But regardless of the cost, this weekend this large delegation will be jetting off to Glasgow, Scotland. And today, we spoke with the CEO in the Ministry of Finance about how they will ensure Belize's little voice is heard in such a big crowd.
Osmond Martinez, CEO, Ministry of Economic Development
"We have to be aggressive and we might not be able to do it just as a country but we have to do it as a regional and we have to understand that even though 1 billion dollars was signed through the green climate fun for the mitigation of climate disaster and climate change only 20% of that money has been disbursed so far. CARICOM has voiced unanimous voice to GCF saying hey things have to change, to access grants has to change. In addition we have to think outside of the box and we have to look at not only the public standpoint of view but the private sector so we have to see how we can access concessionary loans in Belize so that the private sector can qualify to access low interest loans so that way we can impact our economy and stimulate our economy through the MSME's with small programs or large programs but one that definitely would come with low interest to our private sector."
Ministry Of Finance Will Try To Get Accredited By Green Climate Fund And Martinez also spoke about their endeavor to become accredited by the Green Climate Fund. This move will allow the government to take on more projects, and he explained how it will benefit Belize and even the rest of the region.
Osmond Martinez, CEO, Ministry of Economic Development
"The green climate fund is one that the ministry is seeking accreditation in order to hold the one time project or multiple projects that will come up to the sum of 50 million US dollars, something that have never happened before in Belize. So far only PACT is credited and they are able to hold a capacity of 10 million US dollars at one time. DFC and SIF they are in the process to getting accreditation and now we will start the process with the ministry of economic development and we will be the first one not only in Belize but in the region so it's an example to follow and one that will show the person in government is moving away from the traditional economic to a modern and innovative economic system as we are looking at seeing how we can generate funds from a country who is producing low carbon emissions but at the same time impacted by climate change and Belize being a country that is in the top ten that is more vulnerable to hurricanes, flood, drought, so the impact of climate change in Belize is high."
