Antigua and Barbuda Latest Small Island Developing State to Receive GCF Grant

The Green Climate Fund has added Antigua and Barbuda to its growing group of small island developing states (SIDS) slated to receive a grant from the Fund. With a grant of USD 300,000, the Caribbean country will put in place the preliminary infrastructure needed for GCF to extend its support to the islands’ larger-scale climate adaptation initiatives.

Antigua and Barbuda intends to use the grant to increase the capabilities of its Ministry of Health and Environment in coordinating with other ministries on GCF, and to design and implement a knowledge management system to facilitate proper organization of climate financing projects.

Once these support systems are in place, the country aims to propose projects for GCF funding largely centred on combatting droughts and floods—weather events that have become more common in the two-island country.

“A significant portion of our gross domestic product is going towards paying for adaptation to climate change. It is a severe strain on government and personal resources,” explained Ambassador Diann Black-Layne of the Environment Ministry of Antigua and Barbuda, during her visit to the Fund’s headquarters in July. “Climate change has reached a point right now where we have to take more extreme measures,” she added.

Climate change financing for adaptation efforts of SIDS is a priority of GCF. Fifty per cent of the Fund’s adaptation funding is earmarked for SIDS, least developed countries (LDCs), and African states.

Given their high vulnerability to the effects of climate change, SIDS have been among the first countries to benefit from the Fund’s support. In addition to Antigua and Barbuda, the Fund has also committed readiness support to Comoros, Dominican Republic, Federated States of Micronesia, and Cook Islands.

SOURCE: news.gcfund.org - http://news.gcfund.org/antigua-and-barbuda-latest-small-island-developing-state-to-receive-gcf-grant/

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