ABOUT THE FORUM

The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) hosted its 9th Investor Forum from the UN Climate Conference, COP28, on December 5th, 2023, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am GST. Held at the CARICOM pavilion in the Blue Zone, the forum highlighted the Caribbean’s efforts in building resilience through homegrown sustainable solutions.

This Investor Forum brought together investors, stakeholders, and experts to explore and catalyze innovative strategies and financing mechanisms for building climate resilience and sustainability in the Caribbean region. By signing up, attendees were able to participate in the Q&A session and gain firsthand knowledge of the projects and breakthroughs taking place in the region.

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OUR SPEAKERS

Racquel Moses

UNFCCC Global Ambassador,
CEO The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA)

Racquel has enabled leadership and organizations around the world to go beyond their current vision and stay on the cusp of what’s next.

As the newest UN Global Ambassador in the Race to Zero, Racquel has become a critical advisor for driving the shift to digital, process automation, and implementing key turnaround projects that heighten customer engagement and strengthen organizational performance.

Known for her ability to build coalitions, Racquel’s success in the public and private sectors has allowed her to drive important advancements on world-changing topics that require regional consensus, such as climate change, sustainability and building resilience.

Kiesha Farnum

Director, Public Sector Projects,
The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA)

Kiesha is an experienced organisational and project management professional who has worked in 17 countries with organisations such as the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), the former Department of Foreign Affairs and Development (DFAT-D) of the Government of Canada, the former Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) and Walkers Institute for Regenerative Research, Education & Design (WIRRED) among others.

With over 15 years’ experience focused on innovation for growth across a variety of sustainable development sectors, Kiesha is an adept project manager whose work has traversed multiple thematic areas.

Kiesha holds a M.Sc. in Project Management, with a specialization in the Economics of Oil and Gas (& Renewable Energy) from the University of Liverpool, a BSc. in Psychology with a minor in Sociology & Management, from the University of the West Indies, St. Augustine Campus, is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and has trained as an Executive Coach with Erickson Coaching International.

Cheryl Senhouse

Finance Innovation Director
The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA)

Cheryl assumes the role of Finance Innovation Director with the Caribbean Climate Smart Accelerator Inc. with responsibility for the fundraising, finance, administration and technology portfolios.

Her career includes fifteen years’ experience in progressively complex senior management roles, providing financial management and strategic leadership for operations across several industries. She has extensive experience with business financing for operations, capital projects and investments and has provided successful leadership of related business functions specifically procurement, technology, human resources and administration with a focus on leveraging technology solutions to build operational efficiency and improve process management.

She has completed graduate and postgraduate education in business and financial management and is currently pursuing additional post graduate studies in financial and commercial law.

Marisa Drew

Chief Sustainability Officer for Standard Chartered Bank

Marisa has been appointed as Chief Sustainability Officer for Standard Chartered Bank on 1 July 2022. However, during her 30 years career, Marisa covered several appointments. She worked from 1992 in Merrill Lynch until she joined Credit Suisse in 2003 in the investment banking area until 2017. Then, in 2017 Marisa founded the Impact Advisory and Finance Group of which she was CEO. She was appointed in early 2022 as a NED of the US-listed broadband and mobile company, Liberty Global plc, and in late 2021 as a non-executive director of the City of London Corporation. She further serves on the advisory boards of the Aspen Institute UK, the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy, and on several High-Level Working Groups (HLGs) sponsored by the World Economic Forum and the UN, including the UN Oceans Panel. Marisa’s external activities also include charitable Advisory Board roles for Cash & Rocket and the UK charity, Room-to-Read. In 2022, Marisa was recognized by Sustainability Magazine as one of the Top 10 CSOs of a Global Corporation and in 2021 as one of 100 Global Visionary Leaders by Meaningful Business and EY. She has also been recognized by the BBC as one of the Most Powerful Women in Britain and by Fortune Magazine as one of the 50 Most Powerful Women in International Business.

Sasha Jattansingh

Loss and Damage Expert at Climate Analytics Caribbean

Sasha Jattansingh is the Loss and Damage Expert at Climate Analytics Caribbean, based in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Here, she works with Caribbean Small Islands Developing States (SIDS) to address critical issues related to loss and damage, adaptation, climate finance and climate justice.

