GFA ENTEC DEVELOPS CLIMATE RISK ANALYSIS TOOL

Posted on 13 Sep, 2021 by Martin Burian & Sven Homscheid-Carstens

The small Caribbean island of Dominica is one of the most vulnerable countries to the effects of climate change. Dominica is ranked 11th on the global climate risk index, including the unenviable ownership of the worst gross domestic product (GDP) losses, along with having tragically suffered the second highest fatality rates as a result of extreme weather events.

GFA ENTEC (GFA subsidiary), in cooperation with its USA-based partner is actively supporting the National Development Foundation of Dominica (NDFD, a national micro-financing institution) in the development and implementation of three new Green Financing Products that target the financial assistance of low-income households as well as mini-, small- and medium scale enterprises.

In order to assess the climate related risk of individual loans, a spatially explicit, GIS-based climate risk analysis tool has been developed. The tool quantifies the risk of Dominica’s two predominant natural hazards, namely landslides and flash floods, across various locations within the country and then subsequently provides recommendations and guidance for decision making in the loan approval process.

Applying the risk assessment tool will reduce defaulting loans for NDFD, but more importantly enables the NDFD’s clients to make informed investment decisions, in order to reduce their losses and thereby ultimately contribute toward Dominica’s climate resilient economic development.

#NDFD #Dominica #GDP #GIS #GreenFinancing #Risk #MSME #Enterprises