Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR)

Introduction

The Pilot Program for Climate Resilience (PPCR), approved in November 2008, was the first program to become operational under the Strategic Climate Fund (SCF), one of two Climate Investment Funds.   The PPCR is executed globally through a number of regional and national programs and is intended to:

  • Pilot and demonstrate approaches for integration of climate risk and resilience into development policies and planning;
  • Support the strengthening of capacities at the national levels to integrate climate resilience into development planning;
  • Scale up and leverage climate resilient investment, especially by building on other ongoing initiatives;
  • Enable learning by doing and lesson sharing at the country, regional and global levels;
  • Strengthen cooperation and capacity at the regional level to integrate climate resilience in national and appropriate regional development planning and processes.

PPCR execution is done in two phases, with the first being generally less than one year’s duration over which a multi-year strategic program for climate resilience (SPCR) and relevant investment plan is designed.  Once endorsed by the PPCR sub-committee, this SPCR is implemented (through the execution of the investment plan) over the second phase, which is anticipated to be of a four to five year duration for each of the participating countries and regions.

In the case of the Caribbean Region, six countries accepted an invitation to participate as part of a regional PPCR in May 2009.  The Caribbean PPCR is designed into a national track with pilots in each of these countries, and a regional track.     First phase activities for the design of the SPCR has been completed and is near completion for five of the six national track pilots and for the regional track pilot.    The Caribbean Regional SPCR and related investment plan proposed for endorsement are set out in the remainder of this document.

The Regional Context

The process of designing the national and regional SPCRs is punctuated by consultative meetings referred to as Joint Missions, which involve the participating Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) and respective PPCR stakeholders.   Participants at the second joint mission for the Caribbean regional PPCR, held in Kingston, Jamaica on 22nd and 23rd, September 2012, underscored that whilst only six countries within the region are participating in the pilot, benefits from its implementation are intended to accrue to the entire Region.  In light of this, they recognize it as crucial that regional factors be taken into account in the design of both national and regional track SPCRs.  This caveat is consistent with and reflective of the requirement for the regional track pilot to support the sharing of information and lessons learned from pilot activities with non-participating Caribbean countries.

The design of the regional SPCR takes account of the potential socioeconomic impacts of climate change, of the region’s completed and ongoing efforts to confront these impacts and of the priorities identified for achieving climate resilience.