The Caribbean Development Bank will take a solutions-focused agenda to the 31st United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP31, which runs November 9 to 20 in Antalya, Türkiye, according to a press statement issued by the CDB.
The Bank will call for greater investment in resilience, easier access to climate finance, and stronger recognition of the vulnerabilities facing Small Island Developing States. It will urge the international community to treat adaptation financing as an investment in economic stability and growth, rather than a cost incurred after disaster strikes.
CDB President Daniel Best says climate-vulnerable countries are paying for climate change twice: first through the losses they suffer, then through the high cost of the capital needed to rebuild. He says the Caribbean needs finance that arrives before climate shocks occur.
The Bank will press for a financing system that treats vulnerability, not income, as a key factor in access, with simpler processes and a stronger role for regional institutions.
CDB has again financed the CARICOM Pavilion, the region’s hub at COP31, where it will host four high-level events on November 10, 12 and 13, on renewable energy, the blue economy and resilience finance.