WASHINGTON, Nov 11, CMC – Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries could benefit from development aid to address climate change and natural disasters as a result of a new report released here by the World Bank.
The report, titled “Climate and Disaster Resilience Financing in Small Island States” shows that, in spite of increasing climate risks, only 14 per cent of development aid for vulnerable small island nations addresses climate change and natural disasters. The report, prepared by the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), the World Bank, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), also shows that more than 335 major natural disasters have occurred in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) since 2000, resulting in an estimated US$22.7 billion in direct damages.
Yet, efforts to build resilience to climate change and disasters are being hampered by a highly complex web of global financing, creating acute fragmentation.
The result is often a confusing array of dozens of small projects – half of which are below $200,000 each and collectively account for only two per cent of all support – creating large inefficiencies and a lack of broad impact.
The report also found that while SIDS, including Caribbean countries, received US$783 million a year in climate and disaster resilience financing during 2011-2014, the proportion of grant financing has been declining.