Antigua and Barbuda has just ended a meeting in South Korea which focused on unlocking capital for climate action by providing a platform to address market failures, showcase new ideas and forge new partnerships within the climate finance sector.

The Director of the Antigua and Barbuda Department of Environment, Ambassador Diann Black-Layne, and the Deputy Project Coordinator of the Enhanced Direct Access (EDA) Project, Christa-Joy Burton, along with a range of global leaders, experts and companies returned home recently from the fifth (5th) annual Green Climate Fund (GCF) Global Programming Conference (GPC).

According to reports, attendees left the conference with a new perspective and shared experiences on innovations and best practices for scaling up public-private partnerships toward climate action.

The event, hosted in Incheon, South Korea, brought together private and public sector stakeholders to explore innovative ways the private sector can mobilize and scale up finance to accelerate climate action in developing countries like Antigua and Barbuda.

Burton says as one of the first accredited Direct Access Entity (DAEs) to have a regional EDA pilot project approved by the GCF, it was important to be in attendance to share our progress and lessons learned thus far.

“Through the in-person bilaterals and joint sessions, we were able to have candid discussions with the GCF representatives on the effectiveness of the technical support and funding procedures provided by the GCF, and also had the opportunity to strengthen our partnerships not only with the GCF but with other NDAs and AEs. I think this is especially key to improving climate action and project support across developing countries through the sharing of new and best practices, and exploring areas for innovation for climate action,” she said.