Port of Spain, November 7, 2025 – The devastation caused by Hurricane Melissa on Jamaica is a sobering reminder of the escalating risks faced by Caribbean nations due to climate change. Even as climate change is recognised as an existential threat to Caribbean development, countries face major barriers to accessing finance to respond and build their resilience. The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) has released a new policy brief addressing the consequences of recent United States (US) policy reversals on climate and development assistance and the need to establish new climate finance strategies.

The brief, titled “Impacts of US policy shifts on Caribbean climate finance – and possible ways forward,” explores how the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement and termination of foreign aid programmes have disrupted international climate finance flows, posing new challenges for Caribbean countries that rely heavily on these funds to build resilience.

adaptation work, such as mangrove restoration efforts, face funding uncertainty as shifting US policies and declining international support force the Caribbean region to seek new, sustainable financing pathways.  Codrington Lagoon, Barbuda. Credit: Barbuda Fishers Association.

According to this analysis, Caribbean nations already face major barriers to accessing climate finance due to limited institutional capacity and high debt burdens. The latest US actions now risk deepening uncertainty around international support for climate adaptation and mitigation.

“Climate finance will be a key topic at COP30 in Brazil this month, but scaling up climate finance will be extremely challenging in the face of ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. Caribbean governments will need to develop new strategies and partnerships to access the right type of climate finance that can address their critical development challenges and build resilience.”

The policy brief outlines four key messages:

1. The US retreat from climate and development assistance has created a sense of crisis over the future of international climate finance.
2. Declining aid from traditional donors and conflicts over industrialised countries’ funding obligations raise doubts about the reliability of current strategies.
3. The region has a limited window to establish new, locally controlled and sustainable approaches to climate financing.
4. Future strategies should include sovereign debt reduction, stronger regional collaboration, greater private sector investment, new bilateral partnerships, and improved fund management capacity.

This publication is part of CANARI’s new Strategic Research and Policy Initiative, which analyses the global political economy and its implications for Caribbean sustainable development. This new area of work reflects CANARI’s commitment to understanding how rapid geopolitical change affects the region and to helping shape a sustainable and resilient Caribbean future.

Read the full policy brief here: https://bit.ly/43W39Yl 

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Forfurtherinformation,pleasecontact: Nicole Leotaud, CANARI Executive Director, at [email protected]  

AboutCANARI:The Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI) is a regional technical non-profit institute which has been working across the Caribbean islands for more than 30 years. Our mission is to promote and facilitate stakeholder participation in the stewardship of natural resources in the Caribbean. Our work focuses on Biodiversity and Ecosystems, Equity and Justice, Participatory Governance and Resilience. For more information, see: http://www.canari.org/