Climate Change Trust Fund to hold national consultations

The Virgin Islands Climate Change Trust Fund (VICCTF) will host a series of territory-wide stakeholder consultations next week as it prepares to launch its first call for funding proposals.

The initiative will allow eligible organisations to help shape local climate priorities and learn how to access grant financing.

The consultations will be held from July 20 to 24 across Tortola, Anegada, Jost Van Dyke and Virgin Gorda, with an online session scheduled for those unable to attend in person. The Trust plans to open its inaugural Call for Proposals (CFP 2026-01) in August and September, offering grants under two funding windows: Community Resilience and Capacity-Building and Climate-Smart Education.

Chief Executive Officer Chamberlain Emmanuel, while appearing on the Honestly Speaking Show, said the Trust’s role is to finance projects delivered by organisations rather than implement projects itself.

“The fund does not implement by itself. The fund is not an implementer of projects. The fund depends on partners based in the Virgin Islands,” Emmanuel stated.

He explained that government agencies, statutory bodies, private-sector entities, non-governmental organisations, community-based organisations, and faith-based organisations are all eligible to apply for funding and should participate in the consultations.

“The purpose of the consultations are to ensure that the eligible entities know about the fund and understand the fund. Secondly, [it’s also to] understand how to apply, how to access. And thirdly, it can also give us their view of priorities because resilience is broad,” Emmanuel said. “We also want you to tell us what the priority should be so that we can streamline and we can be more impactful.”

The Trust receives its initial financing through the Environmental Protection and Tourism Improvement Fund, with 40 per cent of the environmental levy collected from visitors allocated to the fund. Emmanuel said the Trust has accumulated approximately $6.7 million in seed funding and intends to begin making a measurable impact while continuing to strengthen its governance systems.

“These consultations mark an important step as we move from establishing the Trust to putting climate financing directly into the hands of the organisations doing the work on the ground,” Emmanuel stated. “We want every eligible organisation across the territory to understand what this fund can do for their community and how to access it.”

The Virgin Islands Climate Change Trust Fund was established under the Virgin Islands Climate Change Trust Fund Act, 2015, to raise, manage and deploy climate finance for local adaptation and mitigation priorities. The Secretariat opened earlier this year, and the Trust was officially launched internationally in April during the Global Sustainable Islands Summit in Gran Canaria, Spain.

Officials have said the fund is intended to help bridge the financing gap facing the territory by supporting climate resilience projects through government, private sector and civil society partnerships.