Havana, Cuba July 8, 2008

1. World Bank – GEF Program:Latin America and the Caribbean RegionQuick Overview of the World Bank GEF program in the Caribbean Havana, Cuba July 8, 2008

2. World Bank - GEF Program: the Caribbean portfolio

3. World Bank - GEF Program: the Caribbean portfolio • Active Projects • Mainstreaming Adaptation to Climate Change (MACC) • Implementation of Adaptation Measures in Coastal Zones • Guyana Conservancy Adaptation Project • OECS Protected Areas and Associated Livelihood Project

4. Mainstreaming Adapt to Climate Change (MACC) • MACC approved in April 2003 with $5m GEF grant and $5.95m co-financing; • The objective is to facilitate the creation of an enabling environment for climate change adaptation in CARICOM small island and coastal developing states • Major lessons learned: changing implementing agency mid-stream is awfully difficult; the alternative, however, was not workable • Perhaps most interesting aspect is the initial findings of vulnerability studies.

5. Implementation of Adaptation Measures in Coastal Zones • Approved September 2006; $2.1m GEF grant and $3.34 m co-financing • The objective is to support efforts by Dominica, Saint Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines to implement specific (integrated) pilot adaptation measures addressing primarily, the impacts of climate change on their natural resource base, focused on biodiversity and land degradation along coastal and near-coastal areas. • Slower implementation progress than originally expected; downside of working regionally; upside is that there are good exchanges of experience, economies of scale

6. Lessons Learned • Guyana Conservancy Adaptation Project • First SCCF project approved (October 2007) with $3.8 million GEF grant and $16.2 million co-financing. • The objective is to reduce the vulnerability of catastrophic flooding in Guyana's low-lying coastal area that is currently threatened by sea level rise resulting from global climate change. • Project works closely with Guyana Conservancy and IDB to inform high-tech engineering studies—it is a classic adaptation project

7. OECS Protected Areas and Associated Livelihood Project Approved in May 2004 ; $3.7m GEF grant and $3.87m co-financing The objective is to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity of global importance in the OECS by removing barriers to the effective management of protected areas, and increasing the involvement of civil society and the private sector in the planning, management and sustainable use of these areas. The MTR provided key recommendations to strengthen the project implementation, including: Let’s not let the perfect get in the way of the very good: Endorsement of Management Plans leading to needed immediate investments; Revision of operational manual to permit subproject implementation under a new more realistic set of guidelines; and Expansion of training in PA Management

8. Future Prospects • IBRD lending program in region is small; limited opportunity to blend. Need to seize opportunities (IDA in Haiti, energy in Dominican Republic, agriculture/rural in Jamaica; sustainable tourism/ financing of natural resource base in OECS • Partnerships with other organizations is critical to maximize investments and impact • To obtain economies of scale and maximize impacts, will likely need to work on regional basis; • World Bank strategy on climate change gives strong support for SIDS—can we work together on adaptation, renewables?