CARICOM wants early release of $30B climate change fund

Mar 17, 2010 News

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Heads of Governments of Caribbean Community (CARICOM) have asked for the World Bank help in the early release of US$30B that was earmarked for developing countries for the fight against climate change.
This was one of the several issues discussed during the recent Twenty-First Inter-Sessional Meeting of the Conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) held in Roseau, Dominica.
According to the communiqué issued by the heads, one of them being Guyana’s President, Bharrat Jagdeo, the Conference was informed that the bank had established a US$6B fund for Climate Change and that it was taking steps to leverage this sum.
“The Conference noted it would appreciate if the World Bank would help in gaining release of the proposed US$30 billion that was earmarked for adaptation and mitigation on the part of developing countries, in addition to the promised US$100 billion by 2020 that has been earmarked for the world as a whole.”
CARICOM said that the World Bank was encouraged to ensure that countries would not have to go through a series of assessment studies in order to access the Copenhagen related funds.
The Conference also accepted the offer of the bank to assist CARICOM countries in their negotiations of the required twelve (12) Tax Information Exchange Agreements (TIEAs) to fulfill the requirements of the OECD countries with respect to tax havens. The forum also accepted the offer of the bank to act as an honest broker in CARICOM countries dealings with the OECD.
With regards to the economic situation in the CARICOM region, President of the World Bank and the President of the Inter-American Development Bank, in a follow-up to discussions undertaken by Heads of Government with representatives of the International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in Istanbul, Turkey last November, suggested that any financial assistance to Haiti should be grant aid and not loans, even if those loans were to be on concessionary terms.
“The Conference welcomed the proposal of the World Bank to send teams of experts to CARICOM Countries to devise amelioration strategies appropriate to the specific national debt situation and the bank’s willingness to lobby the International Development Association for exemptions to be made for access to that facility’s resources for those Small Highly Indebted Middle Income Countries (HIMICs) of CARICOM.”
The heads of government also welcomed the World Bank’s commitment to encourage other International Financial Institutions (IFI) to make CARICOM countries eligible for access to concessionary loans based on well known vulnerability and resilience factors, since per capita income by itself is not an adequate indicator of a country’s capacity for sustained development.
The conference agreed to accept the recommendation of the President of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for a 200 percent increase in the general capital of the Bank.
A report from the Prime Minister of Barbados, David Thompson and Lead Head of State for the CSME on Key Issues and Recommendations arising from an Appraisal of the State of Implementation of the CARICOM Single Market (CSM) said that the operation of the Single Market has benefited on account of wide ranging political, legislative and related action which was taken by the Parliaments, the  Executive  and  Ministries in all of the twelve participating  Member States .
The conference endorsed a detailed agenda for continued action on the Single Market which was worked out by the Trade and Development Ministers and charged each Member State with the task of offering timelines by which the programme of action could be implemented.  The work involved would have to be completed in time for decision at the July 2010 Summit.
Meanwhile, the Conference welcomed the coming into force of the agreement for the CARIPASS with the signature of the Agreement by five Member States. “The Conference hailed the introduction of the card as a major step in hassle free travel within the Community and looked forward to the operation of the first phase from 1 July 2010.”
The Heads of Government also received an update on the controversy that arose from the Venezuelan contention that the Arbitral Award of 1899, that definitively delimited the territory between Guyana and Venezuela, is null and void.
“It noted the positive public statement made by His Excellency President Hugo Chavez eschewing conflict with Guyana regarding the controversy and reiterating Venezuela’s commitment to the Good Offices Process of the United Nations Secretary-General.”0
The Heads of Government said that they were satisfied with the efforts being made by both states and the United Nations Secretary-General to appoint a Special Representative of the Secretary-General to support him in his role to assist Guyana and Venezuela in the search for a means of settlement of the controversy.
“The Conference reaffirmed their unequivocal support for the safeguarding of Guyana’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and its right to develop its resources in the entirety of its territory.”

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