Minister of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change Pearnel Charles Jr has underscored the need for businesses to design and integrate climate adaptation strategies in their operations.

“[The Government] wants to encourage the expansion and building up of supply chains and infrastructure that is resilient to disasters and climate variability. It just makes sense… for a country like Jamaica, where we have so many people fixed beside our coastlines – residential and commercial activities,” Charles Jr said during his keynote address at the Jamaica Stock Exchange’s (JSE) green bond project launch event held last week.

“Life, residence, and livelihood come from those spaces. It is not optional; it is a necessity for us to build resilient — anything else is a waste of time and money,” he continued.

Charles Jr indicated that the key to how the country “weather the climate crisis” will be private sector investment .

“We are encouraging businesses to think that way. I don’t even say think out of the box anymore, because that’s not what it is. It is thinking through a pathway to resilience which shouldn’t be seen as out of the norm. We really can’t afford for our private sector to be left behind in what is a fast-paced transformation that is taking place across the globe,” he said, noting that businesses that adopt resilient strategies will gain a competitive advantage by being sustainable.

“We are sending a very strong signal to our development partners that, [in] Jamaica, we are taking charge of our development and advancement as a country [by] recognising the need for climate action,” he added.

Charles Jr, however, acknowledged that the climate projects targeted for implementation locally are “ambitious”, noting that “the public purse does not have the capacity to supply the large sums that are going to be required for us to really implement these”.

“…And, that is why we continue to argue the case globally, not only for the increase in the quantum of climate financing available to developing countries like Jamaica, but also for easier and more predictable access to that financing,” the minister argued.

Against this background, the minister said the bulk of the funding “must come from the international public finance and local and international private investments… in this case, through the green bonds”.

The project, titled ‘Facilitating an Enabling Environment for the Caribbean Green Bond Listing on the Jamaica Stock Exchange’, is being jointly implemented by the Climate Change Division in the Ministry of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change and the Jamaica Stock Exchange, with support from the South Korean-based Green Climate Fund.

“Let us all collaborate as we move forward towards the completion of the work that is necessary for us to make this a success. The eventual listings will help us to advance Jamaica as a place of choice to live, work, raise families, and do business,” he said.