MONTEGO BAY, St James — Youth groups in St James are being urged to take up the opportunity to create climate change-resilient initiatives as a second round of funding is available through Bloomberg’s Youth Climate Action Fund.

The advice has come from mayor of Montego Bay Richard Vernon, who disclosed that, come April, more money will be available for youth groups in the second phase of the ongoing project.

“The opportunity is now doubled. Phase one was $7.5 million and phase two will be $15 million, bringing us to a total of $22.5 million,” he told young people gathered at Montego Bay Cultural Centre on Tuesday.

Vernon was speaking at a ceremony to celebrate the accomplishments of the youth groups which participated in phase one of the initiative. They developed and implemented a variety of initiatives geared towards tackling climate change in their communities.

The mayor insisted that while he was happy with the start of the project, more needs to be done, and the youth groups should take advantage of this opportunity.

“As you embark on the next phase of this journey it is essential to recognise the critical role that youth-led climate action plays in addressing the pressing environmental changes and challenges we face today,” said Vernon.

“The climate crisis is not a distant threat, it is a reality that impacts our communities, our livelihoods, and our future. Your involvement in this initiative is commendable but, more importantly, necessary for driving meaningful change.

“The future belongs to those who act today, therefore I am calling upon more youth groups across the parish to get involved,” added Vernon.

Fifteen groups participated in the first stage of the programme, but the mayor told the Jamaica Observer, on the sidelines of the event, that he would love to see a lot more groups for the second iteration.

“It’s open, however once we exhaust the amount that will be allocated for the projects then that is where we have to cut off the groups,” said Vernon as he conceded that the wide-reaching impact that is being envisioned may not happen as funding may be impacted, given the nature of the projects that come in.

“We try to spread it as far as possible but at the same time we try to ensure that the projects are impactful — and to make them impactful, sometimes you need to have a reasonable budget to work with. So, the higher the amount in terms of budget, the less groups we can cover,” said Vernon.

He used the opportunity to urge potential applicants to put forward projects that are well-reasoned out and potentially impactful, so as to qualify for the grant funding.

“I’m expecting more innovative, more adventurous, more impactful projects for phase two because Montego Bay will continue to lead the way on youth-led climate action with the Bloomberg initiative,” he told the participants as he pointed out that Montego Bay is the only city in the Caribbean to be currently benefiting from Bloomberg’s Youth Climate Action Fund.

He argued that more young people need to get involved in tackling the issue of climate change.

“You are the generation which will inherit the consequences of today’s actions, therefore you have a unique stake in ensuring that sustainable practices are implemented and upheld. Youth-led action is the catalyst for a sustainable tomorrow, and we need to hear from you. I don’t think, where climate change is concerned, our youth are loud enough.

“You need to get loud. You need to be very critical of things that are affecting our environment, affecting you, and affecting your future,” he said.

According to the mayor, Bloomberg’s Youth Climate Action Fund provides an avenue for young people to join the fight to mitigate the impact of climate change, and he is looking forward to providing support for the projects that are approved.

“By providing grants and resources this programme supports your efforts to develop and execute projects that address local climate challenges,” he said.

The 15 youth groups which participated in the first phase of the initiative were given grants ranging from $150,000 to $750,000, to achieve the objectives they set.

The groups put forward a variety of initiatives to build climate resilience in their communities.

The three top projects came from Rosemount Youth Group, which did a children’s playhouse made from recycled materials; Champions For Change, which built a greenhouse at Spot Valley High School; and Salt Spring Community Development Committee (CDC) which did a rainwater-harvesting facility at schools in the community.

The youth arm of the CDC used the donated funds to develop rainwater-harvesting facilities at Salt Spring Primary, and Hartfield Basic schools.

According to the project lead for Salt Spring CDC, Clifton Ellis, challenges with water access influenced the project.

“What inspired the water harvesting programme was the continuation of the water crisis in Salt Spring. Many households have been facing problems but, based on the project that we had, it could only stretch so far and [so we] chose an area where a lot of people are gathered and so we chose both schools,” Ellis told the Observer.

Ellis, who also serves as vice-president of the CDC’s youth committee, explained that the implementation of the project at the two schools involved putting in place two 800-gallon water tanks at the basic school and a 1,000-gallon water tank at the primary school, plus the infrastructure to channel the water.

He said the members of his group are already looking forward to the next phase of the project as it provides them with an avenue to stay out of trouble, especially given the issues that have plagued Salt Spring over the years.

“It’s important for kids to have access to these types of projects because idle dogs love sheep. So, if they can give the kids the opportunity to keep proactive, it will help them,” said Ellis.