KINGSTON, Jamaica —As the world observed Earth Day on Friday, April 22, Jamaicans were reminded to invest in sustainable activities that will protect the environment.

While addressing the senate, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation Senator Matthew Samuda said “it is important that we accept and understand that environmental protection, environmental restoration efforts put into climate change mitigation and adaptation, are indeed an investment in our future.”

Senator Samuda said these investments will require political maturity and working across the aisle.

“It’s a difficult discussion but it is a discussion that today more than other days is one that we must have. I firmly believe that any sustainable economic growth cannot come on the back of environmental degradation and inclusive prosperity cannot be steeped in pollution,” he said, pointing out that recent weather patterns and flooding in sections of the island are stark reminders of the changes that are occurring.

Meanwhile, he said the government continues to make strides in providing the legal framework to protect ecologically sensitive areas.

Senator Samuda pointed out that legislative protection has been completed for the Black River Morass Area and over 78,000 hectares of the Cockpit Country

“So it’s going to take again the political maturity to deal with the protection of areas… [like] the Pedro Cays, which function as a centre of livelihood for many Jamaicans…we have to discuss how we manage that as well as the 16 areas that the Prime Minister … announced will form part of the protected space,” he said.

Furthermore, Senator Samuda stated, significant investment, partnerships, and resolve will be required to address the issue of plastic pollution.

Recently, representatives from 175 nations endorsed a historic resolution at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, to end plastic pollution and forge an international legally binding agreement, by the end of 2024.

He continued: “we will have to work … with our private sector partners to get Jamaica ready. The pattern of consumption in terms of how we consume plastic will not be the same in 2030 based on how I see this resolution developing and how I expect this treaty to develop…we have to ready our manufacturers so that we don’t have the fall out in income that comes to them as businesses that then creates a fall out in employment. There is a lot of work to do.”

Opposition Spokesperson for Land, Environment and Climate Change, Senator Sophia Fraser Binns, said the protection and preservation of the earth through several initiatives remains paramount.

“We have to commit to invest in our garbage disposal…We have to invest in education, not just about what is happening in terms of climate change but education about the role each and every one of us can play. We have to invest in sustainable agricultural practices…We have to invest in having robust [modern] laws that are enforced,” she said.

Senator Frazer Binns said the Opposition stands ready to sit at the table to discuss the initiatives that need to be implemented to protect the planet.

Earth Day 2022 was observed under the theme: ‘Investing in our Planet’.