Credit unions collaborate against climate change

Local credit unions, under the leadership of the Central Finance Facility (CFF), have joined with the InterAmerican Bank (IDB) to build TT’s resilience to climate change.

A release from the CFF said it has, along with PECU Credit Union, Teachers Credit Union and Venture Credit Union, collaborated with IDB and Global Finance of Canada to facilitate green financing to businesses and consumers.

“The effects of climate change are hitting us very hard in TT,” the release said. “We have all experienced it either directly or have seen the horrific destruction caused by widespread flooding in various communities. We are definitely seeing changes in our weather patterns and these can be directly attributed to climate change.”

It said the adverse weather conditions have caused damage to property, threatened food security in TT and the Caribbean and caused loss of life.

The CFF said recognising the impeding economic and social impact of climate change for credit union members prompted it to start conversations with the IDB lab, which had developed a programme for countries likely to be affected by climate change.

The objective is to generate savings on energy-efficient products and services that would redound to monetary savings, reducing
greenhouse gases and promoting environmental stability.

The CFF, with support from the IDB, will provide loans to members who wish to buy green products and services, which include energy-efficient appliances, eco-friendly vehicles and fittings for buildings to make them more energy-efficient.

It will also increase access to renewable energy and energy-efficient products by partnering with suppliers of energy-efficient products

“The programme equips our credit unions with specialised technical assistance to design and plot green finance products and build institutional capacity to analyse the vulnerability of loan portfolios to climate change,” CFF said.

“The CFF, PECU Credit Union, Teachers Credit Union (TCU) and Venture Credit Union and IDB are very excited about what this programme means in the effort of making that paradigm shift on our treatment and preservation of the environment,” the release said. “We strongly believe green financing will be the catalyst to creating greater awareness of the effects of climate change and the need for more environmentally friendly practices in both consumer consumption and economic production.”