Government Moves to Strengthen Climate Finance Coordination

The Government of Belize is stepping up efforts to strengthen coordination around climate financing, following a high-level meeting convened by the Ministry of Economic Transformation.  Yesterday, the Ministry hosted a Climate Finance Coordination Meeting at the Grand Resort and Residences in Belize City. As Belize’s National Designated Authority to both the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund, the Ministry of Economic Transformation says it is working to advance a more cohesive national approach to climate financing.  The meeting focused on improving coordination within Belize’s climate finance framework through stronger information sharing and alignment of national priorities, while also seeking to reduce duplication across projects and funding streams.  Opening remarks were delivered by Minister of State in the Ministry of Economic Transformation, Dr. Osmond Martinez, along with Chief Executive Officer Carlos Pol. Minister Martinez reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building climate resilience, noting that Belize continues to champion climate finance to support vulnerable populations and productive sectors affected by climate change.  Participants received presentations outlining the work of the Ministry’s Policy and Planning Unit and the Climate Finance Unit, including an overview of the Unit’s current project portfolio and pipeline.  A featured technical session on the latest expectations of the Green Climate Fund was delivered by Cayetano Casado, Subregional Head for the Caribbean in the Fund’s Latin America and Caribbean Department.  CEO Pol underscored that effective access to climate finance depends not only on funding availability but also on institutional readiness and strong inter-agency coordination to present a clear national development vision.

The Ministry of Economic Transformation says it intends to hold these coordination meetings on a quarterly basis as part of ongoing efforts to improve collaboration and accelerate climate project implementation across Belize.  The session brought together a wide cross-section of development partners and national stakeholders working on climate-related programmes.  Among those represented were the World Bank, CABEI, the Green Climate Fund, PACT, the Development Finance Corporation, the Inter-American Development Bank, the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre, and several line ministries