By the Caribbean Journal staff

Canada and the Inter-American Development Bank are partnering on a fund aimed at financing green investment in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Canada has already committed just over $253 million to create the Canadian Climate Fund for the Private Sector in the Americas, which will be managed by the IDB.

“The Canadian Climate Fund will go a long way in moving the needle on innovation and helping reduce the gap in financing for climate-friendly projects,” said IDB President Luis Alberto Moreno. “We thank the Canadian government for providing the resources to create this fund and are grateful for its decision to partner with the IDB.”

The fund seeks to mobilize private sector investment in cleaner technologies. It could pay the way for as much as $5 billion in climate change investments that could contribute to a reduction of up to 50 million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions over the fund’s 25-year life.

“Through the fund, the IDB will be helping to finance climate-related initiatives, helping to stimulate sustainable economic growth and deliver better results, which will benefit Latin America and the Caribbean as a whole,” said Beverley Oda, Canada’s Minister of International Cooperation.

Projects financed by the fund could include green energy, energy efficiency, agriculture, forestry greenhouse-gas-emmission-reduction projects and others aimed at reducing vulnerability to climate change.