Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator at COP28

COP28 serves as a crucial platform for nations to share successes, exchange best practices, and collaboratively accelerate progress toward a sustainable and resilient future. It also allows non-government organizations and private corporations to be part of the larger conservation. In a recent interview, Kiesha Farnum, Director of the Public Sector Project at the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA), outlined the organization’s three key goals for this year’s COP. Farnum says the focus is on activating innovative financing for climate resilience, showcasing cutting-edge approaches in the region, and supporting the operationalization of a loss and damage fund.

Kiesha Farnum

Kiesha Farnum, Director, Public Sector Project, CCSA

“So we have three specific goals for COP this year. One is to activate innovative financing for climate resilience. So all of those projects that I would have just mentioned in our pipeline are seeking some type of support and we want to be able to see how we can use this stage to target what we call fit for purpose financing and just to very quickly define the fit for purpose financing. There is financing available in the region for climate smart projects, but we’re talking about financing that is able to meet projects where they are. So whether it’s project preparation, feasibility studies, different projects are in different stages and being able to find that financing that meets Caribbean projects where they are and able to catalyze Caribbean Climate smart businesses, et cetera, is one of our main goals in attending COP. The other area in terms of innovative financing would be being able to shine light on the region’s shovel worthy projects that can very easily move into the space of being shovel ready. And help us to close this gap in climate funding. Another thing that we’re doing is showcasing cutting edge approaches that are happening within the region. So, you know, generally, a lot of persons, we talk about the gaps, we talk about what’s needed. We talk about what’s not going well, but there’s actually a lot of things are going really well within the region. So being able to show the world that the region has come up with solutions to our problems because we live here, we understand how things work and we’ve come up with innovative solutions that might need some help to get us forward, but we are the architects of our own, of our own survival and that there is cutting edge approaches and technologies that are being developed in this region.”