CPDC calls for increased international climate financing tackle Caribbean debt

The head of the Caribbean Policy Development Centre (CPDC), based in Barbados, has issued a compelling call to the international community. 

The CPDC is urging global stakeholders to step up their efforts in providing substantial volumes of new and additional concessional grant-based climate financing. 

This appeal aims to address the pressing dual challenges of sovereign debt and climate finance crises currently affecting the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in the Caribbean region.

Caribbean nations grappling with mounting debt since independence

Since gaining political independence in the 1960s, numerous Caribbean nations have found themselves grappling with significant levels of debt. 

The CPDC underscores that this issue has persisted over the years and continues to cast a shadow on the region’s economic stability.

Alarming debt levels among Caribbean SIDS

According to the CPDC’s assessment, as of the close of 2020, six Caribbean countries have found themselves ranked among the top 10 most highly indebted Small Island Developing States worldwide. 

These nations include Jamaica, Barbados, Suriname, Belize, Dominica, and Antigua & Barbuda. Their alarming public debt stocks far surpass a staggering 10,088 percent of their respective Gross Domestic Product (GDP).