Climate finance in Trinidad and Tobago

Climate finance in Trinidad and Tobago includes a mixture of domestic and internationally-sourced funding for climate change adaptation, mitigation and resilience.

Nationally determined contributions
Trinidad and Tobago is a party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and has signed and ratified the Paris Agreement. The country's nationally determined contribution is to avoid 103 million tonnes CO2e of emissions at a projected cost of US$2 billion.

Major financial support
Between 2010 and 2020, major climate finance for the Government of Trinidad and Tobago came from the national budget, European Union Environment Programme, the Global Environment Facility, the United Nations Environment Programme, and the Green Climate Fund. The largest single investment consisted of TT$500 million (approximately US$72 million) in compressed natural gas (CNG) as a replacement for gasoline and diesel as a transport fuel.

Government financing needs
According to the first Biennial Update Report (BUR) submitted to the UNFCCC in 2021, the most important funding needs included US$2,000,000 to built a wind atlas for the country (in order to assess the country's wind energy potential), US$930,000 to sustain greenhouse gas emission data collection, US$500,000 to identify sites for carbon capture and storage, and US$450,000 to establish a monitoring, reporting and verification and Enhanced Transparency Framework unit within the government.

Private sector financing
ANSA Merchant Bank, the Cropper Foundation and the Netherlands-based Capitals Coalition formed the Caribbean Natural Capital Hub in 2022 to provides loans and grants to small and medium-sized businesses in the Caribbean to support environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation.