CDB commits 35% of project approvals to climate finance

– calls for end to “fragmented responses” to region’s growing exposure to risk

The Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) has noted a commitment to a significant ramp-up in climate-related investments, with 35 per cent of all project approvals over the next five years to be directed toward climate finance, with that allocation being increased to 40 per cent for climate resilience projects under the Bank’s US$460 million Special Development Fund (SDF).
According to a statement from the Bank, this initiative was highlighted by CDB President Daniel Best at the 2nd Wider Caribbean Regional Risk Conference, which opened last week in Barbados.
The event was co-hosted by the CDB, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC) and the CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean.
The 2nd Wider Caribbean Regional Risk Conference ran from September 3-4 in St Philip, Barbados.
The event brought together Governments, development partners, private sector leaders, and civil society to confront the region’s growing exposure to interconnected risks by devising integrated strategies to strengthen resilience and safeguard sustainable development.
The forum aims to design integrated resilience strategies that will enable the region to withstand and recover from the complex, overlapping challenges it faces.

’Fragmented responses
Best used his keynote address to call for an end to “fragmented responses” to the region’s growing exposure to risk. Stressing that the Caribbean faces a “web of risks” – including climate change, economic instability, and social inequality. He urged Governments to adopt integrated, cross-sectoral strategies.
“Fragmented responses are no longer viable. We cannot afford to respond to interconnected crises with disconnected strategies,” he said, outlining a six-pillar strategy to guide resilience planning: policy coherence, cross-sector collaboration, data-driven risk mapping, community engagement, innovative financing, and regional cooperation.
He called for Governments to align climate, economic, and social policies so that they reinforce rather than undermine one another, ensuring that national budgets embed disaster risk, climate resilience, and social protection that can scale in times of crisis.
“What we cannot see, we cannot measure, and we therefore cannot solve,” Best said, emphasising the need for robust data and geospatial systems to better allocate resources and target interventions, and also emphasising the power of data and technology in mapping overlapping vulnerabilities.
Noting that crises often transcend national borders, the CDB President also called for deeper regional collaboration. He urged Caribbean Governments to harmonise policies, share data, and pool resources in the fight against multi-dimensional risks.
Best highlighted the CDB’s growing capacity to deliver climate finance, noting the Bank’s expanded accreditation with the Green Climate Fund, which now allows it to finance projects up to USD 250 million.
On economic resilience, the CDB’s Private Sector Development Strategy is increasing access to finance for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), women-led businesses, and export-orientated sectors.
Additionally, digital trade solutions, such as the electronic Port Community System in Barbados, are helping to reduce bureaucracy and improve competitiveness.
To advance social inclusion, the Bank is implementing targeted initiatives such as the Caribbean Gender Equality Market Sustainability Project (Caribbean GEMS) and its flagship Basic Needs Trust Fund. These efforts are supported by next-generation poverty assessments that combine data mapping with community-based approaches.
Internally, the Bank is reforming its operations to strengthen its own risk framework. Key changes include a new Enterprise Risk Management Framework and an Exposure Exchange Agreement to expand lending space.