Excerpt and Photo from winnmediaskn.com

Cheryl Senhouse, the Finance Innovation Director of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA), spearheads efforts to enhance climate finance solutions at COP29 in Baku. With over 20 years of experience in strategy and finance, she has a profound understanding of the challenges facing Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in obtaining the necessary funding to bolster their climate resilience.

Given that developing regions currently receive only around 20% of the global climate finance flows, Senhouse emphasises the need for innovative financial mechanisms to close the financing gap.

During COP29, Senhouse will advocate for adopting tools such as blended finance, resilience bonds, and green bonds tailored for SIDS. “Blended finance can reduce investor risk and draw more private sector involvement, which is crucial,” she states.

This innovative approach is designed to enhance the attractiveness of climate resilience projects to potential investors while ensuring that public finance is utilised optimally. She believes that specific financial instruments aimed at directly addressing the climate risks faced by vulnerable economies can be transformative.