Richard Branson’s green energy plan for Caribbean may include debt relief

MIAMI: A plan by British billionaire Richard Branson to lead a post-hurricane rebuilding effort in the Caribbean, with a focus on clean energy projects, may include debt relief negotiations mediated by the International Monetary Fund.

Branson is spearheading a plan to help Caribbean nations recover after Hurricanes Irma and Maria ravaged several islands.

The centerpiece of the plan is a push to replace outdated fossil-fuel power grids with renewable energy systems that can withstand extreme weather and boost economic development in Caribbean.

For the past month, the founder of the Virgin Group conglomerate has been in talks with some of the world’s top multilateral lenders and foundations to set up a fund to finance what he called the Disaster Recovery Marshall Plan – a reference to a programme to rebuild Western Europe after World War Two.

The effort focuses on ‘a green energy revolution’ to make Caribbean economies more sustainable, Branson said.

The businessman has lived in the BritishVirginIslandsformorethan a decade and weathered Hurricane Irma inside a cellar on Necker, his private island.

“We want to move the Caribbean countries into clean energy and make them more sustainable, which will make dealing with hurricanes much easier,” he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview in Miami.

“The Caribbean heads of state agree with one voice that this is a good idea,” he added.

The resilience push aims to provide immediate and long-term relief assistance, as well as better insurance policies against natural disasters.

Branson said that he met with IMF chief Christine Lagarde during the fund’s annual meeting in Washington earlier this month and that she offered to facilitate meetings between Caribbean nations and creditors to reduce the costs of existing debt. — Reuters