Prime Minister Mia Mottley has issued a call for Caribbean nations to tap into $6 billion in excess cash sitting in banks across the region to accelerate the shift to renewable energy, warning that failure to act will hurt small economies.
Speaking at the Sustainable Energy for All Global Forum on Wednesday, Mottley stressed that while the Caribbean has the natural resources to become a major player in clean energy, outdated regulations, lack of cooperation, and underutilised financial reserves are holding back progress.
She urged governments and financial institutions to step up, break down barriers, and invest in a shared energy future.
“This $6 billion is just sitting there, earning little to no interest,” Mottley said.
“The Caribbean must stop looking outside for all the answers when we have the resources and the ability to help ourselves. If we pool our energy capacity, our financial power, and our political will, we can create an energy market that serves us and the world.”
Mottley made it clear that no single Caribbean country can achieve clean energy transition alone.
She pointed to the diverse energy potential across the region—from hydropower in Guyana and Suriname to geothermal energy in Dominica and Grenada, and solar and wind power in Barbados, Jamaica, and Belize—but noted that individual markets are too small to attract large investors or secure major off-take deals.
“If we continue trying to do this separately, we will keep having polite conversations about what might be,” she said. “But if we come together, we can transform our economies, provide clean energy at home, and export to global markets like Europe and Japan.”
Referencing Europe’s notable financial models that use guarantees to unlock capital, she called on the Caribbean to follow suit.
The Barbadian leader warned that slow-moving bureaucracy and outdated regulatory frameworks are costing the region billions in investment, despite the progress made. Using Barbados as an example, she noted that legislation had to be amended twice to remove roadblocks that delayed key energy projects by more than three years.
“In the last two and a half years, we have had a regulatory stranglehold that has blocked over half a billion dollars of investment in renewable energy,” she lamented. “We cannot afford these kinds of delays anymore.”
Noting that many Caribbean economies are too small to attract large commercial energy investors, Mottley said there needs to be a regional framework that reallocates, shares or reduces potential risks associated with investment and ensures local savings can be channeled into energy projects.
While Barbados is working to reach net zero by 2035, the prime minister made it clear that the entire region must move with urgency.
She praised initiatives like the debt-for-climate swap—backed by the Inter-American Development Bank and the European Investment Bank—as a model for unlocking climate financing but said more needs to be done to ensure the Caribbean benefits directly from its own resources.
“The reality is that most of our markets are too small to command attention from major investors. If we do not act now, we will miss the opportunity to shape our own future and will instead be left vulnerable to global forces,” she said.
Drawing a parallel to the Caribbean’s cricketing legacy, Mottley urged the region to stop waiting for perfect conditions and instead play the game with the resources available.
“The beauty of cricket is that you learn to play on the wicket as it is, not as you would like it to be,” she said. “Barbados and the Caribbean have produced world-class excellence despite the odds. We cannot afford to cry over what could have been—we must act now.”
Her rallying cry was applauded by various global heads gathered to have the conversations necessary to ensure achievement of the much-talked-about energy transition in the safest, soonest time.
Among them were Sierra Leone’s President Julius Maada Bio, Nigeria’s Finance Minister Adebayo Olawale Edun, Tanzania’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Energy Doto Biteko, COP30 President-Designate, Ambassador André Corrêa do Lago, and SEforAll CEO Damilola Ogunbiyi.
(SM)
The post $6B in banks: Mottley says invest it in clean energy appeared first on Barbados Today.
