Jamaica, September 13, 2017 – Kingston – Three pilot projects set to test climate smart technologies and techniques in the parishes of Clarendon and St Ann will officially come on stream at a major launch event in Clarendon on Wednesday. The project will target communities in upper Clarendon impacted by drought and poor water supply, select schools as well as rural farming communities in St Ann.

The projects funded by the government of Japan under the Japan Caribbean Climate Change Partnership are implemented by the United Nations Development Programme in Jamaica in partnership with the ministry of industry, commerce, agriculture and fisheries through the Rural Agricultural Development Authority (RADA) and the Jamaica 4-H Clubs; the Climate Change Division in the ministry of economic growth and job creation; the Clarendon Parish Development Committee Benevolent Society (CPDCBS), and other local stakeholders

Daryl Vaz, minister without portfolio in the ministry of economic growth and job creation with responsibility for the land, environment, climate change and investment is set to address the launch event.

The Japan Caribbean Climate Change Partnership with a regional allocation of US$15 million was launched last year in Kingston and Bridgetown. The pilot projects mark a new and important milestone in regional implementation and are expected to enhance local capacity to adapt to and lessen the impacts of climate change, especially in target communities.

Climate change continues to be a major concern to small island developing states (SIDS) like Jamaica. Climate change causes rising temperatures, changes in the seasons including growing seasons for crops, heavier rainfall and stronger and more intense storms, with flooding; more severe droughts and heat waves; rising sea levels impacting coastal communities and infrastructure.