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Earth Today | Belize gets capacity-building support to attract climate financing

Published:Thursday | October 29, 2020 | 12:16 AM
Belize CSO , APAMO, promoting climate change awareness.
Belize CSO , APAMO, promoting climate change awareness.

BELIZE HAS received support from the Green Climate Fund (GCF) to boost its capacity to access international finance for investments in climate change projects.

The support was received through its Ministry of Economic Development and Petroleum, which is the national designated authority to the GCF. The GCF is a global fund created to support the efforts of developing countries to respond to the challenge of climate change.

“The fund helps developing countries to limit or otherwise reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to climate change, while promoting a paradigm shift to low-emission and climate-resilient development, taking into account the needs of countries that are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts.

“Belize is now updating its Country Programme for Engagement with the GCF. The country programme is a tool that will be used to enable Belize’s national capacities to effectively and efficiently access, manage, disburse and monitor climate financing to address adaptation, mitigation and cross-cutting priorities. The GCF also facilitates the opportunity for the private-sector and civil society organisations to better access climate finance through readiness-support projects.

“Two projects (the Readiness Support for Strengthening of Belize Private Sector Access to Climate Finance, and Enhancing Caribbean Civil Society’s Access and Readiness for Climate Finance) have now been launched to enhance the capacity for Belize’s private-sector and civil society organisations to access GCF resources,” said a release from the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI).

CANARI is implementing the two new projects through the Caribbean Development Bank and in collaboration with national counterparts, such as the Belize Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Association of Protected Areas Management Organisations.

CANARI is a regional technical non-profit organisation which has been working in the region for more than 30 years with the mission to promote and facilitate stakeholder participation and stewardship of natural resources in the Caribbean. Their work focuses on biodiversity and ecosystems, equity, participatory governance, and resilience.