Dominica (Dominica News Online) – The Government of Dominica has approved the establishment of a National Financing Vehicle (NFV) to provide financial and technical support to renewable energy, energy efficiency, blue economy and low carbon projects.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Planning, Economic Development, Climate Resilience, Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy, Gloria Joseph made the announcement while addressing a recently-held Private Sector forum which was geared at facilitating the local private sector in leveraging Green Climate Fund opportunities for a national transition to a low carbon climate-resilient economy.
The forum was hosted in collaboration with the Dominica Association of Industry and Commerce (DAIC) through the Ministry of Planning and the Global Green Growth Institute.
“Under the proposed readiness programs, the Ministry of Planning – the national designated authority for the Green Climate Fund – is collaborating with the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) to establish, operationalize and capitalize a national financing vehicle fund,” Joseph said.
The objectives of the NFV include: (1) to support the government’s policy objectives on transitioning to a low carbon climate resilience economy by making available long-term affordable climate finance, (2) to attract private sector investments, (3) to support the use and application of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies in Dominica and (4) to develop the local capacity to underwrite climate finance projects.
Joseph noted that the capability of the Government of Dominica and the local private sector to finance climate change mitigation and adaptation projects is limited, among other things, by “the high cost of capital required, the high debt to GDP ratio which makes it hard for the government and private sector to obtain its required funds.”
The government official believes that the increase adoption of sustainable energy technology can free up some space by means of reducing operational expenses, but investments to make this happen is often lacking.
