Caribbean News

UNDP lauds Jamaica’s efforts on Climate Change

Published

7 years ago

October 27, 2017

#Jamaica, October 27, 2017 – Kingston – The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is lauding the Government for the significant work in creating an enabling environment for climate change adaptation and mitigation in Jamaica.

Deputy Resident Representative, UNDP, Dr. Elsie Laurence-Chounoune, said the organisation recognises “the impressive leadership of the Government in pushing forward the national agenda on both development and climate change”.

She was addressing negotiators and other stakeholders during a preparatory meeting for the 23^rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), at the Terra Nova All-Suite Hotel in Kingston on Wednesday (October 25). COP 23 will be held in Bonn, Germany, from November 6 to 17.

Dr. Laurence-Chounoune said that Jamaica has been a significant contributor to the Caribbean and Small Island Developing States (SIDS) negotiating team and has “boldly, clearly and relentlessly brought the peculiar issues of SIDS to the climate change negotiating table at successive COPs”.

She noted that Jamaica is strongly positioned to advocate for an effective COP 23 outcome that can support the achievement of national targets. The UNFCCC entered into force on March 21, 1994. It has near-universal membership. To date, 197 countries have ratified the Convention. The COP meets each year to take decisions that further the implementation of the Convention and to combat climate change.

In the meantime, Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Hon. Daryl Vaz, said climate change remains at the top of the Government’s agenda.

“The reality is that we must focus on our long-term resilience in a changing climate and changing world,” he said.

Mr. Vaz noted that the Government recognizes that climate change has far-reaching implications for the future, particularly in terms of its impact on jobs, infrastructure, investments, natural and man-made resources, the economy as well as the country’s sustainable development goals.

Further highlighting the gravity of the impact of climate change, the Minister pointed to a study done by the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (UN-ECLAC), which estimates that by 2050, cumulative losses due to degradation of marine ecosystems, storm damage and other factors may average as much as US$366 million per year.

Meanwhile, the Minister welcomed the consultation, which, he said, will provide an opportunity to discuss and agree on the kind of actions needed from developing countries on issues that are critical to the Caribbean and SIDS.

“The consultations also foster the exchange of ideas that will enable SIDS, like Jamaica, to strengthen their negotiating position at the COP talks in order to find the best fit for us in terms of building our resilience to the impacts of climate change,” he said.

The Bonn climate change conference is the next step for governments to implement the Paris Climate Change Agreement and accelerate the transformation to sustainable, resilient and climate-safe development.

The Paris accord, which is an agreement within the UNFCCC, deals with greenhouse gas emissions mitigation, adaptation and financing, starting in the year 2020.

Jamaica became the 142^nd country to ratify the Paris Agreement on March 30, 2017. As of October 2017, 195 UNFCCC members have signed the agreement, and 169 have become party to it.

Release: JIS

Caribbean News

STAKEHOLDER CONSULTATIONS EXPECTED TO ASSIST GOV’T PLANNING FOR CLIMATE CHANGE

Published

2 days ago

April 30, 2024

Shanieka

KINGSTON, April 29 (JIS):

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Senator the Hon. Matthew Samuda, says the outcome of discussions arising from the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) will assist in guiding the Government’s planning for climate change.

This, he points out, is important for climate mitigation as well as building Jamaica’s resilience.

“We look forward to the discussions that will, no doubt, take place. We look forward to the basis of planning for the Government to streamline its investments to ensure you have the tools that you need to better advise us, that the WRA (Water Resources Authority) has the tools to digitise its monitoring network, and that all of the agencies that touch our planning mechanisms have the tools. But we need to know what we are facing, and we’re guided by your expertise,” Minister Samuda said.

He was addressing the opening ceremony for the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in New Kingston on Monday (April 29).

Senator Samuda said given the fact that the climate has changed and continues to do so, investments in and collaborations on building Jamaica’s predictive and scientific capacity must be prioritised.

“Ultimately, we need to be able to assess our current climatic realities if we are to better plan, if we’re to insist and ensure that our infrastructure meets the needs that we need it to. I’m very happy that this event is happening… because this is a critical issue.

“Jamaica, last year, faced its worst and most severe drought… and this year, we’re already seeing the impacts of not quite as severe a drought but, certainly, a drought with severe impacts, especially in the western part of the country,” he said.

Principal Director, Meteorological Service of Jamaica, Evan Thompson, explained that the forum aims to, among other things, establish a collaboration platform for climate services providers and users to understand risks and opportunities of past, present and future climate developments, as well as improve inter-agency coordination of policies, plans and programmes.

Among the other presenters were Ambassador, European Union to Jamaica, Her Excellency Marianne Van Steen; Chief Scientist/Climatologist, Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Adrian Trotman; and Head, Regional Climate Prediction Services, World Meteorological Organization, Wilfran Moufouma-Okia.

The Meteorological Service of Jamaica hosted the Jamaica National Stakeholder Consultation on Climate Services and the 1st National Climate Forum (NCF-1) in partnership with the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology and the World Meteorological Organization.

The National Stakeholder Consultation is a governance mechanism that guides how different sectors or actors work together to create products that contribute to adaptation and resilience-building. It seeks to create a road map for the development and implementation of climate services to inform decision-making.

NCF-1 aims to bridge the gap between climate providers and users. It increases the use of science-based information in decision-making and operations with the aim of generating and delivering co-produced and co-designed products and services.

CONTACT: CHRIS PATTERSON

Caribbean News

Haiti- ECHO humanitarian efforts

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff writer

#Haiti#Crisis#HumanitarianEfforts#ECHO, April 23rd, 2024 – Due to the worsening Humanitarian crisis in Haiti with an increase in death toll and injured people, The European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), launched an emergency airlift of 5 flights carrying essentials which include up to 62 tons of medicine as well as emergency shelter equipment, and water and sanitation items. These were brought to Cap Haitien according to a report from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), on April 19, as the international Airport in Port au prince remains closed following the gang attack last month.

Caribbean News

Dominica repeals laws criminalizing gay sex

Published

3 days ago

April 29, 2024

Shanieka

Rashaed Esson

Staff Writer

#Dominica#LGBTQIA, April 24, 2034- Dominica has decided to remove colonial era laws that criminalized gay sex, joining Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, St. Kitts and Nevis and Antigua and Barbuda.

This comes almost five years after a man of the queer community, whose identity was withheld for his safety, spoke out against Dominica’s laws in 2019, saying they violated his rights.