Everton Hanson is CEO of the Caribbean Climate Innovation Centre. Photo credit: www.govt.lc.
Saint Lucians are being encouraged to participate in the Caribbean Climate Innovation Centre’s, CIC, Proof of Concept (PoC) with possible awards of up to US $50,000 in grant funding.
The Caribbean CIC is one of eight CICs being established globally. The objective of CCIC is to establish regional institutional capacity that will support Caribbean entrepreneurs, and new ventures involved in developing locally appropriate solutions to climate change mitigation and adaptation.
The center’s slogan is, “Fighting Climate Change Through Entrepreneurship.”
Chief Executive Officer, CCIC, Everton Hanson said Saint Lucians with innovate ideas can benefit under the Center’s Proof of Concept Competitive Grant Scheme.
“We have what we call a proof of concept competition where individuals or small business entities can get up to US$50,000 in grant financing. And I stress grant funding. It is not a loan. It is essentially free money that you could use to prove your idea up to a point where a determination can be made as to whether or not the idea can be commercialised. The deadline for application for this initiative is April 20, 2014.”
Hanson noted that the project is timely, as it seeks to enhance the sustainable economic development of the Caribbean region.
The CEO said recent studies indicate inaction to climate change could cost the region an estimated 11 billion dollars annually, due to losses in tourism and infrastructure alone. He says applicants can choose from a number of thematic areas for their projects.
“We are operating in five specific areas, and there are five areas of climate change. The first one is water management, second resource use efficiency, third energy efficiency, fourth solar energy and fifth sustainable agriculture.”
The initiative is jointly funded by the World Bank and the Government of Canada.
The objective of the Caribbean Climate Innovation Center is to establish regional institutional capacity that will support Caribbean entrepreneurs.
CCIC operates in 14 Caribbean countries and is headquartered in Kingston, Jamaica.
For further information on the project visit – www.caribbeancic.org or call 1-876- 977-2154.