MINISTER of Water, Land, Environment and Climate Change Robert Pickersgill has hailed the just concluded Conference of the Parties (COP) 21 as a success, noting that the agreement reached will impact Jamaica in the short, medium and long-term.

He was speaking at a recent press briefing on the outcomes of the meeting held at the Ministry’s New Kingston offices.

Jamaica is among 196 countries that adopted the Paris Agreement, which puts the world on track to avoiding dangerous climate change by limiting global warming.

The agreement emphasises that climate change is a threat to human society and that there is a growing need for international collaboration, deep reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, establishment of a framework for the involvement of local communities and people with disabilities, and the empowerment of women, among others.

Minister Pickersgill said the United Nations secretary general will open a depository for signatures of the Agreement on April 22, 2016 to April 21, 2017, during which time all parties to the Convention are expected to sign the Agreement, which comes into force in 2020.

“All parties are expected to deposit their instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accession as appropriate, as soon as possible,” he said.

Pickersgill said the Agreement will enter into force 30 days after 55 parties, accounting in total for at least 55 per cent of the total global CHG emissions, have ratified, accepted, approved or accessed the Agreement titled ‘Adoption of the Paris Agreement’.

As it relates to long-term temperature goal, Minister Pickersgill informed that amendments were made to the document that had language referencing well below 2-degree Celsius, and to pursue efforts to take into account the 1.5 degree Celsius temperature limit, recognising that this would significantly reduce the risks and impacts of climate change.

“Another key objective of our negotiators was the case for provisions within the document, recognising the specific needs and special circumstances of Small Island and low-lying developing states (SIDS). This took into consideration the fact that SIDS contribute less than one per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions, but will be the most affected by climate change,” he said.

Turning to the issue of loss and damage, Minister Pickersgill said a reference to residual impacts of climate change arising from extreme weather events, or slow onset events such as sea level rise and temperature change, proved to be among the most difficult in the negotiations.

“In the end, however, the objectives of the region were largely met. Loss and damage from climate change is now treated separately from adaptation. The text is explicit in its reference to the permanent housing of a mechanism to address loss and damage,” he said.

He said the current Agreement is drafted in a form that is legally binding with some provisions set out in “best endeavour terms”.

He added that the implementation of the climate change Agreement will require several actions at home as well as at the regional and international levels.

“They include the strengthening of approaches to deal with climate change, the building of local and regional capacity, and encouraging the continued involvement of civil society organisations, the private sector, the youth and the media,” he said.

Pickersgill said though the negotiations were “tough and hard at times,” they were always conducted in a spirit of cooperation and compromise. Jamaica was represented at the conference by a 17-member delegation headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator AJ Nicholson

COP21 took place from November 30 to December 12 in Paris, France.