BY GOVERNMENT OF BARBADOS | DEC 21, 2022
Minister of the Environment and National Beautification, Adrian Forde accepting the award from The Nature Conservancy’s CEO, Jennifer Morris. (GP)
Barbados was honoured by The Nature Conservancy for its leadership on the recent Blue Bond issue and the Bridgetown Initiative.
Head of the delegation and Minister of the Environment and National Beautification, Adrian Forde, received the award during the Nature-Positive Pavilion at COP 15 in Montreal, Canada.
Minister Forde said the Government and The Nature Conservancy began collaborating on the design of a Debt Conversion Project in 2019, with the goal of creating a sustainable source of revenue to fund projects to address some of the key challenges to the development of the Blue Economy in Barbados.
He described the debt conversion transaction as ground-breaking, as the blue loan contains not only natural disaster clauses of the type already found in the majority of Barbados’s public indebtedness, but also contractual provisions that allowed for limited deferrals in the event of a pandemic.
The inclusion of these ‘pandemic’ clauses in the financing instruments relating to the transaction marks the first time that natural disaster clauses have been used in a primary market issuance by a sovereign country.
Making reference to the Bridgetown Initiative, Minister Forde explained that it is a list of priority areas that were strategic, focused and, more importantly, achievable.
He lauded the leadership of Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley, in championing the Bridgetown Initiative globally, noting that it was a call for urgent and decisive action for the reform of the global financial system.
Mr. Forde also stated that no country was immune from the triple threat of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, and encouraged everyone to join the fight. He added that the ultimate benefit of our combined actions is the survival of mankind.
