The Caribbean Development Bank and co-organisers of the second Wider Caribbean Regional Risk Conference – CCRIF SPC and Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean (CAF) – have curated an ambitious agenda for the upcoming event that takes place September 3–4, 2025.

Recently, the co-hosts unveiled an agenda covering various risks that cut across every dimension of national development, which will be delivered online and in-person at the event in Barbados.

According to them, “The conference agenda reflects the scale and complexity of the challenges facing the Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) and over 40 high-level experts from Caribbean, Central American and international organisations are confirmed to participate. Speakers and presenters will discuss the economic, social and environmental risks being faced by the WCR, as well as governance challenges and share best practices, lessons learned and innovative solutions to advance the sustainability agenda of the WCR.”

The organisers are aiming to attract more than 2,000 participants—virtually and face-to-face—to share their views, perspectives and lived experience. Speakers, panellists and other participants will draft policy statements to help shape initiatives and solutions to advance collective action to address the challenges faced across the WCR.

Over the two days, the conference will have seven panel discussions and three café corners or expert dialogues covering topics such as:  

• Economic Tensions, Uncertainty and Geoeconomic Confrontations: Navigating these new Global Economic Relations
• Sovereign Risk and Financial Sustainability in the Caribbean: Strategic Financing and MDB Interventions
• Loss and Damage and Climate Finance: Emerging Trends, Challenges and Opportunities
• Has the Global Sense of Societal Fragmentation Trickled Down to the Region? The Region’s Response
• The Role of Nature-Based Solutions: Keys to Building a Resilient Caribbean
• Unlocking Private Sector Potential & Risk-Sharing Solutions for Sustainable Development

The sessions will probe the ripple effects of intensifying global trade tensions, new tariff regimes, and shifting supply chains on the region’s growth prospects.

“Participants will also engage with rating agencies, central banks, and multilateral institutions on strategies to strengthen sovereign risk management, enhance fiscal resilience, and navigate the debt vulnerabilities that limit development space for SIDS,” a joint release outlined.

The conference will also explore the new threats posed by misinformation and disinformation, while looking at both the threats and opportunities posed by AI. There will also be a focus on sharing the importance of scaling up efforts around detection and attribution science, as countries in the WCR seek to address climate justice issues by enhancing climate-related loss and damage estimations and increasing access to climate finance.

Private sector development in the region will also be a key topic, as leaders from finance, multilateral development banks, and entrepreneurship will address how innovative risk-sharing mechanisms, blended finance, and co-financing models can unlock access to capital for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises and strengthen regional supply chains.

In addition, recognising that nature remains the region’s first line of defence, discussions will explore the role of ecosystem restoration and nature-based solutions in buffering climate risks, and the investments needed to scale up adaptation through the blue, green, and yellow economies. Another session will confront the rise of inequality and fragmentation in Caribbean societies, examining how community leadership, innovation, and policy reform can prevent instability and reinforce cohesion.

The conference will also include a Youth Forum, where 5th and 6th-form students and other young persons from throughout the region will engage face-to-face and online in discussing their ideas around risk in their countries and communities and solutions and visions for advancing sustainable development in the WCR.