Brussels – The Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States took part in discussions at UN House in Brussels this week on investing in nature under the theme “The Power of Global Gateway,” with the bloc calling on the European public sector to step up support for climate finance in developing countries.
The OACPS Secretariat was represented at the panel by Mrs Doreen Walsweer-Sore, the expert responsible for implementing the Samoa Agreement, the Joint Parliamentary Assembly and the organs of the OACPS.
In her remarks, Walsweer-Sore pointed to ongoing public investments across ACP regions in nature-based initiatives, including mangrove restoration and ecosystem-based adaptation measures aimed at protecting coastal villages from rising sea levels. She said public sector investment was the key catalyst for building the regulatory frameworks and community trust needed to unlock private sector climate finance. 
She called on European public institutions to assist with de-risking investment in nature, to support blended finance instruments and guarantees, and to back local value chains and community-based enterprises so that investments in nature could generate real economic opportunities and jobs for young people.
Walsweer-Sore also pointed to the Samoa Agreement as an important framework for advancing cooperation between the OACPS and the European Union, noting that both blocs had committed under the agreement to mobilising financing, technology, innovation and partnerships to scale up nature-based initiatives across Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.
