The European Investment Bank (EIB) is launching a Roadshow on Climate Finance in the Caribbean.
The first roadshow event will take place in Kingston, Jamaica on 12-13 February at the AC Hotel Conference Centre.
This high profile conference will be opened with an official welcome by the Honourable Nigel Andrew Lincoln Clarke, Minister of Finance and the Public Service of Jamaica and her Excellency Malgorzata Wasilewska, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Jamaica, Belize, Turks and Caicos Islands, Bahamas and the Cayman Island. EIB Head of office in the Caribbean, Yves Ferreira will outline how the bank is helping to support sustainable private sector growth in the region.
The conference focused on “Climate Finance: Challenges and Opportunities for the Caribbean Financial Sector” is designed to foster knowledge transfer around trends and innovation that affect the financial industry, facilitate the exchange of strategic experiences and encourage collaboration between regional stakeholders, experts and EIB Representatives.
The organisers expect the conference to attract more than 60 attendees from Jamaica and the region, representing both beneficiaries of the EIB TA Programme, i.e. Development Bank of Jamaica (DBJ) and certain Microfinance Institutions as well as some Haitian Financial Institutions), and regional EIB Partners, such as the Caribbean Development Bank, St. Lucia Development Bank, Grenada Development Bank, and the Development Finance Corporation (Belize) amongst others.
“On behalf of the DBJ, I welcome the EIB to Jamaica,” said DBJ Managing Director Milverton Reynolds. “The DBJ and EIB have a strong working relationship which has allowed us to serve Jamaica’s MSME sector with low-interest loans and grants. At the roadshow, our local businesses will continue to learn very valuable technical skills, especially in light of rapid climate change, to which our region is highly susceptible. We thank the EIB for including Jamaica in their roadshow itinerary and wish them all the very best for a successful two-day conference.”
The conference will host a number of different sessions delivered by international and regional experts. The first day will focus on “Demystifying Climate Change for Financial Institutions” with workshops on Disaster Risk Management, Greening of Financial Institutions and Quantifying the impact of Climate Change on Loan Portfolios, among others. On the second day, attendees will have the opportunity to learn of new ways and tools to ‘Mainstream’ Climate Finance in their operations. These will cover pathways to adopting innovative Climate Adaptation tools as well as Digital Technologies but also expose the role that Financial Institutions can have in empowering MSMEs to become “Climate Smart”.
The EIB Roadshow will continue with a second event, which will take place the week after in the Dominican Republic on 18-19 February. This event will have a similar structure to the one in Jamaica, tailored for the Spanish-speaking partner institutions of the EIB in the region.
This conference comes in the midst of increasing environmental changes in the region, including rising sea levels, increased hurricane frequency and force, longer dry seasons and shorter wet seasons, all of which are expected to have many detrimental environmental, social and economic effects in Caribbean countries. These climate challenges, coupled with the proximity of population centres to the coast, limited natural resources and economies open to external shocks further increase the vulnerability of the Caribbean states. The EIB Technical Assistance Programme, implemented by the Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, addresses some of those challenges by aiming to build up the resilience of the Caribbean Financial Sector through knowledge development at Regional Conferences (e.g. EIB Caribbean Roadshow), but also through direct intervention with Partner Financial Institutions as well as their end-beneficiaries. The latter include activities such as the development of green loan products aimed at helping MSMEs finance energy-efficiency and renewable energy solutions, strengthening the risk management frameworks of banks so they are better able to handle the adverse effects of climate change amongst other risks, amongst many others.
Interested organizations may contact m.andraud@fs.de to request more information about the event’s agenda and how to participate.
The EIB is organising a series of conferences as part of a Roadshow on Climate Finance under the EIB Technical Assistance Programme for Lending Operations in the Caribbean. The first event will take place in Kingston, Jamaica on 12-13 February and will bring together more than 50 representatives of both beneficiaries of the EIB TA Programme, as well as EIB Partners from Jamaica and the region.
The conference will host a number of sessions, including workshops on Disaster Risk Management, Greening of Financial Institutions, Quantifying the impact of Climate Change on Loan Portfolios, as well as seminars on how to adopt innovative Climate Adaptation solutions including Digital Technologies.
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