Sasha is a climate finance and environmental policy professional with over 13 years’ experience in the public, international development and civil society sectors in Trinidad and Tobago and the Caribbean. She has a strong background in environmental and climate policy, climate finance, participatory governance, capacity building and science communication. Before joining Climate Analytics, Sasha was the Commonwealth National Climate Finance Adviser to Antigua and Barbuda, as part of the Commonwealth Climate Finance Access Hub, where she supported the Government of Antigua and Barbuda to strengthen its institutional and technical capacity to access and mobilise climate finance. Prior to this, Sasha has worked with the Global Green Growth Institute, United Nations Development Programme, Caribbean Natural Resources Institute, the University of the West Indies and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago on climate change and sustainable development issues.

Sasha holds a Master of Science in Environmental Policy and Regulation from the London School of Economics and Political Science, a Master of Engineering in Environmental Engineering from the University of Auckland and an Honours Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science from the University of Toronto. She is also a Commonwealth Scholar alumna.

Thibault Ménage

Vice President Caribbean for the French hydrogen infrastructure pure player, HDF
Energy.

Thibault Ménage is Vice President Caribbean for the French hydrogen infrastructure pure player, HDF Energy. He created and manages the HDF Caribbean subsidiary, headquartered in Barbados, and overseas in the development and acquisition of hydrogen infrastructure projects across the region. His multicultural team recently expanded to Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica. He leads the development of the Renewstable Barbados (RSB) project and serves as a Director on the Board of the Newgen project in Trinidad.

Thibault has built up experience in the development of innovative large-scale energy projects such as solar thermal for industrials and Multi-MW hybrid energy systems. Thibault is a graduate from Arts & Métiers Paristech French Engineering School and the EDHEC Business School. He also holds a MSc of Energy Systems and Project Management from the University of Melbourne, Australia.

Past CCSA Investor Forums

Cultivating Climate-Smart Futures

The 7th Investor Forum of the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) was held on September 26th at 9 AM AST. This forum was crafted to connect investment-ready projects, highlight innovative initiatives in Climate-Smart Agriculture and the Conservation of Land and Ocean across the Caribbean, and provide valuable project preparation resources.

Caribbean Cooperation for Fostering Energy Transition Investments and Finance

The Government of Barbados via the Energy Division and IRENA, through the SIDS Lighthouses Initiative, are co-hosting an event with the Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator CCSA, the Caribbean Development Bank CDB, and will seek close collaborations with the regional organizations and financial institutions that have the mandate to promote energy transition actions in the region. The event will provide an opportunity for the Leaders, policymakers, regulators, power utilities, private sector, project developers and financing partners to address issues constraining the deployment of energy transition technologies driven by renewables, and commence the brokerage process of deploying the appropriate investment for renewable energy projects in the Caribbean whilst building the momentum towards implementation.

The overall objective is to promote an investment environment conducive to energy transition investments and facilitate access to affordable finance towards the implementation of energy transition projects in the Caribbean SIDS.

Financing Resilience and Climate Adaptation for Regional Transformation

The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) hosted an Investor Forum from the United Nations climate change summit, COP27, on November 15, 2022 at 3pm EET. Focused on leveraging climate finance to fund resilience-building initiatives in the Caribbean, this was the CCSA’s first COP Side Event and featured attendees and panelists at the summit interacting with speakers.

Leveraging Climate Finance to Build Caribbean Resilience

The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) hosted an Investor Forum from the United Nations climate change summit, COP27, on November 15, 2022 at 3pm EET. Focused on leveraging climate finance to fund resilience-building initiatives in the Caribbean, this was the CCSA’s first COP Side Event and featured attendees and panelists at the summit interacting with speakers.

Blue Economy in the Caribbean

The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) virtual Investor Forum was held on September 6th, 2022, it was a high-level presentation and discussion aimed at highlighting climate-smart, investment-ready projects in the Caribbean to investors, and creating a platform for the formation and strengthening of relationships among Caribbean leaders and potential investors.

Investing in Climate Resilience in the OECS

The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) in association with the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Commission hosted a virtual Investor Forum was held on May 17, this high-level presentation and discussion aimed at highlighting climate-smart, investment-ready projects in the eastern Caribbean to investors, and creating a platform for the formation and strengthening of relationships among eastern Caribbean leaders and potential investors

Creating Connections to Accelerate Climate Resilience

The Caribbean Climate-Smart Accelerator (CCSA) virtual Investor Forum was held on December 1st, 2021, it was a high-level presentation and discussion aimed at highlighting climate-smart, investment-ready projects in the Caribbean to investors, and creating a platform for the formation and strengthening of relationships among Caribbean leaders and potential investors.

Previous Speakers