JAMAICA is formulating its second national report to bring the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) up to speed on the progress it has made in adapting to changes in the weather and the earth’s temperature, according to the Ministry of Local Government and the Environment.

“(It) is being implemented by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) through the Meteorological Service (and) will define the impacts, vulnerability and adaptation options in water resources, coastal zone, human health, human settlement, agriculture and tourism sectors,” Leonie Barnaby, senior director in the ministry, said last Thursday.

She was addressing the climate change workshop put on by Environmental Solutions Limited (ESL) at the Terra Nova All Suite Hotel on behalf of Local Government and Environment Minister Dean Peart.

Barnaby noted that the report, which is being funded by the Global Environment Fund (GEF) to the tune of US$405,000, was also intended to “predict changes in temperature and precipitation for 2015, 2030 and 2050”.

Jeffery Spooner, head of the Climate Branch at the Met Service, said the project design had been submitted to Cabinet for approval.

“We have had one consultation so far,” he told the Sunday Observer.

Spooner noted that additional consultations would be conducted industry-wide, and would include interest groups from sectors such as agriculture, tourism and waste management.

The first report, also referred to as a national communication, was completed in 2000.

“Coming out of the first communication, some of the vulnerable areas (of the island) were identified and we got from these vulnerable areas what are the suitable ways to address their concerns,” Spooner said.

Since then, Spooner said Jamaica had made some progress toward adaptation to climate change, which has seen an increase in the earth’s temperature while there has been a growing number of major hurricanes and other disasters.

“The public on a whole is a hell of a lot more aware. And I will say for sure that policy makers are a lot more aware and fully onboard as it relates to climate and climate-related issues,” Spooner said.

Work on the report is to be completed by the end of next year.

Barnaby, meanwhile, has reminded Jamaicans that everybody has a role in ensuring the island is in a position to adapt to climate change, while minimising the potential negative effects of the changes being experienced in the weather.

“Everybody has a role in dealing with climate change. We have to adopt and carry out those no regrets energy-efficient methods like in transportation and all the other things that we can do,” she said.

The ESL workshop, conducted under the theme, “climate solutions and the business advantage”, attracted the participation of an estimated 70 to 100 representatives from local organisations, including the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ), the University of Technology (UTech) and the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO).

Jamaica is, in the interim, preparing the report in tandem with requirements of the UNFCCC to which it is a signatory.