A timely workshop on the Economics and Finance of Climate Change Adaptation concluded on Friday, March 27 at the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Headquarters in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The hybrid course, which commenced on March 23, is a collaborative effort between the IDB, SOAS University of London, and The University of the West Indies’ Fiscal Research Centre (UWI-FRC).
This workshop follows a successful staging in Jamaica in September 2025, with a subsequent session scheduled for Barbados in June 2026.
The FRC, established in 2024 as a center of excellence and think tank, serves The UWI’s 17 member countries. This first-of-its-kind partnership aims to:

• Conduct joint applied research on critical economic policy issues.
• Transfer technical knowledge through The UWI system to improve policy prudence and efficiency across the region.
• Provide practitioner-focused training and technical assistance in partnership with global experts.

Over five days, participants explored the macroeconomic and fiscal risks climate change poses to Caribbean nations. The curriculum focused on how climate dynamics affect sovereign risk and debt sustainability, while also identifying opportunities within the transition to decarbonisation.
The workshop also emphasied practical application, including:

• Mainstreaming adaptation into national investment planning and budgetary processes.
• Appraising finance sources, ranging from international climate funds and national budgets to private finance and innovative tools like catastrophe bonds.
• Active learning through case studies and group exercises tailored to regional needs.

The workshop attracted a diverse cohort of officials. Participants from Trinidad and Tobago represented the Ministries of Finance, Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, Ministry of People, Social Development and Family Services, Auditor General’s Department and the Tobago House of Assembly. Additional participants included members from the Suriname Ministry of Finance and Planning and the Debt Management Units and from the UWI, the Department of Economics and SALISES, St. Augustine Campus.