Less Debt, More ‘Soft-Term’ Financing Necessary In Guyana

• “Considering the peculiar and special needs of Small-Island Developing states (SIDs) and low-lying coastal states, there needs to be more climate adaptation financing on soft terms, meaning more grants, concessionary interest rates, and long-term repayment periods”, President, Dr Irfaan Ali has said.
• He noted that “these challenges relate to their smallness of land resources and the resultant diseconomies of scale, their remoteness from larger markets, susceptibility to external shocks and market vulnerabilities, narrow revenue bases, fragile ecosystems, and their vulnerability to climate risks.”
• Owing to those threats and challenges, critical resources needed to support production often have to be diverted towards climate adaptation. Adaptation, according to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), refers to adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts.
• Climate adaptation financing is essential and foundational for establishing climate-resilient agricultural sectors in small-island developing and low-lying coastal states, without it the agricultural sectors of SIDs and low-lying coastal states will be continuously prone to climate risks.

(Source: Guyana Chronicles)