Hon Minister for the Environment, Dr Kenneth Darroux
The Hon Minister for the Environment, Dr Kenneth Darroux says COP21 gave him the opportunity to hold several bilateral meetings in Dominica’s interest. One of the subjects was Dominica’s geothermal project.
The Environment Minister says access to the Green Climate Fund was also discussed.
While an agreement was made for developed countries to fund small island developing states’ climate change resilience ventures, it will not take effect till 2020.
Meantime, he says, until 2020 the Green Climate Fund is available for countries like Dominica to tap into.
But Dominica must be accredited in order to access these funds directly.
“It’s going to put Dominica in a position to access these funds directly without going through third parties like the World Bank and multilateral banks.
“We are very happy for their expertise but sometimes the administrative fees could go towards two or three bridges here in Dominica. So the accreditation gives direct access to the bank.
“Of course because of the substantial sums which will be involved, the accreditation process is a bit rigorous. We are talking about US $100bn being pledged yearly to so the donors would like to know that their monies are going to be spent transparently and accountably,” he explained.
Accreditation would mean reviewing Dominica’s environmental legislation and updating old laws. It would also mean the formation of an environmental department and the setting up of an environmental trust fund governed by a board of directors.
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