Saint Lucia — The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) is proud to announce the official launch of its Gender Smart Facility under the Caribbean Organizations for a Resilient Environment (CORE) project. This milestone event took place on October 5, 2024, in Saint Lucia, marking a significant step forward in the Caribbean region’s efforts to promote gender-responsive climate resilience projects.
The CORE project, which began in April 2023, seeks to address funding gaps for climate adaptation and ecosystem-based projects across the Caribbean. The launch of the Gender Smart Facility comes one year after the CORE project’s inception and will provide specialized financing that ensures women and vulnerable groups across eight target countries have greater access to climate funding, and are involved in decision-making and implementing solutions.
“Canada is proud to support the launch of the Gender Smart Facility so that climate funding can go directly to communities to support gender-responsive and women-led climate resilience efforts across the Caribbean,” said Abebech Assefa, Canada’s Head of Cooperation for the Eastern Caribbean.
A New Era of Gender-Responsive Climate Finance
The CORE Project will disburse USD$5.6 million in grants to National Conservation Trust Funds (NCTFs) in Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, and Suriname. These grants will focus on financing ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) projects, with a special emphasis on initiatives led by women’s organizations and local community-based organizations. The grants are expected to impact key ecosystems such as mangroves, coral reefs and forests, and increase ecosystem services that support Caribbean communities’ resilience to climate change.
“This launch represents a crucial step in ensuring that the needs of women and marginalized groups are equally considered in CBF’s funding for climate resilience projects,” said Karen McDonald Gayle, CEO of the CBF. “We are committed to fostering a more inclusive, equitable approach to climate action in the Caribbean, and the Gender Smart Facility will be key in making this vision a reality.”
Gender Equity Meets Climate Action
The CORE project, funded by Global Affairs Canada and co-financed by the CBF, is designed to integrate a gender-responsive approach into the region’s climate resilience efforts. By applying a human rights-based lens, the Gender Smart Facility will ensure that grants are allocated based on a thorough gender analysis, addressing the unique needs and challenges faced by women and other vulnerable groups in the Caribbean.
The CORE Project will support individuals, communities and organizations including conservation trust funds, women’s rights organizations, environmental and youth organizations. The CORE Project will also enhance the knowledge and skills of 25 target Caribbean environmental and women’s rights organizations as they incorporate inclusive and gender-responsiveness into environmentally-based approaches and circular economy initiatives in their countries.
Collaboration and Capacity Building
In addition to financial support, the CORE project will focus on building the capacity of Caribbean Conservation Trust Funds and civil society organizations to design, implement, and manage gender-responsive projects to protect biodiversity conservation and climate change resilience. The initiative also promotes collaboration between NCTFs and local organizations, encouraging the exchange of best practices and fostering regional partnerships to strengthen climate resilience efforts across the Caribbean.
The Gender Smart Facility is poised to become a cornerstone of CBF’s efforts to build climate resilience, harnessing the region’s rich natural resources while ensuring that the voices and needs of women and marginalized communities are at the forefront of these initiatives.
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About the Caribbean Biodiversity Fund
With around 1,600 globally threatened species, the Caribbean is a hotspot for some of the most critically endangered plants and animals. The Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF) was established in 2012 to create reliable, long term funding for conservation and sustainable development in the Caribbean region. The CBF was designed as part of the Caribbean Challenge Initiative, today the CBF is a regional umbrella environmental fund that uses a flexible structure to implement innovative solutions and consolidate resource mobilization in the Caribbean through a range of financial instruments.
Working towards the vision of a Caribbean region where both its natural environment and people thrive, the organization measures total assets under management, annual return on investments, competency improvements and global initiatives as the key performance indicators that directly contribute to its mission. Currently, the CBF has 3 programs, the Conservation Finance Program, based on an endowment fund, Climate Change Program, focused on Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) strategies, and Nature-based Economies Program with an Advancing Circular Economy focus.
To date, the CBF has provided financing for more than 100 projects across the Caribbean, valued at over US$30 million, demonstrating a significant commitment to the preservation of the region’s biodiversity.
Canada’s International Assistance In The Caribbean
Canada’s development programming in the Caribbean region is focused on mutual priorities, such as climate and economic resilience, sustainable and inclusive governance, and advancing gender equality.
Following the 2017 hurricane season that devastated the Caribbean, Canada announced a 5-year $100 million Pledge for Caribbean Reconstruction and Economic and Climate Resilience. The pledge was fulfilled in 2022, and included strengthening natural disaster planning and response through organizations such as the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.
At the CARICOM Heads of Government Meeting in The Bahamas, Canada announced $44.8 million in new initiatives to help support CARICOM in addressing the climate crisis by protecting more biodiversity and improving climate resilience and disaster preparedness. Canada continues to advocate for small island and low-lying states in the Caribbean, who are particularly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change like rising sea levels and extreme weather events.
