This event is part of a UN development Account project, which seeks to build capacities in four beneficiary SIDS - Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines in Latin America and the Caribbean, and Cabo Verde and the Union of Comoros in Africa - to identify climate investment needs, align development priorities with external financing options, and design and implement innovative financing instruments that promote sustainable and climate-resilient development.
The regional dialogue will bring together stakeholders from beneficiary and non-beneficiary countries and aims to foster peer learning and strengthen regional solidarity by sharing lessons and exploring scalable practices across similar contexts.
This dialogue will serve as a platform to present the two primary outputs of Outcome 1 for the beneficiary countries, Belize and Saint Vincent and Grenadines:
- A country study on the regulatory, institutional, and market-related challenges to mobilize climate external financing, including through innovative financial instruments and other financial sources.
- A SDFA Report on the climate financial requirements for achieving greener, more equal and sustainable development and more equitable societies while achieving external and public sector financial sustainability.
The regional dialogue will be followed by the two national dialogues where the tailored national financial strategies and roadmaps to mobilize climate external finance to achieve climate-sensitive development goals with external and public sector financial sustainability for the two beneficiary SIDS will be presented.
These strategies and roadmaps are the two primary outputs of Outcome 2: Enhancing the capability in beneficiary SIDS to design policies that would enable mobilization of affordable external financial resources for a greener, more equal, and sustainable development without jeopardizing external financial sustainability.
Objectives
- Present the country studies, SDFA reports and the national financial strategies and roadmaps for Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
- Engage stakeholders in assessing the feasibility, coherence, and implementation pathways of the national financial strategies and roadmaps to address the challenges identified in the country studies and SDFA reports.
- Facilitate cross-country learning among the Caribbean community, allowing non-beneficiary countries to gain insights from the experiences of Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and vice-versa.
- Strengthen regional dialogue on climate finance and external resource mobilization for sustainable development.
Expected Outcomes
- Enhanced awareness and understanding among stakeholders of challenges to adopt innovative finance strategies tailored to SIDS contexts and to achieve the climate-related SDGs with external and public sector financial sustainability.
- Recommendations to the financial strategy and roadmaps for mobilizing external resources with external and public sector financial sustainability in Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. These recommendations may be incorporated into the final version of the strategy and roadmap.
- Increased regional knowledge-sharing and networking among Caribbean SIDS on climate finance practices.
- Strengthened collaboration between UN ECLAC, beneficiary governments, regional peers and the Resident Coordinator Offices.
- Lessons learned will also inform the virtual regional workshop planned for later in the year, which aims to foster further dissemination and scaling of good practices.
Format and Structure
The event will be held in hybrid format, hosted at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, with in-person attendance from national stakeholders, regional experts, UN ECLAC, UNCTAD and UN system partners, and virtual participation from other stakeholders from the beneficiary countries and non-beneficiary Caribbean SIDS.
Participants
- UN ECLAC, UNCTAD and UN system partners (e.g., UNDP, UN Resident Coordinators)
- Government representatives from Belize, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and other Caribbean countries
- Private sector, academia, and civil society organizations
- Regional consultants and national think tanks
Organizers
Lead: United Nations Economic Commission for Latin American (UN ECLAC) and the Caribbean
With Support From: UNCTAD and RCOs and national governments of Belize and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
