Caribbean Bloc Sets Climate Finance Negotiators
Businesses with Caribbean exposure should track how COP31 climate finance and carbon-market rules take shape.
Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in People
CARICOM has appointed ministers from nine member states to lead the region's engagement across critical climate negotiating areas ahead of the COP31 summit in Antalya, Türkiye, November 9 to 20, 2026. Belize's Orlando Habet will lead climate finance and markets negotiations for the bloc.
Why it matters
The appointments aim to coordinate a single CARICOM position and strengthen the region's voice on issues that directly affect Caribbean countries. For businesses operating in or trading with the region, the outcome of these talks on climate finance and markets could shape future investment conditions and regulatory direction.
Nine CARICOM member states have appointed ministers to lead negotiating areas, which is a regional coordination effort rather than a single-country position. The ministers are pressing for an outcome consistent with the 1.5 degrees Celsius global warming limit, but the source does not report any negotiated results.
The players
Caribbean Community (CARICOM)
A regional bloc of Caribbean nations that coordinates trade, foreign policy, and shared negotiating positions across its member states.
Orlando Habet
Belize's Minister of Sustainable Development, Climate Change and Solid Waste Management, selected to lead CARICOM's climate finance and markets negotiations.
Marsha Caddle
Barbados' Minister of Economic Affairs and Investment, appointed to a CARICOM climate negotiation role.
Michael Joseph
Antigua and Barbuda's minister appointed to a CARICOM climate negotiation role.
Patrick Loys Brunings
Suriname's Minister of Oil, Gas and Environment, co-leading CARICOM's climate markets negotiations with Habet.
The details
CARICOM assigned specific ministers to specific negotiating tracks: Belize's Orlando Habet leads climate finance and markets, with Suriname's Patrick Loys Brunings co-leading markets, while Barbados' Marsha Caddle and Antigua and Barbuda's Michael Joseph hold finance-related roles. The ministers will cover adaptation, the cover decision, global stocktake and just transition, loss and damage, and science. The structure lets the bloc present a unified negotiating stance rather than fragmented national positions.
Timeline
COP31 climate summit runs November 9 to 20, 2026, in Antalya, Türkiye.
Market Landscape
The appointments place a Caribbean regional bloc inside the climate-finance and carbon-markets debates that shape global capital flows toward developing economies. Positioning regional ministers on specific tracks reflects how small states increasingly coordinate to gain leverage in negotiations that set the rules for climate investment.
Businesses with exposure to Caribbean markets should track how climate finance and carbon-markets rules evolve, since these decisions can change capital costs and project eligibility. Firms in energy, tourism, and infrastructure in the region should watch the negotiating outcomes for adaptation and loss-and-damage provisions that could affect their planning.
The takeaway
The coordinated CARICOM appointments signal that small island and coastal economies are organizing to shape climate finance rules rather than accepting terms set elsewhere. Operators in the region should monitor the COP31 outcomes on finance and markets, since they will define the rules for climate-linked investment for years.
What happens next
COP31 convenes in Antalya, Türkiye, from November 9 to 20, 2026, when the negotiating positions appointed by CARICOM will be tested.
Further reading
For context on the leaders shaping these talks, explore recent People profiles on executives and officials driving business and policy decisions.
