Antigua and Barbuda has reaffirmed its commitment to strengthening national climate finance access and coordination through an in-country mission of the OECS Climate Finance Action Platform (CFAP). The mission, held on September 17 and 18, provided an opportunity to engage key government institutions on the country’s climate finance priorities, challenges and opportunities, and to identify areas where the CFAP can provide targeted support.
The mission included in-depth discussions with the Department of Environment and Ministry of Finance on the country’s evolving climate finance coordination arrangements, project development processes, institutional capacity, and investment priorities. The CFAP team also paid a courtesy call to the Honourable Michael Joseph, Minister with responsibility for the Environment, to discuss Antigua and Barbuda’s climate finance needs and opportunities to support priority climate and resilience investments towards financing and implementation.
The mission was undertaken by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission with financial support from the European Union through the EUROCLIMA Programme and its Technical Assistance Facility. This support is helping the OECS Commission to establish and operationalise the CFAP and provide technical assistance to strengthen Member States’ capacity to access, mobilise, and deploy climate finance.
A key issue highlighted during the mission was the financing challenge facing Antigua and Barbuda as a high-income Small Island Developing State. Its income classification constrains access to some traditional Official Development Assistance (ODA) and concessional financing, despite the country’s significant vulnerability to climate change and substantial investment needs.
This makes the Department of Environment’s accreditation to international climate funds like the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Adaptation Fund particularly important, providing the country with direct access to climate finance and greater national ownership of project development and implementation.
