PCRIC Presents at Green Overseas Climate Finance Forum: Brussels: 7th – 10th October 2024
Invited for the first time to participate in the Green Overseas Climate Finance Forum, hosted annually by the EU’s Green Overseas Programme and the UK FCDO as part of their commitment to the climate and energy strategies of their respective overseas countries and territories (OCTs), PCRIC CEO, Mr. Aholotu Palu, was honoured to speak during a session titled “Unlocking Climate Finance for the Overseas Countries and Territories”. This provided a welcome opportunity to present PCRIC’s DRF credentials and advocate for improved access to climate finance required by vulnerable Pacific Island nations through risk pooling instruments such as PCRIC.
Presenting to an audience of over 130 delegates, Mr. Palu was able to showcase PCRIC’s range of products and services which positions the organisation as a key agent within the DRF ecosystem focused on unlocking and improving access to climate and disaster finance for OCTs located in the Pacific Islands region. Many of these OCTs face significant barriers in accessing funds from current international climate finance funding programs, and PCRIC’s pre-arranged financial instruments can provide a much-needed safety net which significantly increases the predictability and speed of response in the event of a natural disaster. By facilitating rapid financial support when needed, reductions in both human and financial costs can be secured.
The forum underscored the importance of public finance, disaster management, and knowledge sharing in building long-term resilience. A key takeaway was the need for enhanced cooperation between territories to develop appropriate and effective operational strategies for accessing climate finance. In that regard, PCRIC initiated meetings with representatives from the French territories in the Pacific (Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia and Tahiti) as a first step toward identifying ways in which PCRIC may be able to support their resilience building and climate change adaptation agendas.
