Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States leading the plan while the Islands work towards 2030 global biodiversity goals
A group of Caribbean countries plan to raise $200 million for a joint bid to boost biodiversity, in a push for more influence on internationally financed environment projects to maximise their impact, Grenada’s climate ambassador Safiya Sawney has told Reuters.
The 30X30 initiative by the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and its 12 members is part of a broader global drive towards targets, agreed in 2022, that include protecting 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030.
The hope is that such cross-border initiatives, with government oversight from the start, will be more effective as they harness the power of multilateral, bilateral, philanthropic and private sector funding along with financial tools such as debt-for-nature swaps, Safiya Sawney said.
While around $650 million was raised to fund conservation in member states over the 20 years to 2024, governments often had to consider the priorities of multilateral donors before their own. For lack of coordination, some donors duplicated efforts.
“From the outside looking in, you say, ‘Well, that’s a lot of money. Why do you need more?’. The issue … is that we’re not seeing that in the impact,” she added, in an interview last week.
