World Bank pitches in to help Region prepare for climate changes
Several Caribbean countries will soon benefit from a benefit from a US$5 million World Bank grant aimed at helping the region adapt to climate change.
The Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change Project, funded by the bank's Global Environmental Facility, will help the islands battle global warming which is expected to cause significant changes in sea and ambient temperatures and in sea levels, and intensify extreme weather events such as floods, heavy rains and hurricanes.
Countries that will receive funding include St. Kitts, Antigua & Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines and Trinidad & Tobago.
The World Bank's Director of Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development in Latin America and the Caribbean Mr. John Redwood said the resources will enable Governments to anticipate the economic and social effects of these changes, and to develop plans and action programs designed to adapt their economies to these anticipated impacts of global climate change.
The grant, which will be administered by the Georgetown-based Caribbean Community, is supplemented by grants of US$3.15 million from governments of CARICOM countries, US$2 million from Canada and US$800,000 from the United States, bringing the total funds available to $10.95 million.