Across the Eastern Caribbean (and beyond), a deliberate private sector role in the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the climate commitments that co=untries made under the Paris Agreement in 2015, remains limited, as does business and investor awareness on NDCs more generally. Under the NDCFI, non-traditional engagement across sectors, and including the private sector, has been successfully initiated and provides an important regional platform that addresses this gap.
Increasing awareness among private sector actors, establishing relationships with business leaders, enabling multi-stakeholder dialogue, and enhancing cross-sector collaboration and partnerships are important elements in the pursuit of the NDCFI’s aim to support ambitions for climate leadership in the Caribbean (across all sectors), enhance climate action (including in the private sector), and catalyze climate investment (including private investment), in resilient, low-carbon infrastructure.
Across the Eastern Caribbean (and beyond), a deliberate private sector role in the implementation of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the climate commitments that countries made under the Paris Agreement in 2015, remains limited, as does business and investor awareness on NDCs more generally. Under the NDCFI, non-traditional engagement across sectors, and including the private sector, has been successfully initiated and provides an important regional platform that addresses this gap.
Increasing awareness among private sector actors, establishing relationships with business leaders, enabling multi-stakeholder dialogue, and enhancing cross-sector collaboration and partnerships are important elements in the pursuit of the NDCFI’s aim to support ambitions for climate leadership in the Caribbean (across all sectors), enhance climate action (including in the private sector), and catalyze climate investment (including private investment), in resilient, low-carbon infrastructure.
Actors and entry points
The NDCFI has established a dedicated private sector strategy and seeks to increase its engagement with individual companies as well as relevant business led coalitions and platforms. A pool of contacts is being developed with the aim of better understanding key actors, their climate profiles and business cases. The aim is to formalize relationships through the formation of a Working Group or Action Coalition and increase awareness on the NDCs and the role that the private sector has to play in their implementation.
Chambers of commerce, industry associations in priority sectors, and investment associations across the OECS and the wider region play an important role in this context. In most cases they are national, some regional coordination has however already been established, including a Regional Network of Chambers of Commerce, CARICHAM, that was formed in 2019. While only a few of the national chambers make any mention of climate change on their websites to date, the Caribbean Association of Industry and Commerce (CAIC) does.
Internationally, several platforms have been established to catalyze corporate climate action, celebrate leadership, address risks, and increase investment. They include Science Based Targets, the We Mean Business Coalition, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges Initiative, CDP, and the Task Force on Climate Disclosures (TCFD), for example. Some may lend themselves well as vehicles for increasing awareness and catalyzing action among OECS based firms and financial institutions.
An established currency union and the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) offer exciting opportunities for regional climate action driven by financial sector supervisors, whose lead plays an important role in catalyzing private sector action and investment. Internationally, central banks and financial sector regulators are addressing climate risk and calling for action. With the recent formation or the Central Banks’ and Supervisors’ Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS), they have established a platform that aims to enhance the role of the financial system to manage climate risks and to mobilize capital for green and low-carbon investments.
Call to action
Across the region, national efforts are underway to engage private sector actors on COVID 19 responses and recovery, as well as climate risks, action, ambition, and investment. The OECS Commission too has sought to further deepen engagement with the regional and international private sector. Not only through the NDCFI, but also through the OECS Sustainable Development Movement (SDM), which was successfully launched in September 2020 and has, among others, placed focus on the green and blue growth agendas of the OECS, fostered deeper and wider partnerships, and opened the door to new programme and project opportunities with private sector partners.
While there is demonstrated interest from the private sector to invest in resilient, low-carbon infrastructure, risks can be high and returns uncertain. Close collaboration between public and private investment will therefore be needed in many cases to de-risk investments and mobilize private capital.
Join the NDCFI to learn more, engage with peers and partners from across the OECS, and be a part of building a community of climate action partners and stakeholders in the Eastern Caribbean and beyond.