WITH a number of challeng es now weighing on the Caribbean — the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and geopolitical tensions — the European Union has come to the aid of the region with €14 million in grant funding.

On Tuesday, March 1, head of the EU Delegation to Barbados, the Eastern Caribbean, OECS and Caricom/CARIFORUM Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska, and Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) Vice-President – Operations Isaac Solomon signed off on the new Caribbean Action for Resilience Enhancement (CARE) programme. The €14-million initiative will support disaster risk management (DRM) and climate resilience building efforts in CDB’s borrowing member countries (BMCs).

In particular, the CDB-managed and -implemented CARE programme will focus on improving governance on DRM and climate change adaptation in each country, and strengthening the evidence-based planning, decision-making and financial response of each BMC. In addition, the initiative will give attention to community infrastructure and livelihood resilience to climate change effects and natural hazards.

Subsequent to the signing ceremony, Ambassador Malgorzata Wasilewska emphasised the need for collaborative action on climate change.

“I am also confident, most of all, that behind this project there is action — this action that everybody wants to see replacing words when it comes to fighting climate change in international fora; this action that Caribbean citizens can count and rely on in times of need; [and] this action that the European people want to see [as] meaningful and worth their contribution,” she stated.

The CDB will partner with Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and the Government of the Dominican Republic on the implementation of the CARE programme, which will succeed the 10th EDF ACP-EU Natural Disaster Risk Management in CARIFORUM Countries programme (NDRM).

Under the previous programme the CDB funded and supported initiatives to establish robust early warning systems; strengthen capacity at all levels; and mainstream disaster risk management and climate change adaptation into countries’ priority sector policies, strategies and investment planning,

According to Solomon, the bank is committed to increasing its funding of climate action in its BMCs, and as such is willing to partner with the EU in accomplishing this goal.

“CDB is also committed to significantly scaling up lending and support for climate action in the coming decades, including allocating up to 25-30 per cent of its own resources for climate action by 2024,” the vice-president noted.

“However, the bank alone cannot provide adequate support that is commensurate to the magnitude of disaster risks and impacts that the BMCs face. We therefore continue to develop strategic partnerships with national, regional and international institutions to help the BMCs enhance their capacities to mitigate, respond to, and recover from disasters from natural hazards,” he continued.