Attendees at the Global Business Week Conference 2024 were informed that while it will take more than US$11 billion (BDS $22 billion) to upgrade key infrastructure in Barbados to be more climate resilient, the Barbados Government will continue its lobby for more affordable financing that takes into account disaster vulnerabilities of the island.
This was outlined by Dr Pepukaye Bardouille Director of the Bridgetown Initiative. The initiative was conceptualised and promoted by the Barbados Government and has received support from several countries and multilateral agencies including the World Bank. It promotes a demand for urgent and decisive action to reform the international financial architecture.
It calls for climate change, systemic risks, and extreme inequality to be accounted for in the design of financing to developing countries.
Dr Bardouille was the keynote speaker on Day two of BIBA, the Association for Global Business’ annual Global Business Week Conference. The hybrid event was staged at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre in Barbados and featured several local, regional and international experts in global business and related subjects under the conference theme Innovation for a Sustainable Future.
“Barbados has developed an investment plan for prosperity and resilience between now and 2035. It outlines the sheer volume of financing that a country like Barbados of 300 000 people will need and the price tag for Barbados is of the order of US$11.5 billion over the next ten years,” she outlined.
According to Dr Bardouille: “We are going to need to make our entire societies and economies much more sustainable in a way that is consistent with environmental sustainability and at the same time protects us from the onslaught of growing and more severe and ferocious climate-related disasters. The climate crisis isn’t going away any time soon.” (BIBA)