Hopefully, the nation’s planners, the intelligentsia as a whole, and even ordinary folks who read have taken note of the latest discussion paper released last week by the Jamaica Economy Panel (JEP) on ‘Achieving Inclusive Recovery from Natural Hazards in Jamaica’.

Perhaps it might have caught their attention if the headline on the JEP press statement, or on the news reports emerging from it, had screamed the fact that climate-related events have left US$16.1 billion, or more sensationally, $2.5 trillion worth of losses in the last quarter of a century in Jamaica.

For those who are still unaware, JEP is a partnership between the United Nations Resident Coordinator’s Office (UNRCO) and the Department of Economics at The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona. It brings together economic, public sector, and development practitioners to address monthly socio-economic questions, highlighting relevant economic issues and the collective expertise of its panellists.

Of a truth, the paper’s highlights show that economically vulnerable households, rural communities, informal workers, farmers, fishers, and small tourism operators face the greatest risks following disasters. It said that is due to limited savings, lack of insurance, insecure land tenure, and restricted access to financing. These challenges are further compounded for women, older people, and individuals with disabilities.

The paper went on to sound the alarm that, despite improvements in emergency response capacity, recovery from climate-related disasters remains uneven — with the most economically vulnerable communities consistently at risk of being left behind.

What the figures have shown in stark relief is the sheer brutality of climate disasters or hydrometeorological events on a resource-poor island like Jamaica.

JEP said that between 2000 and 2023 the country experienced 19 such major events, resulting in cumulative economic losses exceeding $136 billion (US$868 million).

We in this space have added World Bank and Inter-American Development Bank estimates of losses from the impact of Category 4 Hurricane Beryl in 2024 and Category 5 Hurricane Melissa in 2025, which together came to US$15.3 billion.

The total losses over 25 years amount to US$16.1 billion or, as we pointed out earlier, $2.5 trillion, demonstrating why, not surprisingly, the JEP study underscored the urgency of building recovery systems that are both faster and more equitable.

“Jamaica’s central challenge is not emergency response capacity, but sustaining preparedness and translating it into faster, more equitable recovery outcomes,” according to JEP panellists.

They identified six priority areas for strengthening Jamaica’s preparedness for inclusive recovery — risk communication; scalable social protection systems; housing readiness; livelihood protection; resilient infrastructure; and rapid damage and needs assessments.

Indeed, JEP is not telling us anything new when it concludes that, as climate-related disasters become more frequent and severe, strengthening preparedness for inclusive recovery is essential to protecting development gains in Jamaica.

We fully agree that ensuring that recovery systems are designed to reach the most vulnerable will be critical to building resilience and leaving no one behind.