Seychelles hosts Climate Change Financing Roundtable meeting
February 25, 2025
Seychelles hosted a one-day round table discussion on Climate Change Financing with its local and international development partners.
As a small island state, the impact of climate change is already being witnessed and felt, especially on the coastal regions, where infrastructures are under threat.
Mitigation and adaptation are costly, thus the reason for the round table discussion on how best to raise such finances.
In his opening remarks, Vice President Ahmed Afif noted that Seychelles current classification as a High-Income country is impeding the country’s efforts to access affordable finances.
“Well over 50% of our land area and 32% of our marine areas are protected. While Seychelles is doing everything it can, we also need to say that we require the support we deserve, towards mitigation and adaptation.”
VP Afif, currently overseeing the finance portfolio, emphasized on the need for collaborative actions to effectively raise funds to combat the adverse effects of climate change.
Participants have been urged to bring forward solutions in terms of policy reforms, technical assistance and innovative financing.
This round table initiative showcases Seychelles strong commitment towards the threats of climate change. It is the first activity to be organised following the adoption of Seychelles Climate Finance Mobilization Strategy late last year.
Climate change mitigation and adaptation is at the forefront of Seychelles’ government strategy going forward, given it is one of six priority areas identified in the National Development Strategy 2024 -2028, launched in April last year.
The round table discussion brought together local partners from the private sector, mainly banking and insurance, government organisations, while our international partners represented were from IMF, World Bank, UNDP, Commonwealth, Opec Fund for International Development, Global Environment Fund, NDC Partnership, Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, African Development Bank, International Finance Corporation and Resident Diplomatic Missions in Seychelles.