24 February 2012: The European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) agreed the details of a US$65 million dedicated Climate Action lending and technical assistance programme funded by the EIB for the 18 CDB member countries.

The new lending programme will provide long-term, low-cost funding for public and private sector climate change mitigation or adaptation projects. The loans will be complemented by technical assistance to improve climate change-related expertise in the Caribbean and to aid in the preparation of individual initiatives.

Projects eligible for funding under the new programme include adaptation, renewable energy, sustainable transport, forestry and land use, and low-carbon technology research, development and innovation. According to the CDB, preliminary studies indicate strong demand among member States for funding of projects to improve shoreline defenses, upgrade water and sewage networks to protect them from storm surges and rising sea levels, improve drainage to cut the risks of hurricane flooding, and protect vulnerable transport networks.

The visit by high-level officials of the CDB to EIB headquarters in Luxembourg also included a joint EIB-CDB workshop to discuss partnering for Climate Action in the Caribbean.

The 18 countries that can benefit from the lending programme are: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Turks and Caicos Islands. [CDB Press Release]