CDB President issues urgent call to reimagine Caribbean climate finance

Published on June 1, 2026

The Caribbean faces a stark choice: transform how it finances resilience and development, or remain trapped in a cycle of debt, constrained growth, and escalating climate shocks.

That was the pointed message from the President of the Caribbean Development Bank, Mr. Daniel M. Best, at IDB Invest Sustainability Week 2026, where he urged multilateral partners, private investors, and governments to move beyond incremental responses to the region’s mounting vulnerabilities.

With the Caribbean’s gross financing needs projected at US$65.2 billion over the next decade, and less than 10 per cent of the US$14 billion needed annually for climate readiness currently being mobilised, the President warned that the region can no longer afford fragmented or short-term approaches to development finance.

Delivering the keynote address at the forum, Best focused on the need to unlock greater private sector participation, scale innovative financing solutions, and strengthen multilateral collaboration to help break the region’s longstanding development constraints.

“Across our region, the private sector is not simply a beneficiary of development it is a primary driver of growth, employment, and productivity,” Best said. “If we are serious about building resilient economies, then the private sector must be enabled, incentivised, and financed to lead that transformation.”