BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The second annual Caribbean Conference on Corruption, Compliance, and Cybercrime (3C’s) began here on Tuesday with the president of the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr Gene Leon, noting that as is the case in most small island developing states, the need for climate finance and favourable access conditions is a matter of life and death for Caribbean countries.

“However, the sizeable financing required to address infrastructural and economic vulnerabilities and to recover from shocks, may also present opportunities for corruption. At all costs, access to affordable climate financing must be protected from mal-administration and corruption,” Leon said as he delivered the feature address at the virtual two-day event.

The Barbados-based CDB has organised the conference being held under the theme “Ending Poverty and Driving Growth: Promoting Good Governance by Curbing Corruption, Money Laundering and Cybercrime in the Caribbean.”

Leon said it is meant to bring to centre stage and to give primacy to the catalytic role of good governance in promoting sustainable economic growth.

“It is well recognised that poor governance provides opportunities for corruption, defined as the abuse of public office for private gain. In turn, corruption leads to distrust in government, undermines market integrity, distorts competition, weakens effectiveness of institutions, and stymies sustainable economic development. “

Leon said money laundering can undermine the integrity and stability of the financial sector, affecting regulatory effectiveness, cross-border financial flows, and correspondent banking relationships.

“Cybercrime is pernicious, being capable of digital, economic, psychological, and societal harm. With effects including loss of consumer trust and theft of financial assets and intellectual property, global losses from cybercrime have been rising sharply, aided by the increase in remote working during COVID-19.”

He said that the Norway-based U4 Anti-Corruption Resource Centre has warned that with vast sums being invested in mitigation and adaptation interventions, corruption is threatening the attainment of global climate change goals.

“Furthermore, the Centre has advocated for the development of appropriate and effective anti-corruption tools and strategies to ensure climate finance is optimised for impact and success,” he said, noting that this issue is of specific concern to the CDB, which is at the forefront of the drive to access affordable climate finance for its borrowing member countries (BMC).

“Given the immense need throughout the region, our member countries cannot risk any form of sanction that could limit their access to these resources. We, therefore, urge our BMCs to be vigilant and to put in place strong monitoring, compliance, and accountability frameworks to not only secure climate financing, but to facilitate timely implementation of climate change interventions for the benefit of the peoples of our region. “

Leon said the importance of effective governance systems cannot be overstated, especially as the region will need to raise financing from private sources, which already account for more than 50 per cent of available climate funding.

He said a recent op-ed in an international online news magazine advised that to mobilise private investment in climate-related initiatives, developing countries like those in here in the region, will need to have in place adequate procurement safeguards and effective anti-corruption enforcement mechanisms.

“As a corollary, without adequate and internationally recognised standards on procurement and other governance mechanisms, our ability to mobilise the much need private investment will fall short.

“The region’s current economic and social challenges should be more than enough incentive for us to take the appropriate action.  Instituting suitable systems for accountability and compliance are necessary for building investor confidence and attracting investment for the achievement of sustainable development.”

Leon said that the region’s premier financial institution views development as a holistic process with strong governance systems as an integral element of the region’s economic and financial ecosystem.

He said at a fundamental level, governance is a broad concept covering all aspects of how a country is governed, including its economic policies, regulatory framework, and adherence to rule of law.

“As such, good governance can be characterised as the practice of embracing transparency, accountability, and responsibility across all stakeholder segments of the society. Good governance establishes credibility which is a critical prerequisite for accessing resources. Good governance engenders trust, which facilitates the collaboration necessary to achieve collective goals.”

The St Lucian-born head of the CDB said that importantly, embracing good governance is a choice, a choice between building or breaking credibility.

“Governments and organisations can all support this objective of making governance the pedestal of credibility by fostering adherence to the rule of law, establishing and maintaining effective legal and regulatory frameworks, and by pursuing anti-corruption policies that promote trust and build integrity.

“From our perspective, trust is like a relay race.  Creditors trust CDB with the “baton of development resources”; and in passing this baton to our BMCs, we need to ensure that they have in place the requisite measures to identify and counteract any action that can inappropriately, inefficiently, or corruptly divert these resources and disrupt economic development. “

Senior representatives from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Transparency International and the World Bank have joined other leading figures from academia, the private sector, law enforcement and civil society for the two-day conference.

The event will include discussion fora and keynote presentations bringing thought-leaders from across the world to share and discuss new challenges and solutions for corruption, compliance, and cybercrime in the Caribbean.