The Green Fund is an often-overlooked asset in Trinidad and Tobago. It has been quietly accumulating a significant amount of funds and is rarely ever tapped. At present, the fund contains over $11 billion TT dollars, but only around $326 million has ever been disbursed in 16 years. This data was recently released with the Auditor General’s Report 2024.
The Green Fund was first established under the Finance Act 2000. Other legislative provisions which apply to the operation of the fund include the Miscellaneous Taxes Act, the Green Fund Regulations, 2007 and the Finance Act, 2010. The objective of the fund is to fund environmental projects implemented by NGOs and similar community groups.
The accumulation of funds is easy to understand. All companies and partnerships in Trinidad and Tobago pay into the fund. Companies and partnerships pay 0.3% of their gross income into the fund. This includes not-for-profit companies. Since 2021, the fund has received on average $1b per year. While significant funds have been accumulated, very little has been paid out to organizations to implement projects.
Proceeds of the fund are made available to local registered organizations and community groups, whose activities are related to one or more of four focal areas, including remediation, reforestation, environmental education or environmental issues and conservation of the environment.
At the time when the Green Fund was developed the focus was on local environmental projects and issues like habitat protection and reforestation. Climate adaptation or mitigation did not figure as a major theme.
Since the signing of the Paris Agreement in 2015, there have been increasing pressures to reduce carbon emissions around the world. T&T often gets a bad reputation for having high CO2 emissions per capita. One of the major challenges facing the country in reducing emissions, is access to funding. The options open to many projects are external to the country, with high interest rates. The Green Fund offers the potential to have a domestic source of financing to successfully unlock projects like renewable energy projects, carbon capture projects and energy efficiency projects. If repurposed, the fund has the potential to make a huge difference in the country’s approach to decarbonization and adaptation for climate change.
The Energy Chamber has recommended that the fund should be repurposed or revised to focus on climate change, reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and climate adaptation.