IMF applauds Dominica's climate-resilient approach

It feels impossible to watch the world these days without seeing a new environmental disaster every day. This week alone, we saw climate chaos in the US, Germany, Turkey and China as politicians around the world try to integrate resilient strategies to build. Now an international financial institution has applauded climate resilience ideas used by the Commonwealth of Dominica.

Dominica's ambition in the age of climate change exceeds its small size. The nation, about the size of Austin, Texas, lies on a chain of Caribbean islands that stretch from Puerto Rico to South America. Its 70,000 inhabitants live right in the middle of a hurricane territory. The disaster profile of the region has been exacerbated by increasingly devastating tropical storms, as well as the frequency and intensity of annual hurricanes. But, overcoming all the challenges, Dominica is now working towards becoming the world's first climate-resilient nation.

"Efforts are focused on upgrading and expanding the road network, including raising bridges to accommodate water and debris, building resilience in housing, and building hospitals and health centres. Investments also support elasticity. Agriculture for food security, education, construction, and community preparedness training, among others, "said the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization that helps the island" build better "strategy.

After Hurricane Maria devastated Dominica in 2017, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit promised to build Dominica as the world's first climate-resilient nation. The country is using funding from its Citizenship by Investment (CBI) program to launch the Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD) to form a new government agency to mainstream resilience in all areas of the country's growth.

All significant infrastructural developments made by CBI, from state-of-the-art hospitals to housing for 5,000 families, follow a resistance-based construction code. "This was proof that you can see we can build infrastructures that can withstand even the force of a Category 5 hurricane," said Francine Baron, CEO of CREAD.