Barbados calls for more humane approach for middle income countries seeking funding

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, CMC – Finance and Economic Affairs Minister Christopher Sinckler has likened the Caribbean’s vulnerability to climate changes as a “sword of Damocles hanging over our development” and wants donor countries and financial institutions to adopt a more humane approach to middle income countries seeking funding to deal with climate change. Sinckler told a conference on Climate Change Financing and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) organised by the Barbados-based Caribbean Development Bank and the German agency, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) that the region is faced with the projected economic losses of between five and 30 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) annually. He said the region’s extreme vulnerability to climatic events exacerbated by climate change and its access to multilateral funds was still a challenge.