One summit

Updated: December 19, 2017
Now that the One Planet Summit has ended, many in the Caribbean are hoping for a good outcome.  The summit was convened by President Emmanuel Macron of France on December 12, 2017 to coincide with the 2nd Anniversary of the Paris Agreement and to honor the promises made under that Agreement. The Summit was co-hosted by the World Bank and the United Nations. Their goal was to bring public and private investments together to achieve the goal of staying below 2 degrees rise in temperature.  Although much of the commitments were geared towards Mitigation there were some initiatives for Adaption to mitigate the  impact of climate change. The Caribbean and small states fall within the Adaptation model.

There were significant announcements targeted to the Caribbean. For example, the United Kingdom pledged to help the worlds' poorest nations in their battle to fight climate change.  UK's Prime Minister Theresa May promised new funding of about £140 million.In particular,  she pledged £15 Million of additional support to the reconstruction for Dominica, one of the Caribbean region state most affected by weather associated with Climate change. This money is to help reconstruct the island’s water system which was destroyed by Maria.  Specifically, the funds will assist with rebuilding the water system, to make it more able to withstand extreme weather events.

Some Caribbean Leaders came together with a shared goal to launch a plan to create the word's first "climate-smart zone".  The move was supported by the UN Development Programmer, UNDP. This plan would support regions of the Caribbean which suffered catastrophic losses caused by two of the most powerful hurricanes ever to hit the Caribbean in a single hurricane season.  The initiative hoped to mobilize about US$8 billion dollars in investments in energy and infrastructure resilience. The initiative is a coalition with global organizations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IBD), the World Bank and the Caribbean Development Bank, as well as other supporters of the Caribbean. The sum of $4 billion dollars has already been pledged as a partnership between 11 CARICOM countries and regional and international businesses and foundations 

In addition, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) also  launched its "Sustainable Islands Platform" initiative, via a video presentation, emphasizing the importance of a blue and circular economy.  The aim was to utilize a private-public investment model which would mobilize private investments in areas such as agriculture, tourism and infrastructure. The initiative will mobilize about US$75 Million to US$150Million
The Government of Canada and the World Bank pledged to help Small States expand their renewable energy construction in order to transition to a low carbon economy. Canada will be providing $2.65 billion in financing for the poorest countries by 2020-2021. 


There were many commitments made at the One Planet Summit that can potentially assist the Caribbean in order to adapt to the effects of Climate change. However,  It is now left to the Governments, NGO's and other stakeholders in the region to to see how they can structure programs that will allow them to harness the financial resources made available for the Caribbean to adapt to the effects of climate change.