Going green! Jamaica to benefit from increased access to climate financing
The Government has increased access to
climate finance and finalised the development of Jamaica’s country programme
for engagement with the Green Climate Fund, with a pipeline of projects
totalling more than US$200 million.
This investment, which was done in 2019,
will help to improve access for funding climate investments in both adaptation
and mitigation actions.
Additionally, the Government developed
tools to incorporate climate-associated-risk considerations in public-private
partnerships (PPP) for investments in infrastructure.
Prime Minister Andrew Holness gave details
in his Budget presentation on Thursday (March 19), in the House of
Representatives.
“Climate change has long transitioned from
merely an environmental issue to an economic challenge and has the power to
reverse any progress on poverty alleviation and sustained economic growth.
While we see and experience first-hand, the devastating effects, we are now
more than ever working assiduously to build our national capacity and put
measures in place to effectively respond to its associated risks,” Holness
said.
The
Prime Minister also announced that with regard to climate change, Jamaica met
all reporting obligations under the UNFCCC Convention and the Paris Agreement.
“Recognising our commitments under the
Paris Agreement, and the urgency of the global climate crisis, we are currently
updating and expanding Jamaica’s Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) – a
document which sets out to the international community, the actions Jamaica
will take to address climate change,” he said.
“This will allow us to increase the
ambition of our NDC, with the next version expanding its focus from the energy
sector to also include the forestry sector.
Initial indications suggest that the forestry sector will be able to
absorb 30 per cent more emissions as a result of our ambitious policy
commitments in this sector,” the Prime Minister said.
