Montego Bay, April 4, 2019 – Jamaica – Government Senator, Matthew Samuda, says Jamaica’s middle-income state designation should not render the country ineligible to receive international climate change investments.
He argues that as Jamaica and, by extension,
other Caribbean states contend with the effects and impact of climate change, international
financing for public- and private-sector stakeholder response is necessary to
enable the countries to adapt and seize economic opportunities.
“Jamaica and certainly all of our Caribbean
neighbours really require that the middle-income status not lock us from
accessing the international funds that we desperately need to build the
infrastructures that allow businesses to flourish and grow,” Mr. Samuda
explained.
“The fact is, it is not our carbon footprint
that has caused the [global] rising temperatures, though we must take
responsibility for our own environments and our own sustainability,” he added.
The Government Senator was addressing climate
change stakeholders at the opening of the three-day Green Climate Fund (GCF)
Caribbean Private Sector Engagement Workshop at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in
Montego Bay, St. James, on Tuesday (April 2).
Mr. Samuda reaffirmed the Government’s
commitment to support the private sector in making businesses more climate-change
resilient, thereby enhancing their operations and maximising out-turns. He stated that the GCF will be pivotal to
this end, as the international financial organisation has earmarked a
US$582,000 readiness grant to assist the Government, through the Climate Change
Division of the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, in mobilising the
private sector.
“As we grapple with the effects and impacts of
climate change, we [Small Island Developing States (SIDS)] all need to
understand that it has far-reaching implications for the future, especially
where the business continuity is concerned. We must factor in climate change,
its projected impacts and the actions that would be required to minimise these
impacts into all our business plans if we care about and [are] focused on
protecting the bottom line,” said Mr. Samuda.
He emphasised the importance of effecting the
requisite changes, adding that “we have a chance… to begin talking, thinking
and acting to seize the opportunities that climate change brings to us”.
These, Senator Samuda said, include long-term
energy and water efficiency, investment in improving agricultural techniques
and forestry enterprises, supply chain, and infrastructure that are resilient
to disasters and climate variability.
“All must be part of our thinking and our
action in the new paradigm,” he added.
Contact: Okoye Henry
Release: JIS
Caption: Government Senator, Matthew Samuda, addressing climate change stakeholders at the opening of the three-day Green Climate Fund (GCF) Caribbean Private Sector Engagement Workshop hosted at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort in Montego Bay, St. James, on Tuesday, April 2.
Okoye Henry Photo