By: Staff Writer
August 1, 2025
A new report by The Dialogue, Leadership for the Americas, said that the People’s Republic of China are deepening their climate diplomacy in the Caribbean and Central American region as exports of renewable energy equipment to region grew by 571 percent.
Caribbean nations have been active in promoting innovative solutions to climate and debt problems, such as the US$165 million climate-for-debt swap that Barbados negotiated in December 2024, but the region’s financial needs are only rising. According to the International Monetary Fund’s calculations, the Caribbean region will require approximately US$100 billion in adaptation investment and finance in the coming years, equal to about one-third of its annual economic output. In addition to much-needed water and sewerage, agricultural, transport infrastructure and other upgrades, there is considerable demand for investment in lower-cost and lower-carbon energy production
The report, “A Review of Chinese Climate Assistance in the Caribbean,” said: “China’s presence is also growing at a steady pace, both in economic terms and on climate and other issues of interest to the region, such as disaster relief, energy transition, and food security, as part of its stated commitment to partnership with the Global South. As traditional partners recalibrate their foreign assistance strategies, China’s growing involvement in climate and development initiatives across the Caribbean reflects broader shifts in the geopolitical and financial landscape of international climate cooperation.
“Amid likely debate on future U.S. assistance to the Caribbean, and efforts to leverage other partnerships in support of urgent needs, Caribbean decision-makers will benefit from a clear understanding of the extent and nature of climate assistance by Chinese and other partners— especially amid regional efforts to evaluate, coordinate, and leverage this assistance within the region’s existing policy frameworks and institutional landscape.”
The report also said: “Much attention has been paid to China’s ambitious domestic climate agenda, including the April 2025 announcement that China would set new goals to cut emissions by 2035, “covering the entire economy, including all greenhouse gases,” instead of carbon dioxide alone, ahead of the 30th Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) summit in November.”
It added: “Beyond its domestic objectives, China has also increasingly prioritized climate-based partnership-building across the Global South, and an accompanying campaign to communicate its commitment to addressing developing country climate concerns.
Of China’s many activities in the region, the development of multilateral platforms and frameworks for climate communication and cooperation remains a focus of Chinese officials, whether in the Caribbean or other regions.
“These include the United Nations High-Level Forum of South-South Cooperation in Climate Change, to which China pledged US$2 billion a year in 2014 in support for climate cooperation; the US$ 2 billion “Ten-Hundred-Thousand” Program for South-South Cooperation on Climate Change, which was proposed in 2015; the 2019 Belt and Road South-South Cooperation Initiative on Climate Change; and the 2021 Global Development Initiative (GDI), which emphasizes climate change and green development, among other work.”
“Examples of China’s climate-related messaging are abundant in the Caribbean region. Climate featured prominently in the authors’ review of the 3,723 opeds published in Caribbean media outlets by Chinese ambassadors between 2019 and 2023.
“Word frequency analysis revealed that 31 percent of these ambassadorial communications included reference to the terms climate, climate change, sustainability, clean and green transition, and/or disaster alleviation. Many also expressed solidarity with local governments while also referencing the plight of island nations.
“Additionally, climate-related communications were most evident in smaller, tourism dependent economies, such as the Bahamas and Grenada, and also in Barbados, where Prime Minister Mia Mottley has been a prominent global advocate for Caribbean climate assistance.”