Barbados copped the Climate-Smart Country of the Year award Wednesday at the inaugural Climate Smart Awards, which brought the curtains down on the two-day Climate Smart Summit held at the Hilton Barbados Resort in Bridgetown.

The country was recognised for its leadership in renewable energy growth, climate finance mobilisation and climate resilience planning.

Ryan Straughn, Barbados Minister of Finance and Economic Affairs, who collected the award on behalf of the country, said the recognition reflects years of advocacy and innovation in climate finance.

“The award really speaks to the advocacy that we have been doing for the last eight years, getting the voices of small islands heard,” Straughn told Observer Online.

According to the minister, Barbados has been advocating for greater concessional financing to address climate issues in the region through the Bridgetown Initiative.

The Bridgetown Initiative is a proposal to reform development finance, particularly how rich countries help poorer countries cope with and adapt to climate change.

“We have been quite aggressive in our financial engineering, and I think that has allowed us to be able to demonstrate that even though we are small, that we can work collaboratively with multilateral development banks, as well as the commercial markets, to be able to not just give creditors certainty,” Straughn said, adding “But with respect to the natural disaster clauses and those types of instruments that we believe provide greater ability for countries to build resilience is particularly significant.”

Racquel Moses, chief executive officer of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator, organiser of the event, in presenting the award, said Barbados had made significant progress in expanding renewable energy, achieving a 95 per cent growth in renewable energy since the Paris Agreement.

She further praised Barbados for submitting its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) on time and mobilising climate finance at record levels within the region.

According to Moses, the assessment for the Climate Smart Country award was based on criteria such as renewable energy growth since the 2015 Paris Agreement, renewable energy ambitions, climate vulnerability and preparedness, compliance with Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) submissions, and the ability to mobilise climate finance.

Several other organisations were also recognised by the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator for their work across the region, ranging from philanthropy and innovation to adaptation and community leadership.

The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund was named Climate Smart Philanthropist of the Year, while Curaçao copped the Climate-Smart Overseas Territory of the Year award.

Shalini Maharaj, technical officer at the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund, told Observer Online that the recognition underscored the organisation’s goal of strengthening long-term climate resilience and biodiversity protection across the region.

“It feels like a great honor to be recognised for the work that CBF is doing. We at the CBF, from the board of directors all the way down to the chief executive officer, the secretariat and everyone involved, are very diligent in ensuring that we fulfill our vision and our mission,” Maharaj said.

“It is very warming to know that this acknowledgement comes for all the hard work that’s being done. It’s a win not just for the organisation, but it’s a win for the region as well,” she added.

The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) is a regional environmental fund whose objective is to provide a sustainable flow of resources to support activities that contribute substantially to the conservation, protection and maintenance of biodiversity in the Caribbean.

Other philanthropic organisations were also recognised for their climate action work in the region, including the John Templeton Foundation, ClimateWorks Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Bezos Earth Fund.

The Climate Smart Adaptation Project of the Year award went to Kukki Aquaculture, GrenadaGrows copped the Climate Smart Mitigation Project of the Year award, Finca Chocolat won the Nature-Based and Ecosystem Resilience Award, and PROTOFABTT won the Innovation and Technology for Climate Award.

Special recognition awards were presented to the Inter-American Development Bank and New Energy Events, while the People’s Choice Award went to the Clara Lionel Foundation.