Jamaica first to build climate resilience with launch of Systematic Risk Assessment Tool
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Jamaica has become the first country to complete the development of the Systematic Risk Assessment Tool, known as a “geospatial analysis platform for infrastructure risk assessment and resilient investment prioritisation”.
The announcement was made by Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator Matthew Samuda, who was speaking Tuesday at the official launch of the Jamaica Systematic Risk Assessment Tool (J-SRAT) held at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel.
During the ceremony, Samuda explained that the tool was developed to help identify hotspots across the country’s major infrastructure networks, such as energy, water, and transport, which are most vulnerable to climate risk.
Some of the key features of the J-SRAT include:
- Climate risk hotspots – It provides high resolution and visual analysis, accurately identifying hotspots of vulnerability across critical infrastructure;
- Real-life impact – It assesses practical impacts of increasingly severe weather events on specific services, such as more frequent water or power shortages;
- Open source – The Jamaican government will have full control of J-SRAT, with the Coalition of Climate Resilient Investment (CCRI) and its partners ensuring that innovative methodology is freely available worldwide; and
- Unlock investment – J-SRAT will have the ability to accurately calculate the damage and economic losses from future climate risks.
The minister pointed to loss and damage assessments conducted by the Planning Institute of Jamaica, the focal agency of the J-SRAT, which indicated that total damage from seven hurricane events, two tropical storms, and at least three extreme flooding events, between 2001 and 2010, was estimated approximately at $111.81 billion — an average of two per cent of annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The CCRI analysis further showed that inaction could reach US$1.4 billion annually by 2025, representing 10 per cent of Jamaica’s GDP.
“Climate-proofing infrastructure is a question of making the right choices relating to investment prioritisation, planning, design, maintenance, and rehabilitation. These choices must be accompanied by solid data, must be able to create the spaces for partnerships within the public and private sector, and must, without a doubt, consider the input of sector officials and experts,” Samuda said.
He noted that this pilot in Jamaica will be a guide for countries with similar characteristics.
During the next three days, it is expected that the University of Oxford will be delivering a comprehensive training programme to harness the opportunities presented by the J-SRAT implementation to Jamaica’s national experts.
The J-SRAT was designed by Oxford University in collaboration with the Jamaican government and with support from the CCRI, the UK Government and its Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and the Green Climate Fund.
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