KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Housing, Urban Renewal, Environment and Climate Change, Pearnel Charles Jr, is set to assume co-chairmanship of the NDC Partnership at a high-level members forum tomorrow.

The NDC Partnership includes over 180 developed and developing countries as well as major international institutions and non-state actors that leverage their resources and expertise to provide countries with the tools needed to implement national emission reduction targets.

The minister will represent Jamaica in this global coalition of countries committed to cutting their individual greenhouse gas emissions, while the United Kingdom’s Energy Minister, Rt Alok Sharma, will serve as the other co-chair.

Sharma is also president of the 26th conference of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, also known as COP 26.

As NDC co-chairs, Jamaica and the UK are taking over from Costa Rica and the Netherlands. Jamaica joined the partnership in 2018.

“The confidence placed in Jamaica is a recognition of the country’s strong leadership and efforts on the climate change agenda, which the NDC Partnership supported through tangible financial and embedded support at the Office of the Prime Minister in 2019,” Charles said.

According to the ministry, the emissions reduction targets, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are revised or updated every five years to encourage countries to raise their climate ambitions and build resilience against the negative effects of a changing climate.

The ministry said Jamaica first submitted its NDCs in 2015, with an updated submission this summer.

In a joint statement, Charles and Sharma said that while controlling the COVID-19 pandemic and driving economic recoveries are at the forefront of domestic agendas, the climate alarms are deafening and cannot be ignored.

“This year is vying for the hottest on record. Wildfires raged in both hemispheres. At the same time, tropical cyclones, hurricanes, and flood events have been record-breaking and devastating. Political strife is exacerbating longstanding inequalities and injustices. All of these require swift, decisive action,” they said.