Beckles: US$2b needed to reduce emissions by 15%

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10 Hrs Ago

Planning and Development Minister Pennelope Beckles announced that TT aims to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions from the PowerGen industrial and transportation sector by 15 per cent or 103 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions by 2030. This is expected to cost US$2 billion.

She was speaking at the Central Finance Facility (CFF) launch of its credit union green loan on Friday.

Beckles said some of the funding can be done domestically, however, to ensure the success of the project, international funding is needed through the green climate fund and the adaptation fund.

Talking about the credit union green loan she said, “It involves the mobilisation and allocation of funds to support activities that reduce green house gas emissions, promote sustainable development and enhance resilience to the impacts of climate change, all of which are intended to be achieved through this launch.”

Climate financing, she said, can take various forms including public funding, private investments, bilateral and multilateral contributions, grant loans and innovative financing mechanisms.

“From the government’s perspective, international financing mechanisms such as the green climate fund and the adaptation fund are incredible assets because they establish financial resources from developed to developing countries to address the climate change emergency being faced by small islands and developing states.”

CFF’s vice president Lyndon Byer said he understands what the loan entails and hopes the CFF and credit unions can get the necessary funding to pass on to micro and small enterprises.

Speaking on the benefits of the loan, he said, “It will provide the members of our credit unions access to green products and services that will help them generate savings, make a positive contribution to the environment and support the development of the green economy.”

Byer added that the green economy has become an important factor of national development through diversifications.

Some of the objectives of the fund, he said, are to create a green economy development ecosystem; encourage corporative and the public and private sector to the green economy; provide an easy transition for micro and small businesses, whose core activity is the creation of environmental goods and services, to environmentally-friendly operations – at recognised international standards – once they provide job opportunities and work towards transitioning to a green economy.