Climate Funds Elude Caribbean Islands

Foreign investors and private entities are having second thoughts on whether or not they will put their money in the Caribbean to help the region in addressing climate change.

For starters, there is trillions of dollars of private capital ready to finance the transition of countries to cleaner energy and protect themselves from more extreme weather.

But in reality, according to a report by Bloomberg, international banks are “upping sticks” and “leaving one of the regions most vulnerable to climate change.”

The report revealed that global financial institutions like Bank of Nova Scotia and Royal Bank of Canada in the last five years have reduced their presence in the Caribbean by selling their businesses in a number of markets.

According to Michai Robertson, an advisor to the Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States, these actions are leaving the Caribbean a little leeway on international markets at a time they need it most.

The Alliance of Small Island States is a group of negotiators at United Nations-convened climate summits.

The Bank of Nova Scotia, which didn’t respond to questions of Bloomberg, and RBC, which declined to comment, have not specify the risk of conducting business in climate-vulnerable nations.

“They don’t say outright ‘this is the reason why we’re leaving the country,’ but it has to more than likely fall under financial viability of it all,” Michai, who lives in Antigua, said. They left “after the major hurricanes that plagued our region.”