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Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

Climate Confident is for business leaders, climate professionals and policymakers who need to understand what is actually cutting emissions—and what it takes to make those solutions work at scale.

Each Wednesday, technology and sustainability analyst, keynote speaker and former SAP Global VP Tom Raftery speaks with the executives, engineers, scientists, founders and policymakers turning climate ambition into measurable progress. Together, they examine the technologies, business models, policies and implementation strategies reshaping energy, transport, industry, supply chains, food and finance.

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Climate Confident - Practical Climate Solutions That Cut Emissions

The Island Power Trap: Expensive Diesel and the Renewable Finance Gap

October 28, 2026 • Tom Raftery • Season 1 • Episode 300

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Caribbean islands pay a steep price for electricity generated from imported diesel. Solar and storage offer an alternative, but cheaper technology alone won't overcome the financing barriers keeping projects and households out.

I speak with David Gumbs, Director of RMI's Global Islands Programme and former CEO of Anguilla's electricity utility, about what volatile fuel costs mean for businesses, government budgets and energy security.

Why can promising renewable projects struggle to attract investors simply because an island is small? We examine Grenada's approach to project finance, community-funded solar in the Dominican Republic, and the difference between clean power and hurricane-resilient power. Kismet: isolated island grids can expose integration challenges that larger electricity networks have more room to absorb.

Listen now to understand which financing, policy and grid decisions could turn abundant renewable resources into affordable, reliable island electricity.

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