbean. The region faces significant challenges due to increasing waste production and limited comprehensive waste profiling. Many Caribbean countries struggle with upstream waste collection and downstream waste disposal, both financially and environmentally. Despite these challenges, there is a push towards integrated solid waste management through a circular economy approach.
The CE approach tackles waste, biodiversity loss, and pollution by:
The ACE Facility seeks to directly contribute to the reduction of marine litter in the Caribbean by promoting the circular economy among public and private actors. It was initiated in 2022, is currently funded by KfW Development Bank on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany and is driven by the CBF.
The Advancing Circular Economy (ACE) Facility expects to achieve the following results:
The ACE Facility will award grants through a competitive call for proposals mechanism and is expected to provide sustainable finance for up to 20 individual projects that will be executed until the end of its operations in 2028. The projects are expected to apply circular principles to prevent waste from entering the marine environment or removing marine litter.
Eligible grantees of the Facility include nongovernmental organizations, academia, public institutions, community-based organizations, and the private sector.
The Facility seeks to bring benefits to the wider Caribbean region with nine (9) primary beneficiary countries:
The ACE Facility is open to projects that demonstrate regional collaboration, sustainability and circular economy approach to address marine pollution in the region.
The Advancing Circular Economy (ACE) Facility will launch its first call for proposals in August 2024.
We encourage organizations with impactful projects to explore their eligibility for funding. Here’s how to get started:
Dive deeper and discover how our grantees are creating a more resilient Caribbean:
The grantees of this program will be available soon.
For a comprehensive understanding of this program, we invite you to explore the following resources:
The Nature-Based Economies Program will be developed around a new Advancing Circular Economy (ACE) Facility. The ACE Facility will work with public and private sector partners as well as other Caribbean stakeholders to fund projects that promote and apply practical circular economy principles to minimize, prevent or remove waste entering the marine environment and/or removing marine litter.
Funded by KfW, on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the objective of the ACE Facility is to contribute to the reduction of marine litter in the insular Caribbean. This is to be achieved by investments in equipment and infrastructure but also generation of data and knowledge, policy support and education of consumers.