Antigua and Barbuda and other Small Island Developing states are expected to
benefit from continued access to climate financing, following a major
announcement from UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
At a recent gathering of G20 leaders in India, Prime Minister Sunak announced the
UK’s largest-ever single financial contribution to helping the world’s most
vulnerable people adapt to and mitigate the impact of climate change.
The UK will contribute £1.62 billion (USD$2 billion) to the second replenishment
of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), covering the period 2024 to 2027. The GCF is
the largest global fund, dedicated to supporting developing countries to reduce
global emissions and helping communities adapt to the effects of climate change.
The pledge is part of the delivery of the UK’s commitment announced at COP26 to
spend £11.6 billion (USD 14.5 billion) on international climate finance between
2021 and 2026. It represents a 13% increase on the UK’s previous contribution to
the GCF for the period, 2020 to 2023.
The scale of the climate crisis requires finance to be delivered with even greater
speed and the UK will work with the GCF to ensure it accelerates action to deliver
for those most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, such as Small Island
Developing States (SIDS).
Addressing G20 leaders during the 10-11 September meeting, Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak said: The UK is stepping up and delivering on our climate commitments,
both by decarbonizing our own economy and supporting the world’s most
vulnerable to deal with the impact of climate change.
This is the kind of leadership that the world rightly expects from G20 countries.
And this government will continue to lead by example in making the UK, and the
world, more prosperous and secure.
Antigua and Barbuda is among Caribbean countries that have benefitted from GCF
funding, implementing programmes geared towards improving the hurricane
resilience of community buildings, homes, and businesses, and through flood
prevention measures. A national of the country also sits on the GCF Board.
The GCF Board member for AOSIS countries, Ambassador Diann Black-Layne,
welcomes the increase in commitment of the UK government and looks forward to
additional support from the Fund for all AOSIS as well as Antigua and Barbuda.
Meanwhile, Resident Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda, Ms Lindsy
Thompson said, "This announcement reaffirms the UK’s commitment to
supporting vulnerable countries like Antigua and Barbuda."
Thompson assured, that with representation in the Caribbean, the UK continues to
listen to governments’ concerns on climate and environmental issues and responds.
Unlocking climate finance in the Caribbean region is a key priority for the UK,
which is why last week the UK’s Minister for the Caribbean signed an agreement
worth £2.7m (USD$3.4m) with the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre
(5Cs) to help CARICOM Member States address the challenges they face in
accessing and delivering climate finance.
In Jamaica earlier this year, the UK announced a £7m (USD$8.7m) contribution to
the taskforce which is piloting practical new approaches for accessing climate
finance, with the eventual aim of replicating this model across the region to
support national plans to address climate change.
