By Nneka Nwogwugwu
Caribbean countries should pressure developed nations to provide more financing to mitigate the effects of climate change at the upcoming COP27 climate talks, the prime minister of The Bahamas said at a summit of regional officials on Tuesday.
The members of the Caribbean community need to ensure that developed countries honor past pledges for climate assistance and create new criteria for determining which countries can obtain such aid at the November climate talks in Egypt, Bahamian PM Philip Davis said in a speech.
“If we advance our interests merely as individual Small Island Developing States, our voices will be dispersed, unable to be heard above louder, wealthier, carbon-producing interests,” he said.
Davis said he was encouraged by recent climate change mitigation efforts by the United States and Australia.
But he added that “we are commitment-fatigued and we are pledge-fatigued,” noting that rich nations had not met a promise to provide $100 billion in climate aid to poor countries by 2020.
Caribbean leaders have for years said their countries’ per-capita income is too high for them to qualify for aid, a metric many say does not take into account heavy debt burdens generated by paying for the effects of climate change.
Davis said Caribbean countries should back a new index based on vulnerability to climate shocks, which could help provide new resources to the region.
Caribbean nations are among the world’s most vulnerable to climate change due to the outsized impact of tropical storms, as well as growing problems caused by droughts and flooding.
Regenerative orchard farming idea wins Climate Investment Challenge 2022
A team of students from Imperial College Business School have won Imperial’s third annual Climate Investment Challenge competition.
The judges awarded a £10,000 prize to the team behind SustainAcre, a project which aims to scale up the use of regenerative agriculture practices, while also making sustainable farmland an attractive proposition for retail investors.
The SustainAcre proposal calls for a system where investors can help farmers implement more regenerative agricultural practices in tree nut orchards.
Using blockchain technology, investors can use tokens to invest in these practices and help farmers to scale up their regenerative practices in orchard farming. The project aims to restore biodiversity and climate stability, and ultimately shift towards a more sustainable global food system.
The winning team comprised of two students from Imperial College Business School: Cormac McKenna (MSc Climate Change, Management & Finance) and Dáire Brady (MSc Finance & Accounting) plus Mairéad Barron, a student at the London School of Economics studying on the MSc Environmental Economics & Climate Change.
The SustainAcre team was awarded the first prize for their innovative idea, after giving a strong presentation to a panel of industry experts.
“This competition shows just how innovative and talented young entrepreneurs can be which provides us all with much needed hope,” Michael Wilkins Executive Director of the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment, Business School.
Reacting to the news of their win, the members of SustainAcre said: “We are really thrilled to have won this year’s competition. Taking part in the Climate Investment Challenge competition has been a very valuable process, which has allowed us to fully explore the challenges faced by global agriculture as a result of climate change. Developing a solution which provides a science-based alternative to current conventional agricultural practices, while also encompassing climate and environment benefits, is something that we are all passionate about and SustainAcre embodies this ambition.
Launched in 2019, the Climate Investment Challenge (CIC) is an annual competition that calls for postgraduate university students to develop innovative financial solutions to address climate change. The competition is a student-run initiative run by the Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at Imperial College Business School.
