CARIBBEAN-BVI establishes a trust fund to help address climate financing.

BELEM, Brazil, CMC – The climate envoy of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), Dr. Kedrick Pickering, says the Virgin Islands Climate Change Trust Fund (VICCTF) will initially support national resilience efforts, with opportunities for regionalisation across key sectors.

Pickering, a former minister of natural resources and labour, told a high-level climate finance side event at the ongoing 30th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP30), that the VICCTF has been legally established as an independent, permanent, nationally-owned financial mechanism aligned with international fiduciary standards and global framework.

“Our environment is our life. If tourism is our breadbasket, then 90 per cent of the people who visit the Virgin Islands come to enjoy our environment,” Pickering said, recalling the British Overseas Territory’s leadership in environmental stewardship, from the Rockefeller legacy and the establishment of the National Parks Trust to the Caribbean Challenge Initiative and the introduction of modern ecological, fisheries, and conservation legislation.

Pickering said that the Trust Fund is already being capitalised through the environmental levy, which has raised over US$5.5 million to date, demonstrating the island’s strong commitment to funding its own resilience.

But he acknowledged that the BVI has advanced as far as it can with its own resources and is now seeking support to access significant global climate finance opportunities.

Making references to emerging mechanisms such as carbon bonds, debt-for-nature swaps, and the monetisation of seagrass ecosystems valued at trillions globally, he said the VICCTF provides the legal and institutional structure needed to absorb and effectively manage external climate finance.

“We have done our part. We now need our regional and international partners to help us take the next steps,” Pickering said.

The government has said that the VICCTF is designed to mobilise, manage, and disburse climate finance for adaptation and mitigation priorities outlined in The Virgin Islands Climate Change Policy.

It said that the Trust Fund will initially support national resilience efforts, with opportunities for regionalisation across key sectors, including the environment, agriculture, fisheries, tourism, insurance and banking, human health, critical infrastructure, water resources, human settlements, and energy.

The government said that the governance of the Trust Fund is anchored in stringent fiduciary standards, environmental and social safeguards, and a commitment to inclusive, sustainable development.

“As a small island British Overseas Territory that remains unable to access major global climate finance mechanisms such as the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund, the territory faces significant barriers to sourcing the investment needed for climate resilience. “The Trust Fund therefore offers a critically important, locally-driven pathway to secure and deploy climate finance for the long-term protection of the territory’s people, economy, and natural environment,” it added.

The high-level climate finance side event, organised in partnership with the Belize-based Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC), was also addressed by Chamberlain Emmanuel, the head of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Environmental Sustainability Division.

He told the event that the region must move forward together, it must strengthen clarity of purpose, build capacity through partnerships, and deepen collaboration across all member states.

Emmanuel noted that clarity is essential not only in global forums but also within the Virgin Islands, ensuring a shared understanding of the Trust Fund’s vision, ambition, and national impact.

He also highlighted the importance of leveraging capacity through partnerships with institutions such as the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), the CCCCC, and the Green Climate Fund, as well as drawing on expertise at the national level.

He said collaboration has long been a cornerstone of the region’s success, referencing regional initiatives such as pooled pharmaceutical procurement, which have delivered millions in savings through collective action.

The director of the Department of Environment of Antigua and Barbuda, Ambassador Diann Black-Layne, reflected on the practical considerations of building and managing a successful national climate fund.

Drawing on her country’s experience establishing a similar model and securing over US$50 million in accredited financing within just a few years, she advised that the strength of a climate fund lies in its discipline, focus, and operational readiness.

She cautioned that the scope of the fund must be tightly managed, noting that spreading resources too thin risks compromising impact and credibility, and encouraged the BVI to define a clear business model tailored to local realities and to design initiatives that balance immediate impact and long-term sustainability.

Black-Layne also spoke of the importance of strong internal systems, including manuals, procedures, complaint mechanisms, and legal safeguards, highlighting the need for staff retention, adequate training, and project designs that teams genuinely enjoy implementing.

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