Jamaica at number 16 topped the eight CARICOM countries included in the survey undertaken by the Multilateral Investment Fund (MIF) of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

The other CARICOM countries in order of rankings were Belize, Barbados, Bahamas, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana and Suriname.

According to the IDB, the top countries headed by were headed by Brazil followed by Nicaragua and Panama.

Countries were ranked based on four parameters: enabling framework; clean energy investments and low-carbon financing; low-carbon business and clean energy value chains; and greenhouse gas management activities.

The IDB said that while Latin America and the Caribbean boast extraordinary renewable energy resources, the local clean energy sector is just beginning to gain traction, last year attracting less than five per cent of an estimated US$280 billion invested worldwide.

“For clean energy entrepreneurs, developers, and manufacturers, massive opportunities appear to lie ahead—if they can identify them. Similarly, government leaders could trigger a flood of new clean energy investment—if they can craft appropriate policy frameworks,” the IDB said.

It said in order to bridge these gaps, the MIF in partnership with Bloomberg New Energy Finance, created the Climatescope, the first annual report, index, and interactive web tool focused on the clean energy market in Latin America and the Caribbean.