Caribbean officials appeal for help as climate change continues to impact negatively

The Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank (ECCB) has called on the global community to help the Caribbean become, the first climate smart region in the World.
Nine Caribbean countries were impacted by unprecedented weather since the start of the hurricane season in June.
Speaking on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank Group meetings, Timothy Antoine said the idea is to prepare as best we can.

The ECCB Governor believes the way forward is to improve climate finance and development, to allow small island developing states to build resilient, green infrastructure, using renewable energy.
He said it is impractical for small islands to incur more debt because they have been classed as high-income countries.

Antoine said climate smart funding could prevent a repeat of what happened to the region’s response system.
The frequency and strength of hurricanes Irma and Maria in particular, he said, put an enormous strain on the region’s ability to respond to the various islands’ needs.