KINGSTON, Jamaica –The creation of a climate finance strategy can open the door to more development assistance for Jamaica, says Head of Cooperation, at the Canadian High Commission in Jamaica, Dr Christian DaSilva.

To this end, Global Affairs Canada, a department of the Government of Canada, is offering assistance to the Government of Jamaica to develop a plan to access even more global funding.

Under the Canada-Caricom Expert Deployment Mechanism (CCEDM), the Government, through the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ), will receive technical assistance from two highly qualified consultants in the development of a climate finance strategy.

Dr DaSilva, who expressed excitement at the upcoming plans in the “assignment pipeline”, explained that the investment “has the potential to smooth the way for much more development assistance to flow to the Government of Jamaica”.

He added that the strategy will “help to implement Jamaica’s climate objectives and meet the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and other commitments made under the Paris Agreement”.

He elaborated on the global financing reality, which features new and emerging mechanisms for funding with their own unique requirements for access, for which Jamaica must prepare itself.

Dr DaSilva expressed that he has high hopes for the potential of the strategy once completed.

“It’s going to take some time, but once that strategy is in place, I think the value of the consultancy could be multiplied by a hundred-fold in terms of the kind of finance that would flow to the Government to help implement climate action,” he noted.

For her part, Deputy Director General, External Cooperation Management and Project Development, PIOJ, Barbara Scott, shared how the strategy will aid in identifying gaps in existing climate action.

“What is needed is for a scan to be done for us to look at all the projects that are being implemented, the areas that are being addressed and where the gaps are. And then putting in place a strategic framework which shows, based on our commitments, these are the priority areas which need to be addressed in the short to medium term,” she said.

Scott, too, is looking forward to the benefits Jamaica can reap from a climate finance strategy.

“We are really looking forward to this support. There is so much financing that is available globally, which Jamaica has not been able to access fully, because of capacity gaps, and this is where the support being provided by the CCEDM will come in,” said Scott.

The provision of technical assistance, through the CCEDM, helps to build the longstanding reciprocal relationship between Canada and Jamaica